Traffic Commission To Recommend Parking Changes At KeyBank
July 8, 2021 at 1:42 a.m.
Traffic Commission To Recommend Parking Changes At KeyBank
By David [email protected]
KeyBank manager Yolanda Hedington requested handicapped parking and 15-minute parking on Center and/or Indiana streets for their business customers.
She told the Traffic Commission since the pandemic, it made the bank aware of some of the needs it has.
“We realized there really isn’t a lot of dedicated parking around that city block, so on Indiana the first one there I would like to see if we could consider that handicapped parking,” she said. “Center, I have parked on it, it’s very busy, so I really don’t want that one to be the handicapped (parking space), but I would like to see that one maybe become a 15-minute.”
She said they share the block with Mad Anthony’s and they could benefit from that as well for quick pick-up orders. KeyBank has many customers that come in by taxi, and the 15-minute parking space would help expedite them coming in and out. It would also help the bank’s customers who only want to do quick tasks like make a deposit.
Lance Grubs, Traffic Commission administrator, asked her if KeyBank had access at the rear of the town center mall.
She said their back access goes to the alley and the parking behind the bank is for city/county parking.
“So there’s nothing available for them to park and just come in there?” Grubbs asked, to which Hedington replied “no, not back there.”
KeyBank’s hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, she said when asked.
Councilwoman Cindy Dobbins said she could see the advantage, particularly with the 15-minute parking for the businesses along the part of East Center Street. Hedington pointed out they share their office with United Way, so the 15-minute parking would be ideal, as would the handicapped parking.
Mayor Joe Thallemer asked Warsaw Police Capt. Joel Beam about the enforcement of a 15-minute spot. Beam said it would be difficult to enforce and it’s a one-hour walk downtown for parking enforcement, so instead of 15 minutes a vehicle could be there 60. He said it wasn’t impossible, just difficult.
Dobbins said she thought most people would just be in and out.
Council President Jack Wilhite asked if there were other places in town that were 15-minute parking. Beam said yes, across from City Hall. Dobbins said she believed that sign has hours on it.
Thallemer asked Hedington how the parking for her customers were along Indiana Street. She said they fill up “pretty quickly.”
Grubbs asked, as far as the handicapped, if she had a lot of customers come in to use the bank. She said a lot and they don’t have a drive-thru, only an ATM.
Thallemer said he appreciated the fact that Hedington saw a need for handicapped parking for her business and for being thoughtful to request it for Indiana Street and not Center.
Grubbs said a handicapped spot would need to be right there on the corner of Indiana most likely. Beam said, being consistent, Lake City Bank, across the street, has a handicapped spot right in front of it.
Thallemer said they were both good suggestions, but he wasn’t a voter.
A motion for a handicapped spot at the first spot on Indiana Street and a 15-minute parking spot (9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday) on East Center Street in front of KeyBank was made and unanimously approved.
Thallemer said the recommendation from the Traffic Commission will go before the Warsaw Common Council for approval.
In another matter, there’s been several near-crashes at the intersection of Fort Wayne Street and Maple Avenue due to parked cars that make it hard to see when crossing Fort Wayne Street southbound, according to a person who lives in that area, Grubbs said. He said he’s driven through that area quite a few times.
“It does obstruct to a certain point,” he said.
Beam said he pulled the crash data from the last five years and there’s been seven crashes at that intersection. He said that’s not unreasonably high or low. He then looked at the causes of the crashes. One was a vehicle hit a parked car, and another involved police. Three crashes were because a driver didn’t see the other vehicle coming from the west, and one crash involved a driver who thought Fort Wayne traffic was supposed to stop so they didn’t.
Dobbins said she drove by there a few times but there were no cars parked there at those times that obstructed her vision.
There is a fire hydrant on that corner so parking doesn’t start until 15 feet west of Maple, Grubbs said, and he’s never seen a car in the fire hydrant area.
Thallemer said there certainly has to be traffic standards for visibility on one-way streets, like Fort Wayne Street, with miles per hour and other details. City Planner Justin Taylor said the city has a vision and clearance standard in its ordinance. “This would definitely exceed that,” he said.
Street Superintendent Dustin Dillon said that corner was up to its standards as far as what’s supposed to be there.
Thallemer said it was important to look and see if there was any guidance. Wilhite agreed that they need to look to see if there are any standards and what they are.
Beam said people need to stop and look when they approach an intersection and sometimes people don’t always do that.
Dillon said he’s had the intersection checked for over a week and his department didn’t find more than one car parked there. He didn’t see a huge issue with the line of sight.
The woman he talked to, Grubbs said, said the issue was not a speeding car coming down Fort Wayne Street. It’s just they “have to inch their way up and almost into the intersection before they can see anyone. And it’s only southbound.”
He said they don’t want a stop sign for Fort Wayne Street.
Dillon recommended they look back at state standards and try to find out what a “norm” is for cities. Dobbins said she would feel comfortable with that. Thallemer said the factors would include one-way streets and speed and was sure there was a standard for that.
The matter was tabled.
James Gibson, of 320 N. Union St., wanted to discuss restricting parking in front of his house on the Porter Street side. Because he was not on the agenda, the Traffic Commission heard his issue but did not discuss it much. He was fine with being on the next meeting’s agenda.
On the Porter Street side, neighbors have kids that park their vehicles four or five deep and leave them there “for days on end,” Gibson said. This past Friday, someone parked a wrecked Dodge Durango in front of his house, in the middle of the property, so he couldn’t mow around it, he said. He called the police to try to get it moved.
“It’s not the residents living in the house, it’s their kids coming over,” Gibson said. There’s parking behind their house they could use.
Gibson requested eliminating parking on Porter Street in front of his house at 320 N. Union St.
Grubbs asked if the vehicles were legally parked, and Gibson said yes but they’re left there for days at a time.
Grubbs said it would be tabled and they would take a look at the issue.
In a final note, Thallemer said they’ll be talking with the Indiana Department of Transportation early next week to talk about the issues with the railroad tracks and crossings at Market and Center streets.
KeyBank manager Yolanda Hedington requested handicapped parking and 15-minute parking on Center and/or Indiana streets for their business customers.
She told the Traffic Commission since the pandemic, it made the bank aware of some of the needs it has.
“We realized there really isn’t a lot of dedicated parking around that city block, so on Indiana the first one there I would like to see if we could consider that handicapped parking,” she said. “Center, I have parked on it, it’s very busy, so I really don’t want that one to be the handicapped (parking space), but I would like to see that one maybe become a 15-minute.”
She said they share the block with Mad Anthony’s and they could benefit from that as well for quick pick-up orders. KeyBank has many customers that come in by taxi, and the 15-minute parking space would help expedite them coming in and out. It would also help the bank’s customers who only want to do quick tasks like make a deposit.
Lance Grubs, Traffic Commission administrator, asked her if KeyBank had access at the rear of the town center mall.
She said their back access goes to the alley and the parking behind the bank is for city/county parking.
“So there’s nothing available for them to park and just come in there?” Grubbs asked, to which Hedington replied “no, not back there.”
KeyBank’s hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, she said when asked.
Councilwoman Cindy Dobbins said she could see the advantage, particularly with the 15-minute parking for the businesses along the part of East Center Street. Hedington pointed out they share their office with United Way, so the 15-minute parking would be ideal, as would the handicapped parking.
Mayor Joe Thallemer asked Warsaw Police Capt. Joel Beam about the enforcement of a 15-minute spot. Beam said it would be difficult to enforce and it’s a one-hour walk downtown for parking enforcement, so instead of 15 minutes a vehicle could be there 60. He said it wasn’t impossible, just difficult.
Dobbins said she thought most people would just be in and out.
Council President Jack Wilhite asked if there were other places in town that were 15-minute parking. Beam said yes, across from City Hall. Dobbins said she believed that sign has hours on it.
Thallemer asked Hedington how the parking for her customers were along Indiana Street. She said they fill up “pretty quickly.”
Grubbs asked, as far as the handicapped, if she had a lot of customers come in to use the bank. She said a lot and they don’t have a drive-thru, only an ATM.
Thallemer said he appreciated the fact that Hedington saw a need for handicapped parking for her business and for being thoughtful to request it for Indiana Street and not Center.
Grubbs said a handicapped spot would need to be right there on the corner of Indiana most likely. Beam said, being consistent, Lake City Bank, across the street, has a handicapped spot right in front of it.
Thallemer said they were both good suggestions, but he wasn’t a voter.
A motion for a handicapped spot at the first spot on Indiana Street and a 15-minute parking spot (9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday) on East Center Street in front of KeyBank was made and unanimously approved.
Thallemer said the recommendation from the Traffic Commission will go before the Warsaw Common Council for approval.
In another matter, there’s been several near-crashes at the intersection of Fort Wayne Street and Maple Avenue due to parked cars that make it hard to see when crossing Fort Wayne Street southbound, according to a person who lives in that area, Grubbs said. He said he’s driven through that area quite a few times.
“It does obstruct to a certain point,” he said.
Beam said he pulled the crash data from the last five years and there’s been seven crashes at that intersection. He said that’s not unreasonably high or low. He then looked at the causes of the crashes. One was a vehicle hit a parked car, and another involved police. Three crashes were because a driver didn’t see the other vehicle coming from the west, and one crash involved a driver who thought Fort Wayne traffic was supposed to stop so they didn’t.
Dobbins said she drove by there a few times but there were no cars parked there at those times that obstructed her vision.
There is a fire hydrant on that corner so parking doesn’t start until 15 feet west of Maple, Grubbs said, and he’s never seen a car in the fire hydrant area.
Thallemer said there certainly has to be traffic standards for visibility on one-way streets, like Fort Wayne Street, with miles per hour and other details. City Planner Justin Taylor said the city has a vision and clearance standard in its ordinance. “This would definitely exceed that,” he said.
Street Superintendent Dustin Dillon said that corner was up to its standards as far as what’s supposed to be there.
Thallemer said it was important to look and see if there was any guidance. Wilhite agreed that they need to look to see if there are any standards and what they are.
Beam said people need to stop and look when they approach an intersection and sometimes people don’t always do that.
Dillon said he’s had the intersection checked for over a week and his department didn’t find more than one car parked there. He didn’t see a huge issue with the line of sight.
The woman he talked to, Grubbs said, said the issue was not a speeding car coming down Fort Wayne Street. It’s just they “have to inch their way up and almost into the intersection before they can see anyone. And it’s only southbound.”
He said they don’t want a stop sign for Fort Wayne Street.
Dillon recommended they look back at state standards and try to find out what a “norm” is for cities. Dobbins said she would feel comfortable with that. Thallemer said the factors would include one-way streets and speed and was sure there was a standard for that.
The matter was tabled.
James Gibson, of 320 N. Union St., wanted to discuss restricting parking in front of his house on the Porter Street side. Because he was not on the agenda, the Traffic Commission heard his issue but did not discuss it much. He was fine with being on the next meeting’s agenda.
On the Porter Street side, neighbors have kids that park their vehicles four or five deep and leave them there “for days on end,” Gibson said. This past Friday, someone parked a wrecked Dodge Durango in front of his house, in the middle of the property, so he couldn’t mow around it, he said. He called the police to try to get it moved.
“It’s not the residents living in the house, it’s their kids coming over,” Gibson said. There’s parking behind their house they could use.
Gibson requested eliminating parking on Porter Street in front of his house at 320 N. Union St.
Grubbs asked if the vehicles were legally parked, and Gibson said yes but they’re left there for days at a time.
Grubbs said it would be tabled and they would take a look at the issue.
In a final note, Thallemer said they’ll be talking with the Indiana Department of Transportation early next week to talk about the issues with the railroad tracks and crossings at Market and Center streets.
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