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Residents urge council to rethink 56th Street no-parking expansion near Hanawalt Elementary
Summary
Neighbors told the council the proposed expansion of a no-parking zone on 56th Street could remove essential on-street parking, worsen backups on Grand Avenue and fail to address persistent speeding near Hanawalt Elementary; engineering staff said they will re-evaluate and consult with DMPS and residents.
Residents from the 56th Street neighborhood urged the Des Moines City Council on April 20 to reconsider a proposed expansion of no-parking restrictions near Hanawalt Elementary, saying the change would remove needed parking and would not fix long-standing speeding and visibility problems.
"As a resident of 56th Street, I'm concerned about the safety of our street. As a parent, I'm concerned about the safety of the students and personnel of the Hanawalt Elementary School," Lori Wolf said, presenting a handout and outlining five proposed solutions, including an alternate drop-off routing that would direct traffic to 51st Street and Robertson Drive to reduce congestion on 56th.
Amy McCraw, another nearby resident, told the council that shared driveways and work-from-home households rely on on-street parking and that the proposed expansion from roughly 200 feet to 460 feet of no-parking would harm residents and home values. She suggested revisiting school drop-off configurations and coordinating with the Des Moines Public Schools (DMPS) before removing parking.
Tom Block, deputy city engineer, said he was not prepared to answer detailed questions during the meeting and identified John Davis (city engineering staff) as having more information. John Davis told the council staff had spoken with a concerned resident, would "look at the proposal that Ms. Wolfe submitted, and consider that, and and have a conversation with DMPS" and that staff would follow up with neighbors before returning to the council with recommendations.
Status: staff committed to re-evaluating the engineer's proposal and to outreach with DMPS and affected residents; no code or policy change was adopted at the April 20 meeting.
What to watch for: the engineering analysis and any revised proposals or code-change recommendations returned to the council, plus scheduled outreach to the neighborhood and DMPS.
