Allan Appel Photo
Enough already?
Alder Kim Edwards: “It took me weeks to get a car towed.”
How many parking tickets are issued, where and when?
Do traffic enforcers bring in more money than they cost? Should city hire more? Issue more tickets?
Do so many residential parking zones eliminate free, legal spots?
East Rock neighbors raised those questions — and started hunting for answers.
The questions arose at a lively discussion at the most recent meeting of The East Rock Community Management Team (ERCMT). The meeting drew 30 neighbors Monday night via the Zoom teleconferencing app.
The conversation was initiated by Ben Jacobs, a six-year resident of Bradley Street. He leads the ERCMT’s subcommittee on the subject, an initiative of the group’s new chair, data maven Elena Grewal.
East Rock CMT Chair Elena Grewal.
In online surveys of neighbors’ concerns, parking and traffic issues, no surprise, have emerged right up there among top priorities.
Jacobs cited the problems of limited parking spots on his street, especially during the work week; and a lack of understanding of the patterns of enforcement.
“I’ve wanted to learn how it’s viewed, I’m trying to get a better sense ” how the city deploys traffic resources, he said. Then when the information is better understood, he said, that would be the time to invite Transportation, Traffic & Parking (TTP) officials to a ERCMT meeting for a hopefully fruitful discussion.
Jacobs was cautioned by Alder Abby Roth on timing: “TTP is in some transition,” she said, citing the departure of longtime head Doug Hausladen (currently running the separate New Haven Parking Authority). TTP Interim Director Karla Lindquist is on maternity leave. So Roth suggested continuing gathering information but waiting on a meeting “until someone is in those roles.”
NHPD
NHPD
Stats for District 7, which includes East Rock, Newhallville, and Cedar Hill.
Alder Kim Edwards: “It took me weeks to get a car towed.”
Alder Kim Edwards liked the idea of charts and graphs. Prior to Jacobs’ presentation, District Manager Lt. Dana Smith had presented his monthly report with first-time charts and graphs showing the number and severity of traffic collisions, including those involving pedestrians, and year to date and other comparative numbers.
This too had been the result of more data-focused CMT’s request. It was the model of what Jacobs had been requesting.
Edwards said she already knows there’s an enforcement problem as well as a manpower problem. Amelioration, she said, shouldn’t need to wait on more research.
As she put it, “I agree that it’s good to compile complaints as that opens the conversation. But it took me weeks to get a car towed. I need to understand my constitutents’ pain. No matter what a department is going through, they shouldn’t have to go through that. Mr. Jacobs, we need to move them, not just charts. Call me a radical. After holiday time, I’m going to have a firmer conversation” with city officials.
“Part of it is data,” argued Kevin McCarthy, a retired state legislative researcher. “And part is the Board of Alders. It’s the alders who create new parking zones. It’s the board who do the budget for TT&P. I’d like to know if the parking agents bring in more money than they cost, in which case there should be more. If they are not, the fines should be increased.”
Cottage Street resident Mark Aronson offered a different take on the parking issue: not its paucity but its potential perils. “Hazardous and line of sight parking,” he said, “I’m much more concerned about that.”
Aronson upped the ante of possibilities: “I’d be in favor of a citywide parking permit, not a zoned permit. My most hated place in the world to visit is Cambridge. Because there’s no parking! I’d hate to create so many zones that there’s no place to park.”