Dear Editor:
Motorcycles should be allowed to park off road, on the sidewalk, as long as it is far enough back so as not to impede the walking lane. They should also be allowed to park in the yellow and/or red zones. I know, I know, please allow me to explain before the idea gets squashed. Motorcycles should never be allowed to park in car spaces. Car spaces are much too valuable a commodity. Also, motorcycle owners need a safer location to park their bikes than squeezing them between two parked cars. My solution is to create one perpendicular space, on both sides of the street, at the beginning and end of each block. Since most bikes are not very wide the motorcycle parking spaces would be a minimum intrusion into the yellow and/or red zones. This would create four spots on each block for motorcyclists to park their bikes away from the spaces that the cars need to park in. Critics of the yellow and/or red zone bike parking spaces may say that this idea goes against the reason why the yellow and/or red zones where established. And I say that motorcycles will be located the furthest away from the corner of the street in the yellow and/or red zones and their height profile would not impede a driver from seeing traffic coming into the intersection. If need be, a compromise would be to eliminate the one motorcycle space, on the side of the street that is closest to the traffic coming into the intersection. This way there will never be a chance of obstructing a drivers view of traffic coming into the intersection. That would leave three spots per block for motorcycles which would be more than enough to accommodate bike owners.
In closing, I would like to say that with these idea’s I believe that everyone would be able to enjoy a slice of the parking pie. With the added structure of “painted lines” the city would be eliminating the guess work and the stress that is present when trying to park your car on the street. It would also eliminate the frustration of not being able to find a parking spot because of insensitive parking. The city would know exactly how many parking spaces are available and can issue permits accordingly. Economy vehicle owners would know where economy spaces can be had around the city, first come first serve of course. Oversized vehicle owners would know where oversized spaces can be had around the city, first come first serve of course. Finally and most importantly painting lines would add on average two to four parking spots per block and somewhere between 160 to 325 (estimate) additional parking spots to a city that can’t seem to find a solution to a problem that needs to be remedied asap.
Sincerely,
Darren V. Cellemme