Scottville parking/pedestrian crossing issues discussed

SCOTTVILLE — Scottville City Commission discussed parking in downtown Scottville Monday during its regular meeting. The topic seems to come up about once every few months. City Manager Amy Williams said she wanted to bring the topic up to the commission because she received an email from a downtown merchant who was concerned about over-sized cars parking downtown and was also concerned about pedestrian crossing at the bump-outs in the center of the block.

The merchant suggested the city paint solid lines at the end of the parking spaces so that drivers could see that their vehicle was extended into the street. “I know we had discussed this in the past with varying options,” Williams said to the commission in her pre-meeting notes. “Some of the thoughts were that the lines wouldn’t look that good as the spaces would appear to be boxes up and down the street.” Williams added that most cars would most likely not fit into the allotted spaces.

The merchant had also requested a pedestrian crossing sign be placed within the crosswalk area between the bump-outs. State law requires motorists to yield to pedestrians. Williams said she agrees with the law and hopes that motorists know the law. But, placing a sign in the center of the street would cause an issue with wide vehicles going through downtown.

“We get a lot of farm traffic coming through town,” Williams said. “Placing a sign in the center of the street would not be feasible.” She said placing a sign overhead would also be an issue because there currently are no poles within the vicinity of the crosswalk, meaning there would be a considerable cost involved with making the changes.

The city commission chose not to take action on the request at this time.