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Sign, sign, everywhere a sign – and that’s led to some confusion about where to park in the city parking lot between Buffalo and Indiana streets.
At the Warsaw Traffic Commission meeting Wednesday, Administrator and Warsaw Police Department Capt. Kip Shuter reported City Councilman Jeff Grose received an email from Kenneth Olson, Plymouth, who then forwarded it to City Planner Jeremy Skinner, who brought it to the Traffic Commission.
In his email, Olson said he had a concern about the signage in the city lot. “It is confusing as all the signs are oriented towards the East/West or West/East traffic. The middle rows are reserved for permit parking only, but the signs on the south end of the lot state ‘This aisle no restrictions.’ The use of the word aisle would lead someone who had not seen the little sign saying ‘permit parking only’ with two arrows to believe that parking on either side of the aisle was permissible.”
While regular users probably wouldn’t have an issue, Olson said people who infrequently visit downtown during the day could be confused and end up with a parking ticket.
“Would it be possible to place signs that face north/south in those areas so that people who are parking there realize this?” he asked.
Shuter said it wasn’t too long ago that the lot was resurfaced and new signs were added. The entire east side was made reserved parking that is handled by parking control.
The row closest to Jefferson Street on the west side also is reserved, with the north end of the lot close to Expressions being two-hour parking.
Shuter said he talked to parking control officer Jack Marshall, who said he’s heard complaints about confusion with the signs.
City Councilwoman Cindy Dobbins said she’s also heard the complaints from merchants and visitors.
Mayor Joe Thallemer said, “Part of the problem, when we redesigned all of that, was that there were so many different zones in that parking lot. There’s permit, there’s two-hour, there’s handicapped. We even had some residential parking down along the railroad tracks. I think that was the tough part, the number of different zones we have of parking in there, to try and keep them straight.”
Skinner said when the city redid the signage, it hadn’t changed the parking with the two-hour and permit, so some of the signs are different designs. The city has changed the parking configuration two or three times now as to what was two-hour, limited or reserved and that contributed to the various different signs being in the lot.
On the Indiana Street side of the parking lot, there is a big sign that tells which color of sign is not limited, two-hour or reserved. There is no such sign on the Buffalo Street side.
Street Superintendent Jeff Beeler said, “The more signs you put up, the more likely you’re going to get hit.” He said one thing that might help is if the city would color code the parking lines, though it had to stay away from blue because that’s for handicapped parking. The only problem would be in winter when there’s snow on the ground, but Beeler said it would be visible for about 80 percent of the year.
He also suggested the city look at having each row designated as one option to reduce confusing rather than having them sporadically around the lot. Signs also then could be limited to the middle of the parking lot.
Dobbins said she liked the whole row concept and that color coding would help. Thallemer said consistency with signs would help, and Skinner said the signs could be changed to match the striping.
Thallemer asked Beeler if the lot was going to be resealed anytime soon. Beeler said it needs to be resurfaced and eventually resealed, but for now it could be seal-coated and restriped.
The mayor said they probably should have someone look at how to simplify the alignment of the parking and make changes as necessary, with striping and the signs the last thing to do on the list. Dobbins said Marshall will do an update on the rental spots, to see how many are used.
Thallemer suggested changing the signs this year and then the lines in the spring. If any ordinance changes need to be made for parking changes, Thallemer said those will need to go before the city council.
Steve Foster – who was named the traffic administrator to replace Shuter once his retirement is effective Saturday – asked what the turn-around for the lot was. Thallemer said a recommendation for the next Traffic Commission on Oct. 4 could be put together.
Thallemer said a meeting in his office with Skinner, Dobbins, Marshall, Beeler and himself would be scheduled to come up with a plan.
