MARYSVILLE With a fresh layer of asphalt laid on one of the towns main drags, planners are considering banning parking on nearly the entire length of Grove Street.
According to current city law the east-west route is supposed to be free of on-street parking but cars are still seen parked in many areas. Several businesses on the route draw a lot of overflow employee parking, according to workers with the Marysville Public Works Department. They also cite a de facto Community Transit park and ride lot at the corner of Grove and 67th Avenue, where a new school is being built.
When the Marysville School District completes Grove Elementary School next fall, parking will have to be eliminated on that part of the road so the City Council told staff to consider a fix for the whole route all at once.
City engineer and assistant public works director Kevin Nielsen said commuters who now park on Grove will just move a couple of blocks north on 67th. He said the city is working with Community Transit, and is also talking with a few of the businesses that might be affected by the change. He said the changes could take place within a month or so.
Marysville City Councilwoman Donna Wright suggested the change earlier this month after paving crews were finishing resurfacing the road. As part of the asphalt work parking was moved off the streets and Wright liked the improved sightlines when she was pulling out of driveways. She suggested keeping it that way because Marysville needs more east-west and north-south connectivity. Wright said she had heard a couple of comments from citizens who liked the existing setup and hasnt heard any complaints. Wright said she is relying on the experts on the public safety committee, which includes engineers from public works and traffic officers from the Marysville Police Department, to make the right decision.
City traffic engineer John Tatum said that current city ordinances dont allow parking on the stretch from Cedar Street to 67th, but that hasnt been enforced for some time. The idea is to keep the interim striping in place until a decision is reached on how to format the 1.75-mile stretch of road. The area between Cedar and State avenues wont be changed because of the railroad tracks, but according to existing law Grove should be three lanes, with a center turn lane, and two bicycle lanes on the north and south sides of the road.
As a planning matter the street is already a three-lane with bike lanes, Tatum explained. This would just be implementing what is already on the books.
Changing the configuration would help with ingress and egress to the many businesses and churches on the route, and would improve traffic flow and safety according to Tatum. The city already experimented with the exact same set up west of the Marysville Public Library where Grove curves near the Chevron Station at the intersection of 75th Place and 59th Avenue NE.
He said that change made a huge difference in reducing accidents there. Hes not the only one who thinks so.
I believe it, said Michelle Adamski.
A barista at Grove Street Espresso for four years, Adamski watches traffic flow past her stand everyday. Since parking was scotched shes noticed people have a better view pulling into traffic.
Its safer because people would park so close you cant see, Adamski said. I saw a lot of near misses and a lot of accidents.
Nielsen will be meeting with affected business to appraise them of the plans and hear their concerns, but no action will be needed by the council to implement the new stripping, according to Tatum.
As of this point I thought we had some authority to proceed, he said.