Hillside parking rules important as snow flies
By ZACH GRILL
DCN Reporter
For many residents of the Central Hillside, on-street parking can be a daily battle for space. A majority of streets in the Central Hillside implement an “alternate side� parking policy, which requires people to park on opposite sides of the street every other week.
This can be not only frustrating but also costly to those who dare to attempt to defy it.
Stephen Ward lives on Fifth Street and has received a handful of tickets for not adhering to the parking policy.
“I’ve probably got at least three or four tickets a year,� Ward said. “Sometimes I just forget about it but other times I park on the wrong side just for a few minutes to run inside and then I come back out and there’s a ticket.�
The parking system requires people to park their cars on only one side of the street from 4 p.m. Sunday afternoon to 8 p.m. the following Sunday. The only time parking is allowed on both sides of the street is during the change-over period from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Sundays, according to the Duluth Police Department.
Residents that have off-street parking, such as Andrew Scully who lives on Seventh Street, don’t have much of a problem with the policy.
“I usually park behind my house so the parking doesn’t really bother me,� Scully said. “The only thing that I don’t like is when people park on the wrong side on purpose and it constricts traffic even more because there are cars on both sides of a narrow street.�
The parking becomes more of a problem during the winter when snow plows need to be able to plow the streets.
If people park on both sides of the street the plows can’t get through safely. This can lead to cars being damaged or towed, more expensive tickets and roads not being plowed.
“I’ve seen a couple cars get taken out by plows because the driver can’t see them and doesn’t know a car is on the wrong side,� Ward said. “Not only that but then our street doesn’t get plowed and the road just gets worse.�
As winter quickly approaches and more and more snow begins to fall, parking will become a bigger problem once again so be wary of where you park your car during a snow storm.