The council on Wednesday adopted a resolution to convert the end of the Carlson Park driveway to one‑way traffic and add marked parking stalls to address high parking demand near the park’s pickleball courts.

City staff said the Carlson Park improvements have generated significant new user demand and that the dead‑end driveway can be reconfigured to provide additional legal parking spaces without impairing river access. Staff presented a conceptual layout and told council the conversion is feasible within the existing curb‑to‑curb width.

Several residents and representatives of the Humboldt Bay Pickleball Club addressed the council in support. “Carlson is one of the primary places that people play now,” said Scott Hagerty, president of the Humboldt Bay Pickleball Club, noting routine daily play and planned tournaments. A local resident who said many players are not able to bicycle to the site urged more parking options. Safety advocates and bicycle groups urged the city to prioritize non‑auto access as Annie and Mary trail and other multimodal projects advance: “Provide safe access to the park by means other than driving,” said Colin Fisk of CRTP (coalition/advocacy organization).

Councilmembers balanced those perspectives. Some asked that staff return with signage and wayfinding and consider additional bicycle parking and improved bike connections across Gentoli Lane. Council adopted the resolution (designated as an amendment to the city’s traffic control resolutions), and staff said they will implement the one‑way conversion and striping changes; council did not attach additional funding beyond the routine traffic control and striping budget.

Why it matters: the change aims to reduce unsafe roadside parking at a heavily used recreational site and to formalize existing demand while staff continues multimodal planning for the broader corridor.

Next steps: staff will implement the one‑way conversion and new striping, coordinate signage and report back if additional traffic calming or pedestrian crossings are requested by residents.