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Residents and town staff discuss no-parking zones to ease school pickup congestion
Summary
Residents of the DeWitt Shire subdivision told the Town Board that afternoon school pickup at the nearby elementary school is blocking Canterbury Road and Jamesville Road; town staff said they will run counts and prepare a no-parking proposal and a traffic study with a likely 4–6 week timeline.
Tom Boyle, who identified himself as with UHR, told the Town Board that afternoon pickup at the elementary school near DeWitt Shire has “become a traffic nightmare” on Jamesville and Canterbury roads, with parents lining up in the street and oncoming traffic squeezed into a single lane.
The board’s staff explained the town will ask the highway and police departments to conduct a traffic study and parking counts and then prepare a proposal for restricted no-parking hours near the school. A town official said the process typically includes a staff recommendation, mailings to affected residents, a public hearing and then a final resolution, and that process generally takes about 4 to 6 weeks from study to enforcement.
The town official said staff will likely recommend restricted hours limited to school days and times and start with a minimal footprint to avoid unduly burdening neighbors who need on-street parking for visitors or events. The official added that prior efforts to ask the school district to limit employee parking to its lots have had limited effect because the district cannot legally force employees to park on campus.
Residents asked whether the town could speed the process to have signs in place before the end of the school year. A town staff member said the traffic counts and proposal could be turned around in one to two weeks and, with the required public notice and a hearing, signage and enforcement could be in place within roughly a month if there are no unexpected objections.
The board and residents discussed enforcement equity after signs are installed; the town official said equitable enforcement across communities is a policy question for the police commission but noted in prior cases signs reduced violations without frequent ticketing.
Ending: Town staff will perform counts and prepare a no-parking proposal for Canterbury Road and adjacent streets, notify residents and schedule a public hearing. Residents seeking to expedite the process were encouraged to submit contact information and any neighborhood documentation they already have to staff so mailings and notice can proceed quickly.
