Residents ask Lebanon council to restrict parking on North 2nd Street to improve safety near campus

Several residents asked Lebanon City Council on Jan. 14 to restrict parking on North 2nd Street to improve safety, visibility and emergency access around the college and medical campus.

Dayla Johnson, who identified herself as a Ward 2 resident, asked the council to consider three targeted no-parking changes along North 2nd Street from Tangent Street to Mullins Drive, arguing the street is narrow and on-street parking often creates one-lane conditions that force vehicles into opposing traffic. Johnson said larger vehicles, including delivery trucks, school buses and emergency responders, struggle to pass when cars are parked on both sides and described frequent near misses and reduced visibility for drivers and children walking to bus stops. “These issues happen daily and each one represents a preventable risk,” Johnson told the council.

Kaye Cortez spoke as a proxy for Maggie Estes, director of transportation for the Lebanon School District, reading a letter from Estes that stressed school buses travel the road daily and that parked cars effectively reduce the route to one lane. Cortez said she counted 23 cars on one day, including 12 students from the medical program parking on the street despite campus parking being available. The district’s letter urged curb painting (no-parking markings) to keep the route clear for buses.

Councilor McLean and others said they had met with residents and generally supported the targeted restrictions near the police station and school, where on-street parking appeared unnecessary. City staff said the next step would be neighborhood notice and a public hearing to collect formal comment.

What happens next: staff will prepare notice and schedule a public hearing so residents within the affected neighborhood can comment. No ordinance or formal parking restriction was adopted at the Jan. 14 meeting.