Of course Mayor TenHaken and his staff will try to take credit for this;
The City’s proposal would convert Elmwood Avenue between 26th and 28th Streets into a northbound one-way street, add 42 diagonal public parking spots on the west side of Elmwood Avenue, add 10 parallel parking spots at the north end of east Elmwood Avenue, and a dedicated bus parking lane for students to load and unload in a safe manner.
This proposal preserves access to 26th Street and the pedestrian sidewalk, which was mentioned by neighbors who previously opposed the full vacation of Elmwood Avenue. The elimination of southbound traffic on Elmwood will help alleviate neighborhood safety concerns of congested traffic due to non-neighborhood traffic. Additionally, street parking congestion complaints should be quelled with the addition of the diagonal on-street parking.
This is the proposal that should have been suggested in the first place. It provides safe parking, safe drop-offs, and the one-way makes the now useable street safer. I hope the residents agree. While the council was not obviously involved in this compromise, the 3 that voted down the vacation need to be given the credit for forcing the city administration to create a compromise between the institution and it’s neighbors. I haven’t taken the temperature of the council yet on this new approach, but I am sure it will pass the council no problem. Better solutions come from negotiating with both parties.