The trial will be evaluated for a few months
According to a release by the City of Cookeville, starting Friday, May 2, the City will “begin a trial conversion of parking on West Broad Street, between Cedar and Walnut Avenues.”
The goal is to convert the angled parking spaces to parallel, at least temporarily.
“As part of the recent resurfacing of Broad Street, the street’s angled parking lines have already been removed. The City is utilizing this as an opportunity to test a parallel parking pattern. In the coming days, crews will stripe temporary parallel parking lines, with several spaces marked for accessible (ADA-compliant) parking,” according to the release
The city says this is a trial run in response to public outcry.
“This trial run is in direct response to ongoing complaints about parked vehicles blocking travel lanes, making it difficult for drivers to pass and increasing risks for drivers and pedestrians,” according to the release. “The revised layout is intended to address these issues. It will also create wider lanes for driving and make crosswalks easier to see and safer to use along this busy corridor.”
The trial will be evaluated for a few months and if adopted permanently the city says if traffic flow improves it will modify “nearby concrete islands” and paint permanent parking lines. If not, it will return to the status quo
“Parking enforcement will begin on May 2. Officers with the Cookeville Police Department will monitor compliance, initially giving warnings to improperly parked vehicles. After a few days, officers will begin issuing parking citations to those in violation of the new rules,” according to the release.
The change removes eight parking spaces, but the city has announced it is adding more parking nearby.
“A new parking lot at the corner of North Cedar Avenue and West 3rd Street will open in May, providing approximately 65 new spaces,” according to the city.
The City also plans to build another lot between Church Avenue and Walnut Avenue to “meet the downtown’s growing need for public parking.”
For more information, contact the City of Cookeville Offices of the City Manager at 931-520-5241.
Photo courtesy of The City of Cookeville.
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