Councilmembers Voice Concern Over Bike Lane That Would Eliminate Parking On One Side of East 2nd St.

City Council Finance Committee Chair Brent Sheldon discusses resolutions at work session (January 8, 2024)

Jamestown City Council members voice concerns about a proposal to eliminate parking on one side of East Second Street in order to add bike lanes.

Under the proposal, the city would request the state install a dedicated bike lane on the eastbound lane with the westbound lane widened to allow for a bike and car shared lane. The dedicated bike lane would require parking on the southwest side of East Second Street to be removed from East Fourth Street to Tiffany Avenue.

Finance Committee Chair Brent Sheldon said while a Jamestown Department of Public Works‘ survey found that 90% of properties have off-street parking, he’s concerned about residents who don’t have that option.

He said the area between Weeks and Winsor Streets has a lot of multi-family houses that do not have off-street parking, “I’ve done a couple of sweeps through there to see how many cars are there. Just driving here to the meeting there were about 13 cars there tonight. And this is actually on both sides of the street, not just on the one side where (parking) is going to be eliminated. But my biggest concern is the safety of the residents who are going to have to be parking on the opposite side of the street from where they live, bringing children across the street, carrying groceries or whatever from shopping. I think it’s going to be a very big safety issue.”

Sheldon also expressed concern for businesses that do a lot of take-out business that would lose on street parking.

The Finance Committee voted to table the resolution pending more information.

Public Works Committee Chair Randy Daversa said with the City’s Complete Streets Initiative, he doesn’t know if the city can avoid putting in bike lanes, “We said that a lot of people are using pedal bikes and eBikes going to JCC (Jamestown Community College), which is putting them on Falconer Street. And they may very well utilize Second Street if they’ve got a bike lane, so it would help in a way for the college.”

Council Member at Large Jeff Russell pointed out that while bike lanes have been added to Washington Street, it’s more commercial with less issues when it comes to parking.

Council President Tony Dolce said more data gathering needs to be done before council can move forward.