Downtown Parking & Circulation North of Centre Street Our Downtown has historically hosted a mixture of uses; the Central Business District is intended to encourage such a mixture. The Area north of Centre Street hosts a mixture of land uses, but is predominated by residential uses to the north of Alachua Street. During peak periods of parking demand, conflicts can arise among these uses. Residential driveways are sometimes blocked; visibility from driveways can be impeded. On-street parking is unorganized and haphazard; there are often encroachments into the travel lane by improperly parked vehicles.

Downtown Parking & Circulation North of Centre Street Pavement widths of some streets (particularly Alachua, Broome and Calhoun) are not adequate to support parking on both sides of the street while maintaining a 2-way flow of traffic. Public safety may be jeopardized by the current parking and circulation pattern. Both Police and Fire confirm difficulty in safely maneuvering in this area during peak parking demand. Area residents have been expressing a need for relief for years.

Considerations: Eliminate parking on both sides of streets which are not wide enough to accommodate. Simply eliminating parking will improve circulation in the area but will displace the parking need to other areas. Proper pavement markings are needed to provide order and clarification of designated parking areas. Public safety relies upon predictable, orderly parking configurations and adequate travel lane widths.

Solutions need to accomplish: Ensure safe travel widths for emergency response vehicles. Do not shift the parking problem from one downtown area to another. Ensure on-street parking is easy to use: Minimize opportunities for blocking driveways Ensure adequate visibility at driveways and intersections Ensure drivers know where they can and cannot park Ensure traffic patterns are compatible with our overall downtown circulation.

Recommendations: Convert Alachua and Broome Streets to one-way streets (Alachua to the west and Broome to the east). Provide for angled parking on one side only of Alachua and Broome Streets (north side). Continue the existing one-way street configuration between Centre and Alachua Streets north to Broome Street. Provide for angled parking on one side only of the newly one-way segments of N. 2nd, N. 3rd, N. 4th, N. 5th and N. 6th Streets.

What does that circulation look like?

And, what about the parking?

Implementation will require: Posting notice of impending circulation changes for at least 30-days. Installation of some new signage and striping of parking spaces. Initially, a high level of monitoring and enforcement to ensure compliance.