Stop Barking, Start Parking

Traffic Calming, Street Hygiene and Smartz

We’ve all done that, seen that and been there. We are both victims and perpetrators of bad, inconsiderate parking. Who here hasn’t complained about street speeders and bad parkers? It’s obvious that we suffer from “Goose and Gander Disorder”. The facts are the facts so let’s all agree to recognize them and to start
doing what we say. Here are the identifiable problems we have and some logical solutions for them:

Let’s start with parking. You don’t own the spot in front of your house. It’s as simple as that. You live in a row house remember? So what if you have to park down the street or across the street. It’s still an infinitely smaller walk to your front door than a jaunt across the Wal-Mart parking lot. And for the few times that you actually have to do it you should be a gracious and good sport about it.
Bad parking is quite a different story. We can expect the newbie’s angst when they first realize that they now live on the very street where they were taught to actually parallel park. (We all thought we’d only need it to pass the drivers exam) And newbie’s have to get it right because…the rest of us are all watching. There is a time limit to this incompetence though. Let’s make it six months. If you don’t become a pro in that time then expect large ridicule and teasing. The pressure will definitely be on.
How you finish your parking effort is another thing. Did you just waste a half a car length in front or behind you? Shame if you did. Think. Pull up to within 24 inches of the car ahead of or behind you. (lots of room to get out when you need to leave) Whichever yields the most space for others. If you are parking near a corner or a handicap spot pull up to or back up to the edge of that spot. This maximizes space for others to park.
Park 16 inches from the curb. There are obvious reasons for this. First of all you will not scuff and scrape your tires and rims. Secondly, you won’t block the gutter. Always leave room for dirt and debris to easily float past your tires on its way to the sewers. (This is why the gutters are there) If you’ve ever tried to enter or exit out of a passenger door when the tires are kissing the curb you know how back breaking that can be. Lastly, by getting into this habit we are effectively narrowing our street by 32 inches. How’s that for a traffic calming measure?

If someone parked poorly and/or wasted spaces for no reason let them know. Either talk with them or leave a polite note on their windshield. Make sure you are right though. And if you happen to be the recipient of such a criticism accept it graciously and remember to make the correction next time around.
Here are some interesting factoids: There are 52 homes on the 800 block of Monmouth. There are exactly 100 parking spots including the handicap spots. At present we collectively own 75 cars. Six of those vehicles are usually parked on the side streets and six cars are always parked in garages. This leaves us with a surplus of 37 parking spots on the street. What do we really have to complain about? Park smart and think of others at all times.

Now let’s look at “traffic calming”. Monmouth Road is wide. It’s Wider than Walker Road. With the synchronized traffic lights at Wyandotte and Monmouth and at Wyandotte and Walker traffic looking to turn south on Walker almost always diverts right onto Monmouth instead which in turn gives us too much south bound traffic and far too many speeders. They speed because the street feels big and wide open. We all know how many accidents occur each year at the intersections of Tuscarora, Cataraqui and Niagra. We already talked about taking 32 inches of road width away by parking 16” away from the gutters. Here are some other effective calming methods:
When traveling on our own street drive slowly. No more than 20 kilometers per hour. Be sure to fully stop at all stop signs. If transient speeders have to crawl behind you and are subjected to these delays on a regular basis they will stop taking this route. It’s an easy habit to get into. Fun too.
Last year we experimented with traffic cones which we placed in the center of the aforementioned intersections. Traffic in all directions slowed down in every instance. Drivers also came to full stops almost 100 percent of the time. We should explore this further.
Very soon we will be running a petition to have Monmouth closed off near Wyandotte. This will effectively eliminate at least 30% of southbound traffic. With the bumper crop of infants about to be born on this street this should be a welcomed change. Monmouth Road will actually become a quiet neighborhood. How cool is that?
How about some regular street cleaning? The average frontage on this street is 19 feet. Whenever you mow your lawn or pull weeds from your garden why not sweep and hose out the gutter too. This keeps the dust down and the street looking fabulous. Curb appeal actually does start at the curb. This is something which every European home owner has practiced for centuries. (These would be your ancestors)
Everything has been simply laid out. Keep all of these very simple and doable gestures in mind; practice them at all times and expect instant results. Let's put some money where the cake hole is.
In the above picture note which car is parked at a proper distance from the curb.