University Avenue has changed. Gone are the days of the ambiguous 15' shoulder. But it seems that people are having a hard time coping with that reality. The solution? To park on the sidewalk. I saw three trucks do it this morning. Cough. Contractors. Cough.
It seems hard to imagine, that you would need to remind people that cars belong in the street, not idling on the precious 10' reserved for humans. It also wish it was more apparent that we just spent millions of dollars on those new curbs, sidewalks, and fancy paver stormwater systems. Maybe some ticketing would make that more obvious. I guess it's back to the construction hotline.
P.S. Contractors: opening both lanes of traffic and parking work trucks on the sidewalk doesn't count as construction being done. But I applaud your ability to think outside the box. You sure are getting more creative!
I saw a contractor's van parked on the sidewalk in front of Snap Fitness at Berry St & University this morning. I just hope it wasn't running otherwise it'd be gassing the whole building if someone opened a door.
ReplyDeleteThis sort of thing is exactly why I thought the St Paul Bike Coalition's street layout plan for University Ave post-rail was a good idea (http://www.saintpaulbicyclecoalition.org/projects/university/). Calmer traffic, give businesses back their on-street parking, create a space for biking, and keep vehicles like this off sidewalks.
Good thing they ignored it completely and restriped University as a 4-lane mini-highway. That'll really be dangerous when there are more people walking around from LRT.