News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
It may not be popular, but back-in parking is here to stay for a while yet.
The reverse parking was established on Main Avenue in an effort to improve bicycle safety, as part of a 2012 Main Avenue upgrade project. Grant funding for the Main Avenue renovation project came from ODOT's Bicycle and Pedestrian Grant Program. The ODOT grant included a clause requiring the back-in parking to remain in place for at least 24 months. That timeframe has passed - but the city still can't change the parking scheme.
Responding to a citizen query, City Manager Andrew Gorayeb reported that "it's part of our TSP (Transportation System Plan). It requires that we go through a whole public process and ultimately change the TSP. Once that is completed, we can remove the back-in parking."
The issue of back-in parking is addressed in TSP Chapter 6 dealing with cycling infrastructure: "This TSP recommends conversion of head-in diagonal parking to back-in diagonal parking for cyclist safety in conjunction with bike lane striping. This choice may require trade-offs in terms of parking, bicycle facility type, and sidewalk width."
Modifying the TSP would require a notice period and a series of hearings. Gorayeb told The Nugget that the planning staff is working on the issue, and he hopes to see some action on it by the first of the year.
The back-in parking scheme has been broadly unpopular, and only spottily obeyed. Visitors to the community are often unaware that they are supposed to back in to spaces and simply pull head-in on the opposite side of the street. When that happens, they back out across two lanes of travel. There are also often delays while traffic awaits the efforts of an uncertain driver to back into a space.
On the other hand, pulling forward out of a back-in space offers a clearer view of traffic lanes - and a quick getaway.
Changing back to head-in parking on Main Avenue is not without cost. The city engineer has determined that reversing the striping to front-in parking would eliminate 45 of 314 parking spaces due to the direction of the existing bulb-outs.
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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