Commission approves two parking requests

Two requests to limit parking were approved Wednesday by the Jefferson City Transportation and Traffic Commission.

At the commission meeting Wednesday, members approved a request to limit parking on the east side of Cherry Street, between East Dunklin Street and East Cedar Way, as well as a request to remove parking on the north side of Industrial Drive, between Argonne Street and Hart Street.

Chris Rose requested the parking on Cherry Street be eliminated due to potential accidents on the narrow street that he's observed when dropping off his child at the nearby Head Start building.

"It's real dangerous there," Rose said. "It's hard to see."

Operations Division Director Britt Smith said Cherry Street is relatively narrow and parking has only been allowed on the east side, but it is not conducive to two-way traffic. Smith said staff was reluctant to support the request without large-scale support from affected property owners, none of whom indicated a preference either way.

Because the problem was described as being a sight issue near East Cedar Way, where the crest of the hill is, the commission voted 4-2 to eliminate parking on the east side of the street from the driveway at 611 Cherry St. to East Cedar Way.

The commission also approved a request to eliminate parking on the north side of Industrial Drive, between Argonne Street and Hart Street.

Smith said the Union Pacific railroad had previously leased an area in the railroad right-of-way between the tracks and Industrial Drive to US Rents It employees, but recently canceled the lease. In his request, Jim Rau, manager with US Rents It, said the railroad's commissioned police force has informed them that any vehicle parked in the right-of-way will be immediately towed, which he said could cause problems for customers who don't know not to park there because there are no signs.

The commission approved the request, and the city will put up signs notifying people the area is no-parking.

All requests approved by the commission go to the full City Council for review.