Neighbors oppose University Avenue parking removal as mayor, Ball State back bike-connection plan

The Muncie City Common Council on Sept. 8 introduced an ordinance to prohibit parking on portions of University Avenue between Reserve Street and Wheeling Avenue as part of a planned street and trail improvement tied to a Ball State University village project.

Neighborhood leaders said the proposal was advanced without adequate notice or detail and warned that eliminating on-street parking would push cars into narrow alleys, worsen alley conditions and accelerate demolition of historic garages and other outbuildings. Beth Messner, treasurer of the Riverside Normal City Neighborhood Association, said the association is "vehemently opposed" to removing parking on University Avenue and asked the council to meet residents before changing the traffic schedule.

Mayor Dan Ridenour and Ball State representatives described a different rationale. The mayor said the city is repaving University and needs to correct an existing ordinance that currently lists parking on that stretch; he said his office counted parked vehicles over several days and found very few on-street cars and that many parked cars bore out-of-county plates. Chris Paladino, Ball State's director of real estate services, said the university supports improving physical connections between the village and downtown and that Ball State will contribute grant funds for enhanced crosswalks and landscaping as part of a larger project.

Speakers urged the council to hold more public discussion before adopting a permanent change. Neighbors said prior restrictions (a 2-hour on-street limit imposed in 2023) already pushed residents to park in alleys, and they cited concerns about trash pickup, emergency vehicle access and higher vehicle speeds if parking is removed. Beth Messner and other residents said the neighborhood discussed alternative alignments in 2023 and thought a different route had been agreed.

Ball State told the council it will provide matching funds under a Lilly Endowment grant to add visible, thermoplastic crosswalks and landscaping; Ball State and the Muncie Arts and Culture Commission provided letters of support that were included in the mayor's packet. The mayor said the firm Flatland Resources had discussed several routing options with the neighborhood and that the administration considered University Avenue to be the most direct connection from the village to downtown.

The ordinance was introduced for discussion; council members and residents asked the administration, Ball State and the neighborhood association to meet and work out details before any vote to remove parking. No final council vote to adopt the parking prohibition occurred at the Sept. 8 meeting.

The council requested more information and packets referenced by the mayor; neighborhood leaders said they will hold a public meeting Sept. 25 at Emerson Dog Park and expected to bring residents to the council's Oct. 6 meeting to comment further.