First Christian Requests Expansion of 'No Parking' Zone on Nelson Ferry
Decatur Metro | November 17, 2008My apologies for those that could give a flip about an expanded ‘No Parking’ in an area that you never give a second thought to…but hey, you got to give our gripey commenters credit! Sometimes they’re psychic!
A little over a month ago, DJ wrote in with complaints about the parking situation on Nelson Ferry down by First Christain and its insanely popular little park that’s a hit residents less than 3 feet tall. He wrote and I quote “Why do they allow parking on both sides of the street by the park?”
Whelp, it seems like either the pastor at First Christian was thinking the same thing or this post got the ball rolling because one of the items on tonight’s commission meeting agenda is “Recommend expanding the existing “No Parking” zone on the south side of Nelson Ferry Road adjacent to Decatur First Christian Church.”
Details for the proposal can be found on pages 37 and 38 of the supplemental materials provided by the city.
It is stated that that Asst. City Manager David Junger met with Rev. James Brewer-Calvert and with “neighborhood representatives” regarding the problem. I didn’t realize that Ponce Heights had neighborhood reps! Who are they?
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I am confused by this…does having cars parked on both sides of the street impeed traffic (making it impossible to get through one way or another)? It seems to me we would NOT want cars speeding through that area where children are playing. Having cars parked on both sides would seem to help keep traffic from speeding through as you must pay closer attention while driving…especially from ponce going into the neighborhood, where it would be easy to speed up the street.
just trying to understand why people dont like cars parked on both sides…
Parking on both sides does create quite a mess during heavy traffic times in afternoon. There is not room for cars to go both directions simultaneously and often causes backups at the light and four way intersection.
I would hope tha pastor to offer “parkgoers” parking in the First Christian parking lot during non-worship hours. That would seem to be the “Christian” thing to do.
Your confusion is well placed, newbie. What’s happening here is a great example of what happens when “automotive throughput” is the only measure used to determine whether or not a street is operating properly.
There is a notable consequence to double-sided on-street parking: cars driving by must slow down and proceed a bit more cautiously. To the traffic engineer, this means the “efficiency” of the road has been compromised because it can process fewer cars. But to those concerned with pedestrian safety and increased livability, it’s a key design component.
So, who ya gonna side with? I mean, really. Can anyone think of a better place to tame cut-through traffic than in front of a park where little kids play?
That stretch of Nelson Ferry looks like a standard 36′ curb to curb (though I haven’t actually done the measurements), which means that, with cars parked on both sides, there’s still an unimpeded carriageway of at least 20′. That’s a 10′ travel lane in each direction, an engineering standard.
So, we’ve currently got better safety while maintaining unimpeded through traffic and they want to tilt the scales in favor of the traffic? That’s just lame.
True, but one thing engineering doesn’t factor in is the human stupidity….ie folks taking 12 ft. of the available twenty and leaving 8 ft. for the other car. Many are “squeeze” shy and insist on not passing throught the gauntlet unless they are the only car doing so….add in the opening car door factor and it gets worse. Doesn’t feel like twenty when I ride through in my compact car either.
I don’t think any one wants to favor traffic over safety. Maybe suggest just “no parking on church side of Street” between 4 – 7PM? The biggest backup is on that side with folks funneling through coventry and then turning left on N. Ferry to to through downtown. And many folks just want to go right onto W. Ponce.
The joke of it is, in other discussions, many people have complained about the lack of parking in Decatur…then fight to take more away!
oh well.
just another example of catering to the automobile…
I’m more confused about the pastor/church’s reasoning in pushing for restrictions here. The playground is sponsored by the church, so you would think the church would welcome families taking up whatever parking there is to use their playground, as long as they keep the park in good shape. Apparently, not.
Aside from that and the safety issues discussed above, I live in the neighborhood and suck up the infrequent congestion the parking causes. It’s literally 50m of very occasional maneuvering that must be done and if you can’t wait 2-3 min longer to get through, you are definitely part of the problem with America. Get some real problems.
As I said when this came up before, you’ve got to love the mess our country is in when parks require parking lots.
Its not our country, so much as a southern thing…go to the Midwest (Chicago, Milwaukee, Madison etc) or New England (Boston, Lexington, Burlington) or even the pacific northwest (Portland et all up there) and most of the towns are littered with parks with in walking distance of homes.
We just dont do parks in the south. Not like they do in other regions of the country.
I travel that stretch several times a day and understand both sides of this discussion–cars vs. pedestrians. The problem; however, is the lack of space to fit two cars through this segway so cars are practically “brushing” parked cars to get by. This is dangerous for the pedestrians and families trying to deal with car seats and safely getting children out of the vehicles to play in this fantastic park (thanks to First Christian and the neighborhood). I would suggest restricting parking to only one side to allow plenty of room for parents to safely deal with their children and adding 1-2 speed bumps and/or pedestrian cross walks in front of the park to effectively slow down the cars and discourage cut through traffic.
But note that no one is saying that cars passing through are striking oncoming or parked vehicles; only that it’s tight.
To my perspective, another way of saying “the width makes it harder for vehicles to pass through” is “cars passing through slow down, pay close attention, and take care.”
Speed and level of care are the two biggest factors in pedestrian casualties. I think I’ve mentioned before that, for someone hit by a car traveling 20mph, the survival rate is 95%. At 30mph, it’s 60%. At 40mph, it’s 20%.
Especially if we’re talking about kids, I don’t see a 30 second inconvenience as acceptable rationale for catering once again to cars at the expense of people. Everyone’s faring pretty well as it currently is.
Hi all,
I have seen way too many parents taking no caution at all about getting in and out of their cars on this street. Children are let out on the driver’s side of the street, making it way too unsafe. They are totally unware that this is a street. Plus, people are parking on the fire hydrant side, and parking right next to the hydrant (I guess I thought you learned in kindergarten that you shouldn’t do that, but heck, I guess I was wrong.) This is totally a safety issue.
Also, First Christian Church offers their parking lot all the time, but no one pays attention to parking in it, and that includes the people who use the church.
P.S. People who don’t live in this neighborhood use our parks, and that’s fine, I just wish they would use common sense. They are welcome to park on my street anytime, just please unload your kids on the sidewalk side, that’s the safe side of the street. In this walkable city, way too many people drive.
P.S. The street is not a standard 36 foot curb to curb — it’s barely 32 feet, measured by our city engineers. The only reason this had to come to commission in the first place, is that it’s over 30 feet, at 30 feet, the city can automatically put the no parking signs up and restrict parking, without any say so on our part.
And yes, I’m the “resident” — I’ve lived her 22 years. My kids used that park before it was so popular, and I’m so happy kids are using it, but it really isn’t our park at all, it belongs to First Christian Church. The pastor there is the most CHRISTIAN guy out there, and bends over backward to make sure that park is useable for everyone, and there a lot of people who trash it, and think the city is responsible for it, but they’re not.
Cranky old timer….
You bring up some very valuable points. I am one of those parents of small children that use this park. My family has been using it for years to hook up with with friends who live in various parts of Decatur. Parents love this park because it is fully enclosed by a fence. Before this blog post, I had no idea that one could easily park at the church. I’ll start doing this because I have two children in car seats and it’s been really hard to get both of them out of the car on this busy street.
P.S. My daughter is a fire safety fanatic, even at 3.5 years old. She would never allow me to park in front of a fire hydrant.
Did this pass last night?
I’ve always wondered why Decatur, family-friendly as it is, does not have a city-run playground. The only ones I’ve seen are attached to the churches around town (unless you count fast food joints, which I don’t), which seems unfair, both to the churches and to the people who do not belong to a church yet want a place for their children to play. I’ve only lived here for three years and do not have kids so I am poorly informed on the issue, but has there ever been an effort by the city to pursue a public playground? Where would it go?
I know I’ll probably get shouted down for this, but the (sparsely) grassy spot between the bandstand and the fountain plaza always seemed like a likely spot to me. Of course, parking would definitely be an issue there. Then again, it could draw a lot of traffic to surrounding businesses. I’m sure Little Shop of Stories would approve.
Most of the city’s parks have playgrounds Lump…
Adair, Glenlake, Ebster, Mead, Oakhurst, Scott…
And no one is going to shout you down, but I think a playground on the Square is a bit much.
Amen, DM….
Our city has great playgrounds for kids…especially Glen Lake park. Kids are indeed fortunate in our fair city! And it is good to see them there, away from the TV’s and Playstation games…
Not sure if passed. I am very tired of not being able to make it through the intersection at Ponce/Nelson Ferry headed toward Scott blvd due to all the cars illegally parked blocking the flow of traffic beyond the Sign that says (No Parking Here To Corner) to the traffic light!!! I try to continue on and once I make it almost pass the park due to all the rest of the illegally parked cars I have several times come close to being hit by cars not stopping at the stop sign on Coventry/Nelson Ferry. This is the intersection everyday I try to steer to the left to continue on Nelson Ferry where there is not a stop sign. Very tired, I think this area should be strictly enforced and better regulated ie. parking on one side of the street and Distance to Corner really enforced.
FYI…this passed unanimously at last week’s commission meeting.
FYI, the parking lot where Dancing Goats, Fleet Feet, Whit’s End, Hot Yoga, and Twist n Scoot is, is now being patrolled by a booting/towing company. I saw the guy and spoke to him. He said he will be there periodically, and told me it will not be enforced when the businesses are closed. I assume this park at the church, The Grange, and Watershed folks were parking in their lot.