Syracuse city officials should seriously rethink the proposal to remove the parking lanes from Euclid Avenue in order to replace them with bike lanes. Syracuse already has a parking problem and removing more parking spots would be a mistake.

The City of Syracuse’s Department of Public Works commissioned the group Bergman and Associates to research the possibility of removing the parking lanes on Euclid Avenue between Westcott Street and Ostrom Avenue. The study was conducted in the summer of 2014 over three days: July 26, July 29 and Sept. 18. It determined that the times when the most cars were parked on Euclid were on week days between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m.

Because the majority of the study was conducted before the fall semester began, it didn’t get an accurate picture of what the parking needs are in the East neighborhood during the nine months of the year that students live in Syracuse.

Euclid Avenue serves as residential parking, as many of the students who live on Euclid cannot park in their driveways because there are multiple residents in the houses. Oftentimes, the driveways cannot accommodate all of the residents’ cars. This problem is only more obvious during the winter when driveways can become impassable and students look for alternatives.

The Bergman and Associates study suggested that the parking spots that would be eliminated on Euclid would be replaced by the parking additions on Waverly and Comstock Avenue. This is an impractical solution. The parking on Euclid serves a residential area, and it would be illogical for people to park so far away from their houses and apartments.

Additionally, the parking on Euclid serves the guests of Syracuse University. When there’s a concert or sporting event on campus, as much as the university encourages visitors to park at Manley Field House, those spots fill up and the spill over winds up in the East neighborhood.

While the roads and parking in the East neighborhood are controlled by Syracuse, SU should intervene, advocate on behalf of the students and prevent this change from happening. SU didn’t have a say in the Comstock and Waverly parking changes, which caused a lot of confusion for the SU community. SU should learn from its mistakes.

As much as Syracuse wants to be a more bike-friendly city, its long winters and lack of parking make that dream unrealistic.

Published on April 1, 2015 at 11:14 pm