Striping could lead to more tickets
Parking restrictions will have heightened enforcement since Center Street road work was finished Wednesday after striping was done.
The striping was done for a center turn lane and one through lane in each direction, leaving no room for parking along the sides, said Shelley Byer, a civil engineer with Logan city and a project manger for this project.
“I just can’t see that anyone will park out there. Traffic will be much closer to curb and gutter,” Byer said.
Opinions of residents on the project are positive and negative, said Laurie Tanner, director of Administrative Services in Logan. Ticketing hasn’t been done yet. Only warnings have been issued so far, she said.
“We haven’t had much problem with Center street. People are not parking on it. Nobody’s called and complained,” said Shelley Lofthouse, office manager of the parking authority.
Since the striping was done, there will probably be two more weeks of warnings before ticketing begins unless otherwise directed by the police and mayor, Lofthouse said.
“We will do warnings again until people get more comfortable with it,” Lofthouse said.
Tickets begin at $15 if paid in 10 days, and have a $30 to $35 maximum, Lofthouse said.
The project has added sidewalk, curb and gutter on both sides of the street from Main Street to the river, Byer said.
“It’s really good from the pedestrian standpoint. There’s been a lot of really good comments about this project. If there’s been something not well received, it’s the parking issue. Predictably they’re [residents] not very happy about it,” Byer said.
There isn’t any immediate resolution for this problem, Byer said.
Those who previously parked on the street will have to park further away on one of the side streets, Byer said. There is also parking at the Island Market, which is restricted to customers, and angled parking at Central Park, which is mainly for park users.
“There’s just not room for everything through there,” Byer said.
In doing the project a large effort was made to keep the trees along the road. Mature trees which were removed were replaced along with sod. Residents have the responsibility to water these additions, Byer said.
Snow removal will not be a problem with this six-foot-wide planter strip, Byer said. This buffer zone between the travel way and the sidewalk will stop snow from blocking the sidewalk and street.
“I do think the benefits outweigh the inconvenience. If you just look at that street, it’s such a huge improvement. It’s like night and day,” Byer said.