Angle Parking on South Side of Courthouse Museum Square Apparently a Non-Starter

The proposal involves the County giving up seven feet of property along the south side of the Courthouse Museum square to provide space for angle parking along that block of Jefferson Avenue. The project would provide eight additional parking spaces. The work would be done next year when the City plans to reconstruct Jefferson Avenue through the downtown area.

The City's initial proposal was for the County to split the $60,000 cost of the additional work to create the angle parking spaces and to dedicate the seven-foot area. A minimum proposal, says City Engineer Jeremy Heuerman, would be the dedication of the ground needed to facilitate the project.

Committee members, though, didn't see the merit of the project. County Board Chairman Jim Niemann said an alternative would be to switch the parking along the north side of Washington Avenue to angle parking. Niemann said that could extend as far west as the American Legion building and create a number of additional spaces. He also said that could be accomplished by establishing a single lane of traffic along that portion of Washington, with no construction involved. Niemann said the County would pay for the paint needed to put down the new lane lines. If it didn't work, Niemann said, you're only out the paint.

Heuerman counters that the parking along Washington now is only lightly used and that you might only be creating more spaces that no one will use. He said the spaces along Jefferson would be heavily utilized and said the right time to undertake the project would be when the street will already be torn up for reconstruction.

Another concern regarding the project was voiced by area veteran Tony Koester, since the project would bring the parking area closer to the Veterans Memorial. Heuerman assured Koester that the memorial would not be impacted by the project.