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Neighbors, police and engineers disagree over no-parking signs on Olmsted Street curve; police chief to reassess
Summary
Residents and the police chief debated placement of no-parking signs on a curve of Olmsted Street. City engineering recommended moving signs to improve sightlines; some neighbors say parking calms traffic and accused sign removal of unfair targeting. The chief agreed to re-evaluate placement and visit the site with a resident.
The Dearborn City Council heard Sept. 9 from residents and the police chief about newly placed no-parking signs on a curve on Olmsted Street that residents say remove needed curbside parking. The discussion followed a traffic-commission review and an engineering study recommending sign placement to improve sightlines.
Resident Andrew Dillon (address given to the council as 22725 Olmsted Street) said the new placement removes space his household uses and would leave several nearby homes without curb parking. "They're taking more spots away," he said, showing councilmembers diagrams he supplied.
East Michigan Police Chief (identified only as the police chief in the transcript) told the council that engineering had done a line-of-sight study and that the traffic commission had deferred to his discretion. "It's a pretty exhaustive engineering study and based on the line of sight around that curve, the recommendation from our engineering department was that the signs go at the end of that cross section," the chief said, adding that public-safety concerns motivated the move.
Andrea Hackett, who said she has lived on the curb for 34 years, urged the council to consider the practical calming effect of parked cars. "Allowing more cars to park in that zone actually slows cars down," she said, and described prior nights when signs were removed by others.
Council members expressed mixed views. Councilman Hamoud, who said he lives up the street, described competing schools of traffic engineering on sight-line clearing versus parking-as-calming. Chief Klein (the chief agreed to a site visit) said he followed the engineering recommendation but was "willing to, prior to our next council meeting, re-evaluate it and look at it" and offered to meet a resident at the site before week’s end.
The traffic commission had earlier forwarded the matter to the police chief after receiving opposing viewpoints. No ordinance or binding action was taken; the chief will re-evaluate placement, meet with residents on site, and report back to council staff. Council members asked that the chief consider whether the restriction could be reduced to preserve one house's curb space while maintaining improved sightlines for drivers and emergency vehicles.
