Sept. 14, 2012 —
“If it aint’ broke, don’t fix it.”
That's what Morehead Police Chief Mike Adams told Mayor David Perkins and city council members Monday evening in regard to a request from Knapp Avenue residents to eliminate parking on the street, south of Cecil Drive.
Adams said the numbers do not support a “problem.”
Sue Wells, who lives on Knapp Avenue, presented a petition last month with 83 signatures, seemed disappointed in Council’s decision to not take any action.
Wells wanted each side of the street to be painted yellow, so that parking would be illegal from Second Street to the four-way stop.
“This parking causes problems for everyone, especially service trucks and other large vehicles,” Wells said in a written statement to the Council. She presented Council with the statement at last month’s regular meeting.
Adams and Public Works Director Cecil Cornett met and examined the street, and presented the council with facts and recommendations.
“What we observed, I talked to some of the people that live up there and they have never had anyone park side to side, straight across from each other,” Adams said. “Theoretically, if you do park on both sides of the road it would be impassible to go. But I’ve never seen it happen.”
He said he researched the street in the police department's collision records and found the last recorded collision was on Aug. 27, 2008.
Wells said, “I was told that a large city truck was trying to get up the street to do some work close to where we live, and they couldn’t get up the street and had to call the police, who wrote a ticket.”
Adams asked her when that was supposed to have happened. She said possibly within the last few months.
According to the department's dispatch logs, there have been five recorded parking complaints on Knapp Avenue since Sept. 1, 2009. One of those complaints resulted in a ticket.
“The one complaint that chief mentioned there, I think was an abandoned vehicle,” John Ellis said at the meeting. “I complained about it after it had been sitting there. Nobody had moved it for a week. But that’s the only time I’ve ever had any complaint about any parking.”
Wells had a new complaint. She said that afternoon she was driving down Knapp Avenue and came upon two cars parked on the west side.
“And I’m sure they’re students,” she said. “So I stopped and waited. They’re on my side. Before I could get out, here comes a car around the corner. OK, I wait for that one. Then in a second here comes another one and then a third one. So where there are rules of the road, as you pointed out last time, when people zip around that corner they don’t see that I’m sitting there waiting. It’s still an issue even though it’s better. I will admit it’s better.”
Perkins asked her how long she had to wait. She did not know but said the wait was an inconvenience.
“I’ve thought about it a lot,” said Perkins, who also lives on Knapp Avenue. “It’s not uncommon to sit for two minutes or longer at traffic lights, so the inconvenience factor doesn’t play.”
Council decided the issue did not need to be further discussed.
Wells said her group appreciates the council’s consideration.
Adams recommended to the council:
• The curbs need to be replaced in some areas, old driveways curbed and fresh paint needs to be applied.
• In the future, areas where there is parking on both sides of the street may need to be addressed. Adams presented Council with a map that showed areas that may be painted yellow without great negative effect on the residents’ parking but would eliminate some of these potential problems.
Nicole Sturgill can be reached at nsturgill@themoreheadnews.com or by telephone at 784-4116.
Local News
Related Photos
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Some Knapp Avenue residents say the street is dangerous because parking is legal on both sides of the street. Although there were 83 names on a petition to make parking illegal on both sides of the street, Council decided there is no real problem to address. Photo by Nicole Sturgill
Council says parking not an issue on Knapp
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