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Elkhart board to lift daytime parking-hour restriction on 400 block of Arcade Avenue for summer trial
Summary
The Board of Public Works approved a temporary removal of parking-hour restrictions on the 400 block of Arcade Avenue from March 1 through Aug. 31, with no-truck and no-through-traffic signs to be posted; staff will gather resident feedback over the summer and return with a recommendation.
The Elkhart City Board of Public Works on Feb. 18 voted to temporarily remove the daytime parking-hour restriction on the 400 block of Arcade Avenue from March 1 through Aug. 31 and directed staff to post signs prohibiting truck traffic and through traffic on that block.
Jeff Schafer, assistant city engineer, told the board the restriction — which banned parking between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. — was originally installed during construction of the DCO Pavilion and allowed staff and contractors to park in the block. Schafer said the hospital and surrounding construction activity have since changed, the hospital has added parking lots and a segment of Lawn Avenue has been vacated.
“We sent out letters to all the residents on the block and the property owner. We did get some responses and you'll see in your memo that the responses are mixed,” Schafer said. “Our overall opinion was that this is probably something that we could do as a test case through the summer.”
Schafer described the board’s recommendation as a middle-ground approach: change signs on March 1 to remove the 8 a.m.–3 p.m. restriction, post no-truck and no-through-traffic signs, collect resident feedback during the trial period and return to the board with a final recommendation at the August or September meeting. He noted the temporary daytime parking could slow through traffic because parked cars narrow the travel lane.
The motion to remove the parking-hour restriction passed by voice vote. The record shows staff will coordinate with parking enforcement and the police department for the temporary change and for collecting resident feedback.
Councilman Crabtree originally requested staff review of the restriction, Schafer said. The board packet included five resident responses with mixed preferences: some favored keeping the restriction, others favored removal. The meeting transcript does not record any public commenters on this item during the meeting.
The board directed staff to implement the temporary signage and to return with resident feedback and a recommendation by late August or the September meeting.
