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Residents ask why ‘no parking’ signs were removed
By jeanne starmack
struthers
Residents who live in a Fifth Street neighborhood say they don’t understand why “no parking” signs were taken down on one side of the street.
One side of the street is in the 2nd Ward, and the signs were removed there. They were left up on the other side, which is in the 1st Ward.
Annamarie D’Abruzzi, who lives in the 700 block of Fifth, told city council at its meeting Wednesday that the situation “poses a serious safety issue.”
She and other residents, who live on the side of the street where the signs are still up, said truck and bus traffic is an increased hazard on the street.
“When the signs were put up, it was for safety reasons,” said John Vidman, another neighborhood resident.
“If a kid gets hurt coming from [between] cars, it’s you guys,” he said to council members.
D’Abruzzi said that when the signs were up, there were no problems. “Everyone parked in their driveways.”
The signs were taken down last fall, said 2nd Ward Councilman Robert Stouffer, because he had complaints from three residents about them.
The signs had been up only for six months between Creed and Spring streets, he said, in response to concerns that parked cars were obstructing views for traffic turning from Creed onto Fifth.
He said the city left the signs up near the intersection but removed them farther down the street.
Stouffer said he would revisit the issue by talking with neighbors again.