Riverside Striping Parking Places in March 2015

[Jax native]

 
Today while leaving Walgreens at Park & King, I notice COJ work crew removing the white striping of a parking space across from Walgreens on the side street. I was curious if the residents complaints are making a difference and the striping will be removed.  I spoke w/ a very kind man who is the "Traffic Engineer'  for COJ.  His area is the complete Duval County lines of 840 square miles.  I asked about the removal process.  He told me this particular space was being removed along w/ 2 other spaces at bus routes.  The 2 bus route parking will only be to eliminate one parking spot in front of bus stop.  I asked about the outcry from residents about the striping and what some people are calling "ugly" "not appropriate for historical district" etc.  He kinda laughed and said when he first got the order, he knew it would cause an outrage and only wondered how long before people complain. He stated there is NO plans to remove striping at all because it is now the law.  He told me the ordinance proposed by Jim Love 2014-617 was approved last October and by law the striped parking will stay.  A copy of the meeting notes are below;

THE AUTHORITY OF SECTIONS 316.183 AND 316.189 FLORIDA STATUTES, AND WAIVING SECTION 804.402 (SPEED LIMITS), ORDINANCE CODE, TO REDUCE THE SPEED LIMIT OF CERTAIN ROADWAYS IN COUNCIL DISTRICT 14 FROM 30 MILES PER HOUR TO 15 MILES PER HOUR; DIRECTING THE PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT TO POST APPROPRIATE SIGNAGE; PROVIDING THAT THE NEW SPEED LIMIT SHALL BECOME EFFECTIVE UPON POSTING; PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE; 9/15/2014 - Read 2nd & Rerefer

REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON RULES: October 20, 2014

Recommend to APPROVE.

AYES - Gaffney, Gulliford, Jones, Joost, Lumb, Redman, Schellenberg, ( 7 )'

By law there is no way to remove or stop this.  He did tell me Jim Love had called the department saturday, March 14 to ask that they stopped, but COJ can not.  When the ordinance passed in October 2014, the parking stripes were included and is the only way to conform w/ state law.  There is no provisions for parking stripes to be just indentions or other ways, I've seen people thought was being done.  All the residents and business assisted Councilman Jim Love in making this ordinance and it was approved by City Council.  At that time it was clear to everyone what the ordinance said and voted on.  I'm hearing so many people who are denying being involved or that they had no idea the stripes would be so large and bold.  It is obvious, people knew what was being proposed, voted on and passed.

He said each street w/ striped parking has 14 feet between the lines as is the law.  Only a new ordinance proposed and voted on by City Council would change what is happening.  The bottom line is this is how it's going to be, ugly or not people gave input & voted for this ordinance.

I have some photos of them removing the lines but as a complete novice, have no idea how to include them.  I tried adding an image but failed.

[mtraininjax]

WJXT or WJAX, one of the local news casts, who did finally acknowledge that Riverside existed, and did not refer to Park and King as "Westside", did a story on how a JTA bus clipped a car on Post or College Friday night as a result of the lines. All the lines do is create what we already knew back before some bonehead in City Planning worked to make Post and College 2-way, that 1-way is better, more efficient and easier to manuever.

Or remove parking for one side of the street. Or as Stephen would hypothesize, could this be a city conspiracy to have people in Riverside ditch their cars, or face being steamrolled by JTA buses?

[johnnyliar]

Am I the only one who doesn't mind the lines?

[L.P. Hovercraft]

Am I the only one who doesn't mind the lines?

Nope, I'm pretty happy the striping and the new reduced 15 mph speed limit signs have been added to the area.  I live near College and King and have noticed way fewer instances of cars fully or even partially blocking our driveway since the parking stripes were added, and I think the narrower road area forces cars to drive slower, especially when passing in opposite directions.  They may not be 100% historically accurate or aesthetically pleasing but until we get a streetcar line in place or the majority of people start walking, biking, or using horse and buggies to get around, this was probably the best compromise to swing the pendulum back in favor of slower moving pedestrians/bicyclists and away from motor vehicles using College and Post as drag strips.  I actually wouldn't mind seeing speed bumps added around the busier intersections too as an extra traffic calming measure to be honest.

[cline]

All the lines do is create what we already knew back before some bonehead in City Planning worked to make Post and College 2-way, that 1-way is better, more efficient and easier to manuever.

Sorry but "better" is a completely subjective term.  When it was one-way cars could haul ass down that road and they did.  That might be "better" for someone to get to their destination but it may not be "better" for the residents who live on the street who have kids and pets that could run into the street.  Its also not "better" for bicyclist and pedestrians.  Changing it to one-way help to reduce speeds and calm traffic which in our neighborhood is a good thing.  If someone wants to drive like a douche they can take Roosevelt.

That said, I don't know how wide the spaces are but I feel like they could have been about a foot more narrow. Parking lanes can be as narrow as 7' if there is curb and gutter present (it might even be 6').

The delineated parking spaces are one of the recommendations that came out of the COJ-funded and WLA lobbied parking study. I wouldn't be surprised is residential parking passes became approved through ordinance sometime in the future. 

[Steve]

Actually don't mind them either. Some of them are clearly stupid, particularly on Lydia St. my understanding is those will be removed (probably shouldn't be there in the first place there). But as a concept, I'm fine with it.

[Jax native]

The striped parking place on Lydia across from Walgreens is the one they removed completely yesterday. 

[BoldCityRealist]

Am I the only one who doesn't mind the lines?

Nope, I'm pretty happy the striping and the new reduced 15 mph speed limit signs have been added to the area.  I live near College and King and have noticed way fewer instances of cars fully or even partially blocking our driveway since the parking stripes were added, and I think the narrower road area forces cars to drive slower, especially when passing in opposite directions.  They may not be 100% historically accurate or aesthetically pleasing but until we get a streetcar line in place or the majority of people start walking, biking, or using horse and buggies to get around, this was probably the best compromise to swing the pendulum back in favor of slower moving pedestrians/bicyclists and away from motor vehicles using College and Post as drag strips.  I actually wouldn't mind seeing speed bumps added around the busier intersections too as an extra traffic calming measure to be honest.

I'm thirding this. I can't believe people are up in arms about this. Who cares if it makes it harder for 2000 pound murder metal machines? That's the point. Slow down, take your time. You're driving in a neighborhood full of soft, easily destroyed living bodies.

[tufsu1]

I appreciate the lines

[Cheshire Cat]

I appreciate the lines

I am going to take some colored sidewalk chalk and color outside the lines just because! 

[Jaxson]

WJXT or WJAX, one of the local news casts, who did finally acknowledge that Riverside existed, and did not refer to Park and King as "Westside", did a story on how a JTA bus clipped a car on Post or College Friday night as a result of the lines. All the lines do is create what we already knew back before some bonehead in City Planning worked to make Post and College 2-way, that 1-way is better, more efficient and easier to manuever.

Or remove parking for one side of the street. Or as Stephen would hypothesize, could this be a city conspiracy to have people in Riverside ditch their cars, or face being steamrolled by JTA buses?

I agree about the idea of parking on one side of the street to allow for easier two-way traffic.  I used to live in near downtown Dover, Delaware and my street had one-side parking on a two-way street.  The neighborhood, near a local college, was pedestrian-friendly and a great attraction for locals.

[Kerry]

Count me as someone else who likes the lines and narrowed travel lane.  I am for almost anything that slows cars down, but I draw the line at speed bumps.  I have a Fiat 500L so I have no problem sliding into an opening to let cars coming the opposite way pass.

[mtraininjax]

They may not be 100% historically accurate or aesthetically pleasing but until we get a streetcar line in place

Don't hold your breath. JTA just received a 20+ million dollar grant from the Feds to start their BRT using buses as part of their streetcar plan. Besides, adding a streetcar in the ROW will just create a bottleneck when there is only room for the streetcar.

The JTA buses are going to clip more cars, this is not over by a long shot, because the JTA drivers don't travel at 15 mph, they run red lights all the time and are some of the worst drivers, not using Roosevelt.

You'll never see speed humps on roads that are traveled by JTA. They have a lot deeper pockets and lobbyists than your local neighborhood.

[MusicMan]

They painted lined spaces on Oak Street between King and James. Incredibly stupid. This block has an even number of single family homes as multifamily apartments and very little off street parking. Like most of the Historic District. Not sure who this was meant to benefit, but it really hurts the people who actually live in the homes and the apartments. Also the owners of the apartment buildings. When tenants ask, "where do I park?", the owners can say, "Good luck with that."  How many cars do you think the average 4 unit building has. Minimum of 4, and easy to see 6 or 8. Some of these apartment buildings now have 1 or 2 "legal " spaces for all the tenants to use. And fact is, I owned one of these duplexes which could easily have two couples (with 4 cars) living in it. It has had all the off street parking taken away, except for the one spot in back. Glad I no longer own that place.

Also, I'm 99% certain the owners and residents on the street were given no notice that the parking situation was going to change, or offered any input. Thanks Councilman Love.

[JeffreyS]

I feel you MusicMan but at the same time I am loving the the traffic calming effect.