Austin ends Parallel Parking to be more 'Bicycle Friendly'
source: http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/2009/07/26/0726parking.html
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The City of Austin and University of Texas are about to shift your parking paradigm into reverse.
In August, the city will jump on a national trend and install reverse-angle parking, sometimes called "back-in parking". Salt Lake City, Washington, Seattle and Portland, among other cities, already have reverse-angle parking in places.
The lines of the parking spaces would point forward on the street rather than toward the curb, as with traditionally angled parking.
A driver would have to go just past the parking space, then back in to it while swinging the steering wheel to the right. The idea is that it is better to "back into the known" — a static parking slot — rather than backing into moving traffic.
But it would also mean backing into a confined area rather than into the wide-open space of a traffic lane, requiring a set of skills similar to parallel parking but different enough to be challenging initially.
Under the city's plan, the 2,000-foot-long stretch would instead have the reverse angle parking, bike lanes in each direction and four traffic lanes. Under the plan, the city would install parking pay stations like the ones in various places downtown.
"If it works on this pilot project, which I think it will, then we'll contemplate how we put it on streets without center medians," said Robert Spillar, city transportation director.
The concern is that without a median, people going one direction would turn left and park facing toward the curb on the other side. Backing out in that circumstance would be extremely dangerous, Spillar said.
In August, the city will jump on a national trend and install reverse-angle parking, sometimes called "back-in parking". Salt Lake City, Washington, Seattle and Portland, among other cities, already have reverse-angle parking in places.
The lines of the parking spaces would point forward on the street rather than toward the curb, as with traditionally angled parking.
A driver would have to go just past the parking space, then back in to it while swinging the steering wheel to the right. The idea is that it is better to "back into the known" — a static parking slot — rather than backing into moving traffic.
But it would also mean backing into a confined area rather than into the wide-open space of a traffic lane, requiring a set of skills similar to parallel parking but different enough to be challenging initially.
Under the city's plan, the 2,000-foot-long stretch would instead have the reverse angle parking, bike lanes in each direction and four traffic lanes. Under the plan, the city would install parking pay stations like the ones in various places downtown.
"If it works on this pilot project, which I think it will, then we'll contemplate how we put it on streets without center medians," said Robert Spillar, city transportation director.
The concern is that without a median, people going one direction would turn left and park facing toward the curb on the other side. Backing out in that circumstance would be extremely dangerous, Spillar said.
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- groups:
- Keep Austin Weird, Cycling, Bicycles
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- Bicycles, Austin, Austin Texas, Austin TX, 3 more
