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Before the City Council requests the elimination of street parking on 1.75 miles of East Second Street to install bike lanes, city officials should actually talk to the people who live on the street.
We're glad to see Brent Sheldon, R-Ward 1, took the time to drive through the area before Monday's meeting. He counted several cars on the street while noting most of the apartments in the area don't have adequate parking. Removing parking, he said, could result in people trying to get children and groceries across a busy street, creating a potential safety issue.
The staff memo given to the City Council as part of its Monday agenda said there is enough off-street parking. If that is the case, why are there so many cars parked on that section of Second Street, particularly at night? It's a question that should be answered before anything is sent to the state Transportation Department.
The idea behind Complete Streets – the policy justifying removing the parking so a shared bike and car lane can be installed – is laudable. It makes some sense to encourage people to walk and bicycle more. But the Complete Streets movement ignores a couple of incontrovertible facts in some areas. In a city like Jamestown, expecting people to abandon their vehicles to walk and bicycle more is a real pain for about four months of the year. We have a little thing called winter here. It's much more convenient to hop in a car, or have a friend or family member pick you up in their car, and go to the store than it is to walk while pulling a cart with your groceries when it's 20 degrees with three inches of snow on much of the sidewalk. We need to encourage as many modes of transportation as possible without making it more difficult to use the easiest and most efficient mode of transportation. And, in our area, the most efficient way to get around is a car or truck.
While many of the homes and businesses on the affected area of East Second Street have off-street parking, oftentimes that off-street parking accommodates only those who live in the homes or is barely enough for the businesses in question. We know of at least one business that regularly uses the street for customers because the business is shoehorned into its current space. What about visitors? Is the city going to build lots for them or expect them to hike to their destination? Will businesses want people parking in their lots to go visit a friend who lives up the street? Will there be designated areas for taxis or ride-sharing drivers to pick up and drop off clients, or will we be writing tickets if they're in the bike lane for more than a couple of minutes?
Finally, pedestrian and bike improvements don't seem to be making a big difference in people walking and biking. Additional curb cuts, signs and crosswalks were installed on Forest Avenue, yet walkers behave much the same as they always have – crossing where convenient while crosswalks remain largely unused. Washington Street went on a road diet to accommodate bicyclists, yet bicyclists are a rare sight on Washington Street during the spring, summer and fall. We've made streets more friendly to bicycles, but bicycles are more often seen on smaller side streets with no bike lanes rather than main thoroughfares.
Complete Streets is nice in theory. But those pushing this East Second Street plan should go door-to-door and make sure they aren't making city residents' lives harder before any decisions are made.