Chapter II in Nelson Ferry Parking Saga
Decatur Metro | March 6, 2009Nittany writes in…
With the first nice day of spring ,the police have started ticketing those cars parked illegally on Nelson Ferry next to the park. Park visitors will need to more closely abide by the no parking signs and/or park in the designated lot offered by the church.
Here’s something I’ve been wondering…why are the new “no parking signs” facing the other side of the street? Aren’t most signs usually perpendicular to the street, facing down the road so oncoming drivers can see them upon approach?
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Finally, Decatur Police are doing their job.
It would really make sense if the city would actually paint the curb yellow like all the other curbs in town, where NO Parking signs are posted. I guess that would be from the corner of the Church across from Coventry all the way down to W. Ponce de Leon.
It feels like we as a neighborhood always has to spell so much out to the city and Decatur Police.
And don’t even think of parking on Northern Avenue either. There is that huge lot in the back of the church that no one uses. Love the park, enjoy the kids, but don’t like your cars on my street!
Wow…parking sure brings out the best in people!
L, as long as the city is listening, what’s wrong with the neighborhood having to continually communicate?
Condo Dweller, without cars parked on Northern, people would drive even faster down that road…so pick your poison.
It last time took almost a year it seemed like to get the message, (the continual communication).
Sorry DM I don’t buy the argument that cars parked all the way up to the corner of a street is a good thing because it will make the drivers go slow. The issue on Northern is viability when trying to turn on to or off of Northern on to Ponce. Given the slope at the end of the street, there really isn’t room for two way traffic turning from or on to Ponce if several SUV driving yoga students are parked right at the corner. The situation is further complicated if you have pedestrians trying to at the same time. Really hard to see them .
Speed limits should be enforced by the police not by (illegally?) parked cars.
In addition, the area of Northern in front of the apartments and condos is Resident Parking Only. I can’t tell you how many times I have watched people pull up and park in those areas, get out with their yoga mat under their arm and head in to the building .
Proper traffic enforcement is part of the City’s services. DM would it be OK if we had to continually communicate to get our trash collected every week ?
O.K. put speed bumps in and paint the curb yellow or put a traffic light on Nelson Ferry and Coventry. Thats usually where I always come close to being hit. Trying to drive west on Nelson Ferry towards Scott Blvd still is a challenge. I feel like I have mentioned this before, let’s see, last fall.
There used to be ample parking for yogis in the lot on the other side of the building, but with Dancing Goats being packed daily with people who seem to spend all day there, the lot is full all morning, every morning, weekends included. I try to walk to the yoga studio, but if for some reason I can’t, I either park at the Grange, or on the weekends, in the Post Office Credit Union lot. I never park in front of the condos on Northern – if I can’t get a space right by the building, I look elsewhere.
Fifi, parking too close to a stop sign is illegal for just the reason you mentioned. Therefore I am not defending that action at all. If you don’t want to buy that parked cars slow traffic, then what can I do to prove it to you? How many studies would it take?
Tell me if you agree with this. People drive at their comfort level regardless of the posted speed limit. Just like how NO ONE drives 35 mph on Freedom Parkway, no one is going to drive 25 down Northern if the lanes are ultra-wide. By providing legal roadside parking, it slows traffic by making people less comfortable.
Law enforcement is a temporary bandage and as soon as you removed them the problem returns. Plus they’re a bit more expensive than a parked vehicle.
At one time there was an issue of fast traffic cutting behind Agnes Scott on E Davis. A crafty (IMHO) resident solved the problem — very effectively and at essentially zero cost — by legally parking two large cars directly opposite each other on both sides of the street, reducing street width at that point to one full sized lane that opposing traffic had to slow down and navigate.
The resulting uproar surrounding this “convenience removal” lead to a compromise where the cars were moved and a speed bump was installed — not solving the speed problem nearly as well and requiring a grand or two of tax dollars to implement.
Sometimes the simplest solution is, in fact, the best.
I like the cars parked there, within the reason of not blocking visibilty to turn. With kids playing nearby, and pedistrians all over Ponce and NF, every bit of traffic calming makes sense to me over the convenience of 20 seconds time saved for the auto driver…
DM by saying pick your poison, I thought you were suggesting that those cars parked on the hill and the non residents cars in resident only spots should be welcomed since they calm the traffic. My previous comment was about the cars I believe are illegally parked on Northern.
Sure am glad I live in Ponce Heights and walk to all that!
Ah…gotcha fifi. I’m not sure the reason for more vigilant parking enforcement…but I was sitting outside in Oakhurst last night and the cops were definitely out in reassuring numbers. In a matter of 15 minutes I saw cops pass through the center of Oakhurst business distict no less than 5 times. Plus one stopped for about 10 minutes at the Hop and Shop. So, perhaps there are just more pressing matters. Again, I suggest anyone and everyone talk up the Decatur PD…as far as I know there are still openings.
Condo dweller…they may still drive “fast” but do they drive as fast? Numerous traffic studies the country over say “no”.
Decatur PD does a great job. They are too busy to spend their time giving parking tickets.
Maybe the City could think about hiring some people who are strictly parking enforcement officers. Lots of other cities have them .(in the old days they were women and called meter maids )
These people wouldn’t need to be trained police officers – just employees authorized to give parking tickets . They could have access to a small golf cart type vehicle or maybe a smart car to get around downtown quicker than walking.
The current ambassadors do a good job but they don’t have vehicles to get all around the city.
Sorry I used the wrong terminology – I said ambassadors – that is the City of Atlanta name. I meant PALS.
Steve – I live in the 315 Ponce neighborhood – believe me, many, many of us have talked to our commissioners and the DDA and the PD about parking enforcement.
Expansion of the PALS has been discussed but nothing has come of it. I think the long range plan is have a parking services department . Cost is an issue though – at one meeting Amanda Thompson mentioned needing to wait until the conference center is paid off . I guess no more payments on the conference center will free up funds for parking services. This is mentioned somewhere in the transportation plan – I can’t recall which section.
Don’t be too hard on yourself, fifi. On the city’s website, they say PALS “serve as ambassadors for the City of Decatur.”
And if it’s any consolation, I think I read somewhere that the city just made its very last conference center payment (or is about to?). Not sure it’s necessarily the prelude to what you’re looking for, but it’s something.
This may only be pot stirring:
the PD has had time to go through Woodland, Lamont, and Duval (others) and write tickets to homeowners whose cars are parked/faced incorrectly during the wee small hours. Nice way to start a day with a parking ticket on YOUR car in front of YOUR home.
So sorry…that should be Vidal, not Duval. Guess I am in a New Orleans kind of mind!
DM,
Maybe we also need a BIG HUNKING Slow Down sign around posted both on Coventry and Northern. It cracks me up to see people flying over the speed bumps, only to be stymied by the long light at Ponce and Nelson Ferry.
I do see some traffic slowing with cars parked on both sides of the streets, but that doesn’t mitigate my fears that a little one will bolt out between the cars .. (I’ve been there, done that in the kid dept, but hearing parents scream at the top of their lungs for their freddie to STOP seems to make them run harder …). the problem besides parking in neighborhoods is visibility. . But the no parking signs are small because there was a desire to keep a little aesthetic going, and not ruin the tree line. Yeah right. Oh well.
By the way, anyone can park on Coventry as long as they park THE RIGHT WAY. There is reason those cars parked the wrong way are ticketed; they pose a hazard to other cars and again, visibility.
Send an email to David Junger about the yellow striping. Public Works, his department, are the ones who do it.
Thanks
One technique used for traffic calming is to narrow down the width of a street using “bulb-in” curbs. There used to be such a thing on S. McDonough St.
DM….folks drive down Northern fast whether there are cars there or not. Resident only parking is resident only parking. Parking at the beginning of the street for those businesses is fine as long as you give room to allow for 2 way traffic at the stop light. There is a big huge church parking lot, and when the nearby businesses are closed, I know they don’t mind if folks park in their lot. I do know the Dancing Goats, Whit’s End, Fleet Feet and Scooter parking lot is periodically monitored, and folks can get booted if they park there during business hours when not using those businesses. When the Grange and Post Office is closed, no one minds if folks park there either. I agree though that the parking overflow is caused by folks who stay all day at the coffee shop. It’s an issue. I wouldn’t suggest yoga folks park across the street while the Grange is open, you are asking for your car to get towed. Businesses and neighborhoods protect their parking. If you go to the playground, park in the church lot or legally on the street, if you go to one of the businesses, park in their perspective lots, or legally on the street.
The Decatur PD has done a good job at filling openings, but there are still 3 or 4 position left for sworn officers.
The City has such people – they’re the PALS in the red shirts that you see downtown. At present, they only have power to enforce meters on downtown streets, but that doesn’t mean it couldn’t be expanded. Talk to your City Commissioners.
Keep up the good work !
And BTW, Atlanta Ambassadors don’t write parking tickets. Fact is, Atlanta now outsources that function.
The last bond payment for the Conference Center has been paid.