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Despite some concerns raised earlier this month, the Jamestown City Council on Monday is expected to again discuss a proposal to eliminate parking on a portion of East Second Street to make way for a dedicated bicycle lane.
A resolution regarding East Second is on the agendas for the council's Finance and Public Works committees.
At present, the reconfiguration would impact 1.75 miles of the heavily traveled road from East Fourth Street to Tiffany Avenue. The proposal calls for a dedicated bike lane to be added to the eastbound lane of East Second Street while the westbound lane would be widened to accommodate both vehicles and bikes.
As such the reconfiguration, if recommended, would require the elimination of parking on East Second to make way for the new lanes. Work would be undertaken by the state Department of Transportation during maintenance already scheduled for 2025.
Mark Roetzer, acting director of the city Department of Public Works, said the state will follow the recommendation of the city. He said the plan calls for the addition of striping along the eastbound lane of East Second to create a bike lane. The westbound lane, he said, would go from 11 feet wide -- the normal width of a travel lane -- to 13 feet wide to act as a shared lane for both vehicles and bikes.
Its proposal earlier this month was met with concerns from at least two members of the City Council.
"I feel that residents, especially in the area between Winsor and Weeks streets, are going to be impacted by this because a lot of multi-family houses do not have off-street parking," Councilman Brent Sheldon, R-Ward I, said during a Jan. 8 work session.
A review by city staff found that 90% of properties have access to off-street parking.
However, Sheldon said he found 13 vehicles parked along both sides of East Second Street, between Winsor and Weeks streets. "My biggest concern is the safety of the residents who are going to have to be parking on the opposite side of the street that they live on; bringing children across the street; carrying groceries ... from shopping," he said. "I think it's going to be a very big safety issue."
Sheldon also noted that there are several businesses along East Second that might be impacted if on-street parking is eliminated. "People wouldn't be able to park in front of the businesses," he said.
Councilman Jeff Russell, R-At-Large, said he, too, found it "hard to believe" that there is enough off-street parking for residents, noting the number of apartments on East Second.
"I think it's going to be a major inconvenience to the public," he said.
Councilman Randy Daversa, R-At-Large, who chairs the Public Works Committee, brought up the city's Safer Streets Initiative.
"I don't know if we're going to be able to avoid not doing some of these thoroughfares because we've said that a lot of people are using pedal bikes and e-bikes going to (Jamestown Community College)," he said. "They may very well utilize Second Street if they've got a bike lane, so it would help in a way for the college."
Daversa said the bike lane recently established on Washington Street appears to be working well.
Russell, however, noted that there is more commercial use along Washington while there's more residential housing on East Second.
The Finance Committee is scheduled to meet at 7 p.m. Monday in the mayor's conference room on the fourth floor of the city Municipal Building; the Public Works Committee will meet at 7 p.m. in the Department of Development conference room.
The City Council will meet for a full work session at 7:30 p.m. in the police training room.
In other business, the council will review a resolution to fill a part-time crime analyst position within the Jamestown Police Department. The council also will discuss a resolution to send four recruit firefighters to the New York State Fire Academy in Montour Falls, New York.