Council Rejects Parking Restrictions on Pine Grove

Five months after a fatal accident occurred at Mountain Avenue and Devon Road, common council has rejected an amendment to the city's parking ordinance which would prohibited parking from Pine Grove Avenue to Ashland Road.

The amendment, which failed 4-3, was an attempt to increase the visibility of pedestrians to drivers coming westbound down Mountain Avenue toward Ashland Road.

Only two homes have driveways that exit onto Pine Grove Avenue, one of which belongs to Patrick Hurley.

Hurley, who attended the council meeting on Feb. 2 to voice his opposition to this ordinance, said the new restrictions would only allow cars to travel at higher speeds through this stretch of Pine Grove now that cars won't be parked in their way.

"My opposition is not about traffic calming, but rather with the fact this change will make the intersection more dangerous for pedestrians who, because of existing design flaws, are unlikely to follow the recently redesigned. and poorly thought out, pedestrian flow," Hurley said. "My conclusions are based on almost 15 years of living and observing this intersection–this far exceeds a few hours of Police observation or traffic counter measurements from last fall."

Several council members, including Nuris Portuondo and Ellen Dickson expressed concern that this amendment did not address the key issue at this intersection which is speed, not visibility.

I just didn't see how it accomplishes anything that we're interested in," Dickson said.

Hurley also voiced concern earlier this month at the suggestion that residents unable to park along Pine Grove could park along Ashland Road and walk to their homes.

"To say we can park along Ashland is irresponsible and further demonstrates the city's ignorance about this intersection," Hurley said.  "Anyone who parks along my end of Ashland is putting themselves at a significant risk of being hit. The road is narrow and yet the speed limit at this end is 35 mph. Moreover, other than a short lived attempt in December, the police do not enforce the speed limit on this end of Ashland."

But Portuondo said after spending some time at this intersection, the issue is not parking, it's speed.

"It seems to me the solution should be more comprehensive than addressing parking," she said.

Despite this, Police Chief Robert Lucid said with the lack of funds from the county and the greater need for road improvements at other intersections in the city, this particular intersection is not high on the list of priorities for a complete overhaul.

"This is a not a stop-gap measures," Lucid said about the parking ordinance amendment. "There is no consideration from city staff to propose to this council that they spend literally hundreds of thousands, probably a million dollars, to reconcile a roadway that could potentially create and exacerbate what already exists there in terms of accident potential."

Councilmembers who voted in opposition to this ordinance were Ellen Dickson, Nuris Portuondo, Rich Madden and Council President Dave Bomgaars.