On the docket for tonight’s first Decatur City Commission meeting of 2011 are two requests for new “No Parking Zones” inside the city limits.

With the recent reduction of lanes along West Ponce de Leon Avenue, the city’s Senior Engineer John Madajewski is requesting that the City Commission extend the “No Parking Zone” along West Ponce from Pinetree Lane to Adair Street.

Parking is currently allowed on the north side of the street, used primarily by St. Thomas More parishioners on Sunday mornings.  However, with the reduction of lanes to just two, parking of the north side of the street blocks westbound traffic requiring drivers to travel in the left-turn only travel lane “and then illegally cut through the West Ponce de Leon Avenue/West Trinity Place intersection to resume traveling westbound on West Ponce de Leon Avenue.”

The other new “No Parking Zone” under consideration tonight is along Feld Avenue behind Oakhurst Elementary.

Assistant City Manager David Junger explains in a note that the “Safe Routes to School Committee” has identified the need for a crosswalk across Feld Avenue behind the elementary school and “in order to make the crossing as safe as possible”, the Engineering Division is recommending creation of a “No Parking Zone” along the rear of the Oakhurst Elementary School property “to provide a clear line of sight for parents and students to look for oncoming traffic before entering the crosswalk.”