Reverse Angle Parking Invading Southwest Michigan. Is Ludington Next?

[XLFD]

Back in August of 2014 the City of Paw Paw, Michigan thought it would be a good idea to experiment with parking in the downtown area and together with MDOT installed reverse angle parking on the state highway going through that southwestern Michigan city.  Unfamiliar with this form of parking here is a diagrammatic representation of what is involved:

Looks simple, efficient and safe enough, except when you consider all those people that may be behind you that must stop and wait for you to go through the process.  The citizens of Paw Paw were introduced to reverse angle parking late last year, and already they wish to reverse the parking back to the way it was with a petition signed by 1000 Paw-Pawnians to do so.  The people's main complaints are that it only adds congestion and confusion, and a hearing on whether to do so after a March 11th meeting for public comment.

But progress is marching on elsewhere in Otsego, as their downtown is considering the switch over to reverse angle parking as part of a road diet that will switch their five lanes to three and introduce a lot of extra parking. 

The diagram below shows what Otsego might look at with the new system:

With Ludington leaders considering a variety of options including road diets and parking enhancements in the downtown, this style of parking may find its way to Ludington, since we have a state highway going right through it.  Be advised, by state law, forward angle parking is illegal on a state highway.  Do you think this is a good idea overall for Paw Paw, Otsego, Ludington or any other place? 

[stump]

WOW! that has got to be the stupidest idea ever. The reverse pattern will slow traffic as motorist will stop traffic trying to back into a space multiple times . Seems that the insurance company's would be jumping on this stupidity. I myself consider a good driver ,but I have noticed as I am getting older that it is getting harder to turn in the car seat to see where I am backing up, mirrors work but most people are not proficient in using them. I can see a lot of cars being caved in. After a few try's people will just go somewhere else to shop.. Hit and runs will keep the cops busy.

[shinblind]

It is telling when 1,000 Paw-Pawniers out of a population of 3,500 can agree to sign a petition to rescind the reverse parking ban. 

[Willy]

Most people will admit to not being able to or disliking the process of backing up, especially in traffic. This type of parking, along with the angle will take up a lot of road space. Cars will be forced to pass in the turn lane or sit and wait for those who have trouble backing up. A lot of inconsiderate or incompetent drivers will park in such a way as to leave themselves plenty of room to exit their vehicle which can leave the neighboring car with very little space in which to enter their vehicle. Then we have the drivers who want to park their vehicle exactly centered in their parking space and they will back in and out until they are satisfied. There will be need for curb stops to prevent the rear of the car from hanging over the sidewalks. Many cars could easily hang over the sidewalk by 4ft. or more which would be the distance from the rear tire to the bumper. I can see many more accidents either from the back up process or someone pulling out to soon when another vehicle is passing. When the summer traffic is touring thru town I can see a massive traffic jam of cars waiting for the parking vehicles to complete the parking process. I hope this idea does not sprout roots in the minds of local leaders.

[XLFD]

I can't much argue with these points.  Reverse angle parking definitely has some advantages, such as 1) getting back into traffic easier from a parked position, 2) not having the driver exit out into traffic when parked, 3) providing more spaces potentially than side-of-the-road parking.

But the disadvantages as noted by stump and Willy seem real and palpable.  Balancing safety and traffic flow concerns almost always are the driving force behind what works on our roadways, and even if we debatably mark this style of parking as equally or more safer than standard parking, the traffic flow is seriously hampered, and it effectively switches the right of way privileges from moving vehicles in the roadway to the vehicles planning to park. 

I could see downtown business owners thinking that people caught behind a car in the process of reverse angle parking may be more inclined to check their store out, but I can see those cars eventually taking other routes where they don't have to worry about being inconvenienced.  Let's keep our eyes on Paw Paw, and cross our fingers that our Ludington officials don't get hoodwinked by MDOT. 

[stump]

Scottville has had forward angle parking probably from when the town was conceived . I was in a accident years ago there when a old lady, probably not as old as I am now backed out of the space and bounced off my car 3 times before she thought to look. The main thing with driving a vehicle you need to pay attention to what your doing .

[Willy]

I can just picture it now. Someone backing into a parking space while texting. I will have to admit one thing though, reverse angle parking would eliminate one of my pet peeves with parking downtown and that is people getting in and out of their cars without any thought to traffic. I don't know how many times I've almost made a hood ornament out of someones car door or for that matter someone's rear end.

[XLFD]

I was checking on the history of reverse angle parking (RAP) in the state and found that Marquette was probably the first city in the state that tried it back in 2008 when the DDA repaved the downtown they restriped it for RAP.  As reported in the Marquette Mining Journal the next year, the DDA decided to reverse that decision when they received negative polling results and complaints from business owners who allegedly had lost customers because of the RAP system.  Marquette in 2009 with reverse angle parking:

In the meantime, fellow yoopers from Calumet tried RAP based on the success of the system in Marquette they reported (just a month before Marquette scrapped RAP due to its 'failure').  This was still in place but not getting favorable reviews at least until 2013.  It seems that after the Marquette experience failed, which was touted at the time by RAP advocates throughout the country, the RAP advocates went into hiding for about four years, until it's resurgence in this other Michigan region. 

[XLFD]

Shared streets are also on the agenda in Grand Rapids for Bridge Street.  Shared streets is a concept where curbs disappear and pedestrians, bikes, and cars driving less than 15 mph share the same space, and GR city leaders are talking it up, while just about everyone else is saying "hunh?".  Read the article and share your thoughts:  http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2015/03/15_mph_on_...

[MED]

I wonder how the automated parking systems in the newer cars will adapt to this style of parking? Most of the systems I have seen require you to specify parallel or perpendicular parking before you start it. No choice for angled parking!

[Willy]

I wouldn't trust any machine to park for me. I bet the price of cars will sky rocket with automated parking.

[shinblind]

The only reverse angle I'm interested in involves a cowgirl...

[Willy]

"Cowgirls and reverse angles" would make a great Country and Western song. Reminds of the the story about  the "Man from Kent".