Staff recommends Chestnut perpendicular parking near Pine Avenue Park; Madison diagonal has bike conflict and higher cost

City traffic staff recommended adding perpendicular parking stalls on Chestnut Avenue adjacent to Pine Avenue Community Park rather than diagonal stalls on Madison Street, citing fewer operational concerns and a lower cost per gained space.

John Kim, city traffic engineer, and Miriam Jin, senior engineer, presented an assessment requested by City Council to identify additional parking near Pine Avenue Community Park. Staff said Chestnut Avenue can accommodate nine new perpendicular stalls east of Madison, producing a net gain of four spaces and an estimated cost per gained space of roughly $31,000. On Madison Street, staff said seven diagonal stalls could be constructed but would create a net gain of two spaces and raise conflicts with the existing bike lane; the estimated cost per gained space on Madison was about $60,000.

"Because of these reasons, constructing perpendicular parking spaces on Chestnut Avenue is the preferred alternative here," Jin said, noting that perpendicular stalls would extend existing parking patterns and avoid impacts to utilities and bike operations.

Public commenter Gary Nesem suggested considering center diagonal parking with a median for Madison Street to preserve spaces as redevelopment occurs; staff and commissioners said the suggestion is not precluded by the current assessment and could be studied further but that the council direction was to evaluate the block adjacent to the park.

Staff said the Chestnut recommendation will be presented to City Council on Dec. 9 and that commissioners’ feedback is being forwarded to council as part of the December report. Kim and Jin provided a preliminary cost table and noted the higher per‑stall cost on Madison compared with Chestnut, reflecting utility and striping constraints.