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Health & Fitness

Blog: A Case for Angled Parking in Eagle Rock

Of the many bright ideas "Take Back the Boulevard" has produced, angled parking is one that deserves a particularly close look.

For well over a year now, Eagle Rock’s very own Take Back the Boulevard project has been making leaps and bounds to improve the "walkability," safety, and overall aesthetics of Colorado Boulevard. Headed by a steering committee, the project has gained the attention of a large number of local organizations as well as the office of Eagle Rock’s City Councilman, José Huizar.

The Steering Committee consists of Brian Cawley, Bob Aranaga, Michael Tharp, Allen Compton (consultant), Chloé Renée Ziegler, Bob Gotham (Chair), and Robert De Pietro. They have put together various meetings to discuss a vast array of brilliant ideas for the sake of "reclaim[ing] Colorado Boulevard for the Community." In their meetings, their brilliance extends to include solutions for parking.

It’s no secret that Colorado Boulevard and its surrounding areas suffer from a lack of parking. With the local business employees, patrons, and residents competing for curb area, there is often a contention on what to do to tackle the issue. The ideas of stricter meters and parking permits have been discussed. However, one solution that Take Back the Boulevard has visited time and again has been angled parking.

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Angled Parking is very common in commercial areas throughout the city. It is where parking spots are painted at an angle rather than requiring patrons to parallel park. This style of parking has been said to accommodate as much as 40 percent more cars than the aforementioned parallel parking. If this can also be adopted by the adjacent side streets, we can place a large dent in our parking problem.

Because Safety is a large concern for pedestrians in Eagle Rock, Reverse Angled Parking has been mentioned. This is where, rather than heading in to an angled spot, drivers back in. This is beneficial in at least a couple of ways.

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First, it allows for the driver to pull out of the space while moving forward. The driver has a much better view to look for any oncoming cars of bicyclists. As many who may have already parked in angled spots, it is known to be difficult to see what’s behind one’s car. This forward motion is much easier and safer. In fact, Montreal has been noted to not have had a single accident since installing reverse angle parking.

Second, the open doors work as barriers for the little ones. It’ll redirect their energy right back to the sidewalk. Whereas pulling in head first actually block the sidewalk and leave the street side wide open.

But won’t we stop traffic when backing in? Not anymore than we would when having to slowly back out.

I have created a composite image to illustrate what reverse angle parking with a bike lane may look like on the Southeast block of Colorado Blvd at Eagle Rock Blvd. We can imagine some outlets with benches and greenery as well. Sadly, my Photoshop skills are not up to par with this vision.

Colorado Boulevard is a three-lane street that is wide enough to accommodate reverse angle parking. We can use the outermost lane for this plan; in turn, making it a two lane street. Bringing Colorado Boulevard to two lanes may also help to reduce speeds of traffic. If more space is needed due to highway regulations, we have a center divider than can be resized. If this is the case, we will have less grass to water, thereby saving costs there as well.

This is one idea and it may be incomplete. I ask the residents and local business owners of Colorado Boulevard to chime in. Let me know why you think this would or would not work. The idea is to work together on this. Take Back the Boulevard has begun the discussion. Let Eagle Rock, as a Collaborative Community, continue.

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