Parking along the east side of Fifth Street between Elk Drive and Easy Street will soon be prohibited, City Manager Gary Milliman reported today.
Signs prohibiting the on-street parking are scheduled to be erected during the week of February 13. The sign installation will be followed by a change in the center line along this segment of Fifth Street as soon as weather permits, Milliman said.
“This change was approved by the City Council several years ago, but was never implemented as parking along this area was minimal,” Milliman said. “However, we have received an increasing number of citizen complaints, particularly concerning larger vehicles parking along the street, so we are now moving ahead with this change.”
Part of the problem is with vehicles exiting driveways. “With vehicles parked along the street, and vehicles exiting driveways into travel lanes, there are problems with sight distance and vehicles making turns into opposing traffic,” Milliman said, noting also that all of the businesses along this segment of Fifth Street have off-street parking for employees and customers.
The center line will be changed to increase the width of the travel lane in both directions.