Neighbors are nervous cars will smash pedestrians on a narrow
bridge after the city approved a tiny interim parking lot on West
Third Street.
Morgan Hill – Neighbors are nervous cars will smash pedestrians on a narrow bridge after the city approved a tiny interim parking lot on West Third Street.
The city will begin construction in the next three weeks on a row of 10 gravel parking spots on the north side of West Third Street designed to relieve downtown parking congestion. The parking spots will be located west of a tiny one-lane creek bridge used by cars as well as people on foot as a passageway to Monterey Road.
Three residents from the adjacent neighborhood who frequently use the bridge voiced their concerns about the project at Wednesday night’s Morgan Hill City Council and Redevelopment Agency meeting.
“The safety issue is a real concern,” said Susan Hughes, who lives near the proposed parking lot and views the bridge as a dangerous bottleneck. People walk across the bridge all the time, Hughes said, and the city would be simultaneously encouraging more pedestrian and auto traffic on the bridge by adding parking there.
Hughes suggested the city could be liable if there is an accident.
But city officials wrote off the possibility. Morgan Hill City Manager Ed Tewes said he is not aware of any extraordinary liability issues linked to the project. City Attorney Janet Kern concurred, recommending visible warning signs alerting people to “go slow” across the “narrow bridge” would prevent legal hazards.
Other residents told the council the project came as a surprise because the city failed to engage them in the planning process.
“Public engagement in the RDA or in anything happening downtown is important,” said Laura Gonzalez-Escoto, who’s lived near downtown since 1977, adding she’s not against the parking spaces per se. However, she said she is skeptical of the city’s notion that the temporary gravel lot might only be in use for two years.
“In ‘city speak,’ there’s nothing more permanent than a temporary solution,” Gonzalez-Escoto said.
The interim parking is meant to relieve parking congestion until a permanent parking facility becomes available to meet downtown’s needs.
The Redevelopment Agency expects to spend up to $15,000 on the project. According to the city, it would cost about $100,000 to replace or widen the tiny bridge.
The need for the extra parking spots is tied to Ragoots restaurant, which opened last summer on the corner of W. Third Street and Monterey Road. Overflow parking from the restaurant has been spilling into parking lots owned by neighboring businesses, sparking a conflict between merchants.
In response, the Morgan Hill Downtown Association asked the city to investigate ways to increase the number of parking spots nearby. After the city held a workshop with business owners last spring, the idea for the interim parking lot emerged. Additionally, the city has re-striped parking spots on W. Third Street between Monterey Road and the bridge, adding two new spaces on the south side of the street. The city also created three new spots on the north side of the street in front of Verizon.
As to the “temporary” gravel lot, city officials believe it could be in use for two years after it’s built this summer. The development of a parking garage has been discussed by council members, but those plans are on hold until an update to the city’s downtown plan along with a new parking plan are finished early next year.
The council, acting as the Redevelopment Agency’s directors, on Wednesday allowed the project to move forward after taking no action on the informational agenda item.
However, the council urged city staff to keep neighbors in the loop in the coming weeks as to the design of the gravel parking lot.
“I know not everyone is going to be on board with what government does,” said Councilman Larry Carr. “But I am worried about the (slow) pace of the improvements we are making downtown. We have to keep moving forward on things, and this is one of those examples.”
