Skinny Street? Red Curb May Be Coming to a Sidewalk Near You

The perils and benefits of sidewalk parking are firmly entrenched in the eye of the beholder.

For supporters, the argument is that narrow streets necessitate such behavior, for without it there simply wouldn't be room for everyone. There's also what some see as its traffic calming effect, and its role as a helpful barrier from traffic whizzing past. 

Those who are less enamored of the tradition say it makes access dangerous and difficult for pedestrians, particularly young children, the elderly and those with mobility issues. (Add a stroller or a wheelchair to the mix? Fugget about it.) 

There's also the fact that fire engines can have trouble clearing the narrow lane if cars are parked on both sides. Not to mention the issue that, as several people pointed out at Thursday night's Traffic & Safety Commission meeting, the practice is simply illegal, in the eyes of both Albany and state law.

"You are not allowed to park on the sidewalk, plain and simple. On one side or the other, parking has to go," said Commissioner Lubov Mazur.

Commissioner John Miki said officials need to look at several options for addressing parking concerns on narrow streets around the city, though most of the June 30 meeting focused on Washington Street and other Albany Hill routes. 

Making Washington one way, and painting the northern or southern curbs (either as a whole or in a staggered manner) were some of the ideas put on the table.

The discussion began with a diagram of Washington (attached here as a PDF). In some places, Washington is as narrow as 23 feet, said Miki.

Washington already has a large swathe of red curb, where parking is prohibited on both sides, which is concentrated between Polk Street and where Gateview Avenue splits off to the northwest. 

According to Miki's diagram, which he said would need to be vetted, Washington currently has 22 on-street spaces on the north side, and 27 on the south. 

Several neighbors who attended the meeting said they hoped the city could avoid adding additional red curbs to the street. 

Francis Chapman said he had the sense that many of his neighbors "are not in favor of a red curb," mostly because of high-density housing, few garages and limited off-street parking in the neighborhood. 

Chapman said what he would be interested in, however, were opposing one-way streets, on Pierce and Polk, to limit cut-through traffic. He also suggested "Berkeley barriers," which also would limit cut-through traffic, potentially between Cerrito and Pierce streets. (These barriers stop traffic from coming in, but allow neighbors who live on a block to exit.)

Chris Kent, who lives on the hill, told the commission that, until he had children, he never paid much attention to sidewalk parking.

But now with kids and strollers, "it's become a huge issue." Kent said he used to put polite notes on windshields asking people to stop parking on sidewalks. Over time, the notes became less cordial. 

"I've lost some friends over it," he said. 

Kent told commissioners he was afraid that it was only a matter of time before a serious accident happened, because of the way the blocked sidewalks push pedestrians into the street. 

Commissioner Bernard Knapp said that, as a former personal injury attorney for a county, "the idea of people stepping off the sidewalk into a street terrifies me." 

Several times throughout the discussion, the issue was raised of the city's liability in the case of an accident due to sidewalk parking.

Knapp said he didn't see an alternative to red-curbing one side of Washington, but also acknowledged that the city would need to take measures to slow down drivers in the area. 

"The sooner we act, the better," he said. 

Commissioners asked public safety officials to share some of their thoughts about the situation.

Sgt. Chris Willis of the Albany Police Department said there had been an approach not to ticket for sidewalk parking that had been in effect for the entire 11 years he'd been on the force. 

Capt. Jay Jorgensen, of the Albany Fire Department, said it can be "extremely tight" to navigate the hill with a fire engine. He spoke of having "rubbed cars" with the large trucks, and said firefighters got into a situation recently, during an animal rescue, where there wasn't enough room for the truck to make a turn.

"The safest thing that could happen would be to have red curbing," he said. "The public ... has to realize that things change sometimes."

Resident Caryl O'Keefe, who lives on the hill but not on Washington, asked the commission to stand strong against lawless behavior. 

"Frankly, I really think you all should take a position that Albany is not going to ... ignore state laws," she said, pointing out that the municipal code allows for red curbing already.

Commissioner Ray Anderson said that, whatever action the commission takes, it will need to be consistent throughout the city. Officials discussed the idea of potentially addressing the issue in quadrants, rather than all at once, so as not to hold up any action unduly.

"We need to bite off as much as we can chew at a time," said Chairman Ken McCroskey. "And I think we'll learn from the process as we go if we intend to keep up with this."

The commission will hold a public study session on sidewalk parking in September, which could be followed by a decision the same month.

Looking for more background on the sidewalk parking issue? Read it here on Albany Patch.

Everybody makes mistakes ... even us! If there's something in this article you think should be corrected, or if something else is amiss, call editor Emilie Raguso at 510-459-8325 or email her at emilier@patch.com.