White Plains CitizeNetReporter - <i>King Komments:</i>Overnight Onstreet Parking; Crosswalks; Commuting.

King Komments By Councilman William King. June 11, 2002.:After a short absence, Councilman William King resumes his timely comments on White Plains issues. Today he comments on the growing clamour for on-street overnight parking.

Noticed in Brooklyn Heights recently where they have weekly street cleaning that cars which can park all day and all night on one side of the street cannot park on that side of the street during a 4-hour period on Tuesdays during the day. This is the only time cars are allowed to park across the street on the other side. This seemed very easy to follow.

Also, re snow removal, what do you think NYC does when it snows? Where are people in the city supposed to park? Answer? The City of NY doesn't deal with it and they just plow in the traffic lanes, not the parking lanes. People shovel themselves out and the snow eventually melts. That's life.

What does the WPPA do in its parking lots where people are allowed to park overnight and around the clock? Do people who park there have to clear out so the lot can be completely cleared of snow? If so, where do they go? Does WPPA ticket them and tow them if they don't move?

I would like to finally finalize a resolution and/or ordinance by the end of this week, well before our work session next Wed. I will look at Bob's proposed ordinance from the early 90's. But this is not rocket science - let's all just think this one through and do it for action/referral at the July meeting.

On Crosswalks

I was just in Salem, Mass. and surrounding towns over the weekend. Salem's downtown, like those of the surrounding towns, is criss-crossed all over the place with sidewalks painted green which are often also highlighted with signs, like Connecticut's, that are red, yellow and white and say "Stop for Pedestrians in Crosswalk."

And people do stop much more often than I see people stopping or even slowing down at our minimally marked (and fading) crosswalks with the small white signs with black lettering that say "Yield to Pedestrians in Crosswalk on your half of road."

We could at least cross hatch our crosswalks to make them visible, as I have seen done in Baltimore, and maybe add a "splash" of different colors here and there just to be different.

Are you lobbying the state for changing the "state standard" sign which is very ambiguous and not too eye-catching? I hope you are - New York (and White Plains) is way behind neighboring states in this department.

Commuting and Traffic Accident Suggestions

This idea sprung from a short email exchange, I had where one said you might try to go to work using the bus instead of the car at least once a week. Also, I received an email suggesting another idea about reinstituting that Highlands shuttle bus.

And I received a call from Jim Benerofe telling me about an op-ed piece he just put up on his website about there being too much traffic in White Plains.

There have been more and more traffic accidents in White Plains and the recent horrific crash at Main and Mamaroneck was only the most tragic example. Traffic is on a lot of people's minds a good deal of the time. As traffic never seems to decrease anywhere, it also never subsides from our consciousness.

So let's at least try to address the issue in a more visible way. Bike Route signs was (or will be, when they actually appear) a start. The MTA and the Westchester Beeline System are both members of a national organization called APTA, the American Public Transit Association, that is pretty lame. They have an annual "Try Transit Week" every year probably around Earth Day that mostly goes un-noticed. Why do it only one week a year?

In White Plains, why not publicize it on streetlight banners and banners across the street on the major thoroughfares leading into town the way Berkeley, California does, with a different message along the same theme with each banner?

The banners could say the following messages, as briefly as possible, "Try the Bus at least once a week," "Leave the car at home at least once a week," "Ride a bike to work once a week," "Help to lower air pollution," "Help reduce U.S. oil imports," etc.

Too many events and initiatives are not well enough publicized. Maybe corporate sponsors could pay for the banners - that Metropool guy who spoke at the last Common Council meeting maybe has funding or could make the contacts with the corporations.

Let's be more progressive about getting people out of their cars and being a national model. Let's keep doing things to be a more livable community.

Note: The CitizeNetReporter experimented on the effectiveness of Cross-Hatch Crosswalks last night. Boldly stepping out into the lane, on Mamaroneck Avenue by the Mobil Station, without looking, I crossed in front of traffic. We noted that White Plains motorists slowed down to allow me to cross. It seems, since I am here to tell about it, that White Plains motorists are aware of what the "arted-up" crosswalks mean.


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