Other than build a parking structure or maybe another parking lot, a transportation consultant believes there are things village officials can do right now that will help the parking situation downtown.
As a member of the Main Street program, Lake Orion has access to experts that will offer advice on improving the downtown area.
John Edwards from Atlanta, Georgia has 35 years of experience in traffic engineering, parking and transportation planning. He’s written a handbook on small town parking that is used around the country.
Edwards came to town last week, talked to merchants, business people and village officials and checked out private and public parking areas before making a brief public report at the village hall. He’s promised a written one in a couple of weeks.
Edwards suggests the village increase its effectiveness of its current parking. That’s possible by adding to on-street parking and changing some parallel parking to angle parking.
‘Some parking spots could be added on Anderson. On Shadbolt you could add angle or parallel. On Front Street parking could be angled,? he said.
Edwards believes the two hour parking limit is ‘about right.?
The key to a time limit on parking downtown is how much it’s enforced.
‘I talked to parking enforcement people and they said you probably don’t have an effective parking enforcement program,? Edwards said. ‘The question is how much are you willing to pay for??
‘The police said the council doesn’t think it’s a hot issue.?
According to Edwards, the village has one enforcement person who also does a lot of other things. He was told this person works about eight hours a week on parking enforcement. Seventy seven tickets were issued last year to people that parked over the time limit.
‘It’s your choice, I’m not telling you you have to do this (more parking enforcement), but you will have a lot of people staying over the time limit,? he added.
Edwards didn’t recommend putting parking meters back on the streets. ‘You’re a small town. I’ve done surveys and no town about this size has parking meters,? he said.
He suggested more use of off-street parking could be made if The Lake Orion Review parking area and the village’s municipal lot could be combined.
‘I can’t tell you how many spots you could get. And you should look at the cost of doing that,? he added. ‘You have more parking needs on the northwest side (of town). I would do it there, especially if you’re going to purchase property.?
Another parking strategy, Edwards mentions, is to educate people coming into down as to where there is parking.
‘Provide a parking map. You can do that inexpensively. Businesses can hand them out,? he added.
Edwards was asked if he could explain why the municipal lot near Children’s Park isn’t used more.
‘Unless you’re aware of it, you’re not going to see it. And people don’t like to walk up hill. You might improve the use by putting in steps down into the lot off Broadway,? he said.
Edwards doesn’t like the idea of putting diagonal parking on Broadway. ‘You would have to put Broadway going north one way or cut the sidewalks. I’m leery of this. You’d remove half of the traffic downtown. And if you cut the sidewalks, it (the village) would be less pedestrian friendly and not as good looking,? he added.
In the future, Edwards said, if the village wants to stimulate new development it will need more parking. He heard suggestions while he was walking around the town, that the area on Shadbolt where there is a quonset hut could be used for more parking or one level of parking could be added to the municipal lot near Children’s Park.