Delivery zone parking test planned
June 8, 2017 at 7:17 p.m.
By David Slone-dslone@timesuniononline.com
Warsaw Police Department Capt. and Traffic Safety Commissioner Kip Shuter said a request for downtown delivery zones was brought to the attention of the Kosciusko Chamber of Commerce by a representative at Owl Manor Veterinary. Owl Manor is in the CenturyLink building.
Annette Hammond, Kosciusko Chamber of Commerce member relations manager, came to the Traffic Commission to ask it to consider putting loading/unloading zones downtown for trucks like UPS, FedEx and other delivery vehicles so they can pull off to the side of the road instead of double parking next to other vehicles and people having to drive around them.
Hammond said, “There’s a businessman who has approached us about a delivery zone. His concern was that UPS or FedEx trucks were stopping in the middle of the road and holding up traffic and it was unsafe.”
Shute said there were two areas downtown where the zones could probably work at – one on Indiana Street next to the Centurylink building just south of Center Street; and the other, in front of the Justice Building on Lake Street just north of Center Street.
He said the location on Lake Street used to have a right-turn lane so there’s an extra long parking space there. The no-parking zone on Indiana Street used to be there because of a 15-minute drop-off period for payments to CenturyLink. “They’ve never been put back as having real parking spaces there, so it wouldn’t pull from parking spaces downtown for us to do this,” he said.
City Councilman Jack Wilhite asked, “What do we expect – UPS and FedEx to actually use those and not still park along the streets, say on Buffalo and Center? How much is this really going to alleviate?”
Shute said it probably depended on how close it was to where they’re actually delivering. Wilhite said it wasn’t a bad idea, just practicality.
Steve Foster, commission member, agreed with Wilhite on how it may not be practical. “I don’t ever remember there being loading zones downtown,” he said.
City Engineer James Ehmans said Allegra gets almost a daily morning delivery of paper and has a short semi that parks on the street around 7:45 a.m. Councilwoman Cindy Dobbins said there’s delivery trucks double parking on Buffalo Street regularly with all the businesses there.
“I wonder, too, if you don’t have loading points near where the activity is, the UPS driver is not going to walk a block. He’s on a time crunch. And a semi unloading paper isn’t going to wheel it a half a block, they’re going to stop where they’re delivering,” Ehmans said.
Shuter said he looked at all the downtown locations, and the two he mentioned on Lake and Indiana streets were the only ones that would be able “to fit anything in.”
Dobbins said her other concern is that if they have a couple of loading zones, how many other businesses would want one in their block. Foster and Shuter agreed that they wouldn’t want to take away any downtown parking spaces to make room for loading zones.
Wilhite asked how else could the double parking by delivery trucks be addressed. Shute said it would be enforcement by police officers who would have to tell the drivers to park in a parking space or alley.
Public Works Superintendent Jeff Beeler said if they were going to try anyone anywhere, why not put one in at Indiana because it wouldn’t hurt anything. If they see it gets used a lot, they could consider a second downtown loading zone.
Connie Fridley asked if there was any cost to put one in place. Shuter told her it was just the cost of signage and space painting.
Beeler made a motion to put in a loading/unloading zone for commercial vehicles on Indiana Street next to the CenturyLink building for a six-month trial basis.
Warsaw Police Department Capt. and Traffic Safety Commissioner Kip Shuter said a request for downtown delivery zones was brought to the attention of the Kosciusko Chamber of Commerce by a representative at Owl Manor Veterinary. Owl Manor is in the CenturyLink building.
Annette Hammond, Kosciusko Chamber of Commerce member relations manager, came to the Traffic Commission to ask it to consider putting loading/unloading zones downtown for trucks like UPS, FedEx and other delivery vehicles so they can pull off to the side of the road instead of double parking next to other vehicles and people having to drive around them.
Hammond said, “There’s a businessman who has approached us about a delivery zone. His concern was that UPS or FedEx trucks were stopping in the middle of the road and holding up traffic and it was unsafe.”
Shute said there were two areas downtown where the zones could probably work at – one on Indiana Street next to the Centurylink building just south of Center Street; and the other, in front of the Justice Building on Lake Street just north of Center Street.
He said the location on Lake Street used to have a right-turn lane so there’s an extra long parking space there. The no-parking zone on Indiana Street used to be there because of a 15-minute drop-off period for payments to CenturyLink. “They’ve never been put back as having real parking spaces there, so it wouldn’t pull from parking spaces downtown for us to do this,” he said.
City Councilman Jack Wilhite asked, “What do we expect – UPS and FedEx to actually use those and not still park along the streets, say on Buffalo and Center? How much is this really going to alleviate?”
Shute said it probably depended on how close it was to where they’re actually delivering. Wilhite said it wasn’t a bad idea, just practicality.
Steve Foster, commission member, agreed with Wilhite on how it may not be practical. “I don’t ever remember there being loading zones downtown,” he said.
City Engineer James Ehmans said Allegra gets almost a daily morning delivery of paper and has a short semi that parks on the street around 7:45 a.m. Councilwoman Cindy Dobbins said there’s delivery trucks double parking on Buffalo Street regularly with all the businesses there.
“I wonder, too, if you don’t have loading points near where the activity is, the UPS driver is not going to walk a block. He’s on a time crunch. And a semi unloading paper isn’t going to wheel it a half a block, they’re going to stop where they’re delivering,” Ehmans said.
Shuter said he looked at all the downtown locations, and the two he mentioned on Lake and Indiana streets were the only ones that would be able “to fit anything in.”
Dobbins said her other concern is that if they have a couple of loading zones, how many other businesses would want one in their block. Foster and Shuter agreed that they wouldn’t want to take away any downtown parking spaces to make room for loading zones.
Wilhite asked how else could the double parking by delivery trucks be addressed. Shute said it would be enforcement by police officers who would have to tell the drivers to park in a parking space or alley.
Public Works Superintendent Jeff Beeler said if they were going to try anyone anywhere, why not put one in at Indiana because it wouldn’t hurt anything. If they see it gets used a lot, they could consider a second downtown loading zone.
Connie Fridley asked if there was any cost to put one in place. Shuter told her it was just the cost of signage and space painting.
Beeler made a motion to put in a loading/unloading zone for commercial vehicles on Indiana Street next to the CenturyLink building for a six-month trial basis.
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