Sharraxaadda
I am very frustrated by the street parking situation on Clark St. after work hours, during Happy Hour at Christopher Martin's and dinnertime at Modern Apizza. For street residents with valid permits, it is almost impossible to find a place to park on a Thursday or Friday night. What's worse - as you're slowly driving, looking for spots, speeding cars using Clark as a cut through, or non-residents looking for parking too, close in behind you and honk angrily, and rarely give you the space or time to park should you find a spot. With cars already parked on both sides, these cars can't just pass you by. This happened to me today, and the driver of the car behind me not only was honking violently as I politely waited for her to back up a bit, so that I could park. Soon, I heard her screaming obscenities at me out her window. I pulled over, as best I could, into a narrow driveway, to let her pass. She pulled up beside me and got out of her car and screamed obscenities at me through the windshield, threatening to take a bat to my car. What's a girl like me to do? I don't know if there's a solution, but parking on Clark St. during Happy Hour is a seriously stressful situation.
21 Faalladas
La qiray BB (Isticmaale Diiwaangashan)
Hey Mila,
A group from the Upper State Street Association met with Traffic and Parking to discuss options on State Street as parking becomes worse.
They met with Mike Piscitelli and are looking at how to possibly limit the amount of residential tags authorized to apartment buildings with many tenants.
Mila3737 (Martida)
Hi Ben,
Thanks for your response. I don't think the clogged streets and threatening drivers are local. I'm more concerned with the passers-through and restaurant patrons.
In my alternate reality, I would like to see parking created somewhere, dedicated to restaurant/shop patrons, as well as heavier ticketing of cars without tags and an extension of ticketing hours. Speed bumps built into the streets bordering the State Street neighborhood might also help slow traffic and discourage cars cutting through on these narrow, heavily parked, and pedestrian heavy streets as well.
BB (Isticmaale Diiwaangashan)
Hey Mila,
We have looked around and unfortunately there is a multitude of tenants with an unregulated amount of parking passes.
I'm totally with you on the bump-outs.
It will be interesting to see what comes of the conversations with the city.
Biagio Mazzucco (Isticmaale Diiwaangashan)
There's been a couple of 'issues' with the same situation: parking on Clark St.
Has any discussion been made regarding changing the "One Way" direction on Clark? What are the pro's and con's on that?
And.. lest we forget.. CM uses Clark as it's "Valet Parking Lot"... illegally, I might add.
Mila3737 (Martida)
Yes, I love CM's and am a regular there, but they need to find parking elsewhere. It's just a zoo!
And, people get aggressive when they just want to belly up to the bar to get a drink after work on Friday....
I wonder if having State Street companies hire an off-duty cop or two during Happy Hour on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights - to walk the State Street strip - might help with traffic congestion and violations and disorderly conduct?
...I'm sure some New Haven policemen/women might appreciate the OT.
Regarding opening up Clark Street to a two-way street: the street just is not wide enough for that, and then there would be no parking for residents.
Biagio Mazzucco (Isticmaale Diiwaangashan)
Well, here it is Friday again. 6:30 pm. NO PARKING AVAILABLE. Cars parked right to the corner of Clark and Pleasant making pulling onto or across Clark very dangerous.
Who can we call after hours about this? Will the police respond to issue parking tickets?
Brian Tang (Isticmaale Diiwaangashan)
Ben (Martida)
Brian Tang (Martida)
Policy review (Martida)
Eric (Martida)
in order to have a residential pass, you must have your car registered in New Haven, which includes the annual car tax. Each automobile owner receives (with a fee) one sticker for the car they own, and (for an additional fee) two visitors' passes which are the plastic hang-tag type. Those are great for a significant other or friends/family who are visiting.
the problem here isn't the LOCAL permit owners, it's the huge influx of patrons from out of the neighborhood who are forced to park on side-streets, when all other parking options are limited. Penalizing legitimate visitors of the residents by disallowing them to congregate legally is not the solution. Finding another place for patrons to park is the issue that needs to be addressed.
I spent a happy year visiting my girlfriend on Clark Street; I had a residential pass in a different zone, but her visitor's pass was invaluable when I stayed the night. Legitimate visitors should not be punished; the patrons of the bars need to respect residents, and there needs to be better parking options for the patrons.
Department of Transportation, Traffic and Parking (Isticmaale Diiwaangashan)
REALITY CHECK! (Martida)
This is a distortion of an authentic public safety issue.
Basically, you have out-of-towners or otherwise lazy individuals who drive by themselves in four-person capacity automobiles to establishments/businesses in our city that are just as easily accessed by walking, biking, public transit or any combination of the three.
Why are they driving and where are they going, you might ask? Well, they just had a long day at the office and want a place where they can go and throw a few back without being hassled by downtown traffic and crowds, a nice watering hole where everybody knows your name. That's right, they want to get drunk, but oh no they're not like those rowdy hipsters downtown or those frat boys who don't know how to handle their liquor. These are sophisticated men and women who just enjoy a little good company under the guise of a tavern. Oh yeah, and they also want to be able to park as close to the bar as possible and then drive through your neighborhood as they try and get themselves home. They probably won't hurt anybody though. Is that okay?
Greg (Martida)
REALITY CHECK! (Martida)
Greg,
Sorry for the confusion. The end of my initial comment is dripping with sarcasm. I guess I didn't convey that well enough.
I completely agree that this is a serious issue. What I meant by a "distortion of an AUTHENTIC public safety issue" is that there is a very serious problem here, i.e. drunk driving, that is not being addressed by anyone here even our public officials. Is this a parking/neighborhood problem, yes. But it's also a serious PUBLIC SAFETY issue that affects all road users!! Why should we wait until someone gets hurt to address this??
Greg (Martida)
REALITY CHECK! (Martida)
Resident (Martida)
Biagio Mazzucco (Isticmaale Diiwaangashan)
@Resident... so you're saying that the TPA purposefully skipped CM patron cars and tagged a resident instead?
I wonder if it was the same city personnel who ignore the fact that CM illegally valet parks cars on Clark.
clarkstresident (Isticmaale Diiwaangashan)
Lisa (Martida)