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Franklin Street parking limited to north side
No-parking signs are expected to go up shortly along East Franklin Street in Greencastle, restricting parking to the north side of the street between College Avenue and Indianapolis Road.
The passage of Ordinance 2022-10 by the City Council on second and final reading eliminates parking along the south side of the street and should provide for smoother travel for traffic which otherwise has been having to weave in and out of parked vehicles or wait for traffic in the opposite direction to clear before venturing past parked vehicles on both sides of the road.
Council President Mark Hammer “wholeheartedly” made the motion to adopt the ordinance on second reading, adding that he has heard “nothing but good comments” about the Council’s action to restrict parking along what is a major thoroughfare between the East Side and downtown.
Councilor Stacie Langdon “wholeheartedly” seconded the motion which was passed unanimously.
Hammer asked Mayor Bill Dory how soon no-parking signs and yellow curbs could be expected to delineate the decision.
“We’ll put up signage for sure,” Dory said, adding that he wasn’t certain the curbs will get painted yet this year, depending on the weather and availability of the Street Department to do the painting with other seasonal activities on its plate.
During the October meeting, city officials had pointed out that calls and comments from the public were overwhelmingly in favor of the restricted parking, while some persons had suggested prohibiting parking altogether along the Franklin Street area in question.
Meanwhile, the Council also adopted a number of other ordinances on second reading Thursday night, including:
-- Ordinance 2022-9, which amends the list of one-way street designations to include Indiana Street, from Olive to Berry southbound; College Avenue, from Berry to Olive northbound; and Liberty Street, from Indiana Street to College Avenue eastbound.
-- Ordinance 2022-11, which addresses limited parking zones, deleting all limited parking spaces in the Walnut Street parking lot as the lot no longer exists and two parking spaces for 10-minute parking downtown previously created to facilitate the needs of businesses during the Covid pandemic and a 10-minute space on Indiana Street that is vacant many times during the day and is no longer needed. The 10-minute spots will revert to two-hour parking.
-- Ordinance 2022-12, which lists designated loading zones as one space on Franklin Street on the north side, immediately west of Indiana Street; one space on Jackson Street on the west side, immediately south of Franklin Street; and one space on Walnut Street, 60 feet long on the north side from the alley and driveway east of Jackson Street to Indiana Street. For the most part, those loading zones were already in existence, Dory noted.
-- Ordinance 2022-13, amending the schedule of reserved parking spaces. The city had an agreement to reserve five parking spaces for employees of First Christian Church for a period of five years as part of the purchase of property from the church for construction of the parking lot and that time period has elapsed. Also, the Senior Center is no longer in need of the space along the west side of Indiana Street, immediately north of Franklin Street.
-- Ordinance 2022-14, clarifying the schedule of reserved handicap parking spaces, including two spaces at the west end of the Columbia Street parking lot on either side of the driveway, and one space in the city lot immediately north of the Banner Graphic on the south side of the lot where there has previously not been a reserved handicap space.