PARKING PLAN AIMS TO MAKE JACKSON SAFER

JACKSON, Mo. -- The days of having to peek around parked vehicles to pull onto Main Street and of all-day parking in the city's commercial district are coming to an end.

The city has adopted a plan that will increase the size of no-parking zones at intersections and crosswalks and near fire hydrants and will limit onstreet parking in the area to two hours.

The steps are because of citizen complaints about parking in the district and concerns about safety, Planning and Zoning Official Rodney Bollinger said.

"We've had a lot of close calls with potential accidents,' he said. "We have serious sight distance problems."

The plan affects the area bounded by Russell Avenue on the west, Ohio Street on the east, Madison Street on the south and Cherry Street on the north.

Many intersections in the district allow parking nearly to the corner. No-parking zones will be pushed back 30 feet from stop signs, 20 feet from crosswalks, 15 feet from fire hydrants and 5 feet from driveways.

In addition, police officers will mark tires to enforce a two-hour parking limit that in front of City Hall will be reduced to one hour.

Police won't begin writing tickets for infractions of these new rules until Oct. 1, but the signage is scheduled to start going up and painting of the curbs to begin Aug. 1.

The changes will be phased in to keep from confusing people, Bollinger said. Warning tickets will be issued beginning Sept. 1.

Forty-nine parking spaces will be lost in the district. To offset the loss, the city has contracted with churches in the area to provide 291 parking slots on the lots, 22 of those for people with disabilities.

The city is not paying to use the church lots but will provide snow clearing services and painting. The church lots currently are considered private lots, though city officials acknowledge that the public sometimes uses them, especially during events such as Homecomers.

The church lots to be used include New McKendree, First Presbyterian and St. Paul Lutheran. The churches bring to 14 the number of parking lots located in the district.

An exhibit showing the location of public parking lots will be erected.

The two-hour parking limit is designed to prevent people from parking in the area all day. Parking by employees of stores or perhaps county employees is an acknowledged problem, officials said.

"I used to look out my window and see the same truck parked out there every day," Bollinger said.

New parking being added at the Cape Girardeau County Jail and Archive Building isn't expected to ease the situation because increased traffic also is expected.

Jurors for trials at the Cape Girardeau County Courthouse will receive a parking pass that will prevent their vehicle from being ticketed.

Bollinger said both merchants and the Cape Girardeau County Commission provided input before the plan's approval at the Board of Aldermen's June 5 meeting.

"We hope people don't get frustrated by the loss of 50 spots," Bollinger said. "I think people are going to enjoy the increased line of sight."