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HomeMy WebLinkAboutA001 - Memo dated September 7, 1994 from Traffic Engineer to City Council TO: Mayor and City Council FROM: Scott Logan, City Traffic Engineer DATE: September 7, 1994 SUBJECT: Parking Problems by the High School Complaints have been received this past week from residents concerning the parking overflow from the Ames high School into the neighborhood. This has caused heavy utilization of parking along neighborhood streets including 20th Street, Hayes Avenue, and McKinley Avenue. Problems caused by this parking include the lack of visibility while backing out of drives, insufficient parking space for residence use, trash thrown on lawns, and other problems. The parking overflow has been partially caused by the building construction at the Ames High School that has displaced 130 parking spaces along the north side of the school. According to Ames High School officials, these parking spaces will be utilized for the school year by the construction companies for their activities. Since parking will be displaced for an extended period, staff discussed measures with the school administration to resolve the existing parking problems in the neighborhood for this year. In our discussions, staff has proposed plans to allow parking on the east side of Ridgewood from 16th Street to Ames High Drive that will provide space for approximately 34 vehicles. School administrators will consider allowing parking along the drive aisles in the parking lot that would accommodate 12 vehicles. Recent surveys show that there are approximately 45 parked vehicles present along residential streets west of Ridgewood Avenue. This number will increase during the school year when more students reach 16 and begin driving to the Ames High School. Staff is also working with residents on plans to alleviate the parking problem in the neighborhood. A meeting was held on Tuesday, September 6, with property owners and residents along 20th Street, Hayes Avenue, and McKinley concerning the problems. It was attended by Ralph Farrar, Assistant School Superintendent, who answered questions concerning the high school's parking policies. He indicated to residents that there were no definite plans to provide temporary parking areas to accommodate the overflow due to the lack of funding and available sites. During the meeting, residents believed that one of the best measures for reducing the overflow parking problem was to develop temporary parking facilities on the Ames High School property. These plans will be presented to the Ames School Board during their next meeting. Residents also believed that parking prohibitions during school days should also be designated to shift the parking from the residential areas to Ridgewood Avenue and the school parking lots. These could be designated for the remainder of the school year on 20th Street (Hayes to Fellows School), and for a 30 day period in October on Hayes and McKinley Avenue. Residents indicated that parking prohibitions during a 7:30 to 9:30 A.M period on school days would adequately discourage parking. Parking would be allowed during the remainder of the day. Since the parking utilization and traffic volumes are the heaviest on 20th Street, residents along the north side of the street between Hayes and Fellows School believed that restrictions should designated for the remainder of the school year even if additional parking facilities are provided by the Ames High School. Parking along this section created the worst problems due to the lack of sight distance for backing out of drives. Residents along Hayes and McKinley believed that a temporary parking restriction for a 30 day period would alleviate problems on this street. During this period, residents believed that students would change their habits and park along Ridgewood Avenue. Also, they believed that additional parking on school grounds would be developed. Staff is planning to meet with residents along McKinley to discuss implementing temporary prohibitions to discourage student parking. Since parking will be prohibited on Hayes Avenue, it is believed that student parking will shift to McKinley. A meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, September 14th. After this meeting, staff will present a plan to City Council at the September 27th meeting to designate parking prohibitions for improving conditions in the neighborhood.