Loading Zone
August 13, 2008 Public Meeting

Issues:

Issue # 1: Safety

  • Vendors parking in the middle of the road put drivers, motorists, and pedestrians at risk. It is difficult to see and maneuver around large vehicles on narrow downtown streets.
  • When large trucks are parked in the middle of the road, it increase the difficulty of public safety vehicles (fire truck, ambulances and police cars) to efficiently respond to a crisis.

Issue # 2: Location and Size of Loading Zones

  • The size and location of loading zones are not adequate for all delivery vehicles. Large trucks are unable to park in the loading zone so they use the street instead.

Issue # 3: Enforcement / Regulation

  • Current loading zone restrictions allow a non-commercial passenger vehicle to park for 30 minutes in any loading zone.
  • This activity obstructs the ability of delivery drivers to park in loading zones because they are being used by passenger vehicles.

Delivery Vehicle Information:

1.) Size of Trucks: Most large delivery vehicles are between 20 feet and 60 feet in length.

2.) Maneuverability: Delivery vehicles between 20 feet and 60 feet need an additional 10 to 20 feet of clearance to effectively park in loading zones.

3.) Peak Delivery Times and Days: Normal operating times are before 11 am and after 2 pm; heavy delivery days are Wednesday through Friday.

4.) Vehicle Weight: Most large delivery vehicles weigh over 15,000 pounds gross tonnage.

5.) Main areas of concern: Elm Street at Friendly, Market, Washington and McGee Street

Options:

1.) Restrict time of delivery to between 7 am and 11 am

  • Problem: Managers or owners don’t want to have staff on site during those times.
  • Problem: Staff would need to be able to open business (keys) and pay bills (cash or check) at that time of day.
  • Problem: Enforcement and customer service – What happens if no one is available to accept delivery?

2.) Restrict type of vehicle in loading zone (truck only and delivery or drop off / pick up)

  • Problem: What is a truck? Does a pick-up truck with a commercial tag meet the requirement?
  • Problem: Location and size of spaces – Where is the need?

3.) Eliminate customer parking in loading zones

  •  Problem: Businesses need and want more customers parking on street.
  •  Problem: If the loading zones are large enough for the trucks the spaces could take up too many customer parking spaces.
  •  Problem: Some loading and unloading is done by passenger vehicles by owners, managers, staff and customers.

Proposal:

1. Establish two types of loading zones

 a) Trucks Only (15,000 pounds or larger – commercial license only – 60 minute limit)

  • “Truck Only” spaces need to be at least 70 feet to 80 feet long to allow the truck to pull in and out without backing up.

 b) Delivery or Drop off / Pick up – Any vehicle loading or unloading – 30 minute limit

  •  Need to have one or two 30-foot spaces on each block if possible.

2.) Limit number of Truck Only Spaces on Elm and add more to side streets

  • Four "Truck Only" spaces on Elm between Lindsay Street and Lewis Street
  • Five "Truck Only" spaces on side streets around Friendly, Market, Washington and McGee intersections.

3.) Add additional on-street parking and remove unneeded loading zones

  • Remove 14 parking spaces
  • Add nine parking spaces
  • Net reduction of five parking spaces

Map of Downtown Parking Changes - Summer 2008
(PDF file is very large -- not suitable for printing on standard computer printers.
For printed copies of this map, call 373-2568.)