The pilot lasted from late June to late July.
“Reverse-angle parking requires the driver to back in with the back of the vehicle toward the curb. This type of ‘angle in’ parking allows for better visibility for motorists, as drivers pull forward instead of reversing to exit the parking space. It may also allow for additional parking spaces downtown,” the city wrote in an explanation of the pilot and the parking concept.
The second pilot area was on East Main Street along two blocks from the Public Square to Mulberry Street. This is a business area downtown.
People trying the reverse angle parking were asked to provide feedback to the city. Comments were received via a city form and on the city and Mayor Robin Oda’s Facebook pages.
“I love it. Put me down as I love it,” wrote a Troy man who said he tried the East Main Street reverse angle parking. The reverse angle parking made it easier to pull from the parking space, he said, adding a switch to the new concept “might weed out some of the bad parkers.”
Among complaints were from people who said they could not back in, were afraid of hitting other vehicles, could not see when pulling from a space due to a large vehicle parked beside them and loss of parking spaces because some people took up two spaces in their attempt to back in.
“I watched three near accidents in two hours while getting my nails done,” one woman wrote of her experience with the parking along East Main Street.
Other writers expressed concerns for the small businesses downtown, saying people would avoid the area to not have to deal with the back in parking. “I will not be stopping into downtown businesses during inclement weather. So, who loses here? Small town businesses,” a woman wrote.
With the end of the pilot program, the city will restore the parking to the regular format as soon as feasible, said Patrick Titterington, city service and safety director.
“We will communicate the feedback to ODOT (Ohio Department of Transportation),” Titterington said. He thinks the decision on whether to implement rear angle parking in the city West Main Street reconstruction project in 2022-23 belongs to the city but added he is “not sure entirely yet.”
He has tried the reverse angle parking without issues, Titterington said. “I understand concerns, however, especially in areas where there are tight spots or vehicles not allowing parkers to back into spaces,” he said.
Mayor Oda said the angled parking accomplishes two purposes – adding more parking spaces in the downtown business district and more space for longer vehicles.
Oda visited Third Street in Dayton last fall to check out the reverse angle parking there.
“Driving is such an automatic thing that most of us don’t give it a thought. To have something new introduced, a new skill, makes us all have to think about what we are doing.” Oda said.
“My feeling is that once we got used to it, we’d be fine. But there would definitely be a learning-curve. And I’ve heard both ‘yay’ and ‘nay’ from many residents on both sides of this issue,” she said.
Oda offered the following pros and cons of the reverse angle parking concept:
Three positives:
- Much better visual and safer to exit the parking spot.
- Much safer for loading/unloading kids or passengers into/out of the car as the open door separates them from road traffic and “forces” them to the sidewalk.
- Much safer for loading/unloading things from the trunk/hatch of a car (i.e. strollers, bags, wheelchairs, etc.) as this is being done onto the sidewalk, not street-side where traffic is.
Three negatives:
- Other drivers are not patient with somebody who is parking. But neither are they patient when someone is trying to back out of a spot.
- Roads tend to slope to the curb for water drainage, and that can make it hard to see the lines when using your mirrors.
- Not knowing exactly when to stop. There is a risk of overhanging the sidewalk too far, or not backing up enough.
Contact this contributing writer at nancykburr@aol.com
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