Aspinwall residents participate in parking study data collection; report to be filed by year’s end
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Aspinwall resident Mary Pollice is frustrated with the parking situation in her borough, particularly near her home.
“Our parking sucks because the whole one side of Fifth Street has (Route) 28 in their backyard,” Pollice said. “There’s no alley and no garages for them. My side has an alley. Some people have off-street parking, and some people have garages.
“I think the main trouble is people who have garages don’t use them. People request curb cuts, and they still park on the street. That’s part of the parking issue, too. … If you have a curb cut and don’t use it, then it should be free for everyone to park there.”
Fourth and Fifth streets are so narrow that parking is only permitted on one side. Some residents have to use spaces by the ball field and along Field Avenue.
That can be cumbersome when there is a game or special borough event.
“Everybody thinks they are entitled to a spot in front of their house,” said Pollice, whose daughter, Gemma Pollice, is a TribLive employee. “In reality, that ain’t gonna happen because there’s more houses than there are parking spots. These days, there are two, three, four cars to a house.”
Pollice, a retired secretary with the Department of Veterans Affairs, is not alone in her plight.
Other residents throughout Aspinwall have been clamoring for something to be done about the supply and demand of parking spaces.
They had an opportunity to take an active role in finding solutions to the problem.
Volunteers took to the streets and parking lots Oct. 24 and 26 as part of a parking study with Walker Consultants.
Study underway
Council in August approved a $50,000 deal with the national employee-owned firm to examine spaces, consider potential changes to the zoning ordinance, collect data and come up with recommendations. Its local office is in Canonsburg.
Consultants met in September with officials from local entities, including the borough, police department, Chamber of Commerce and Allegheny RiverTrail Park.
They also counted the lined parking spaces on the roads and in the public and private lots leading up to the volunteer days.
Councilman Mark Chimel said community engagement was one of the reasons Walker Consultants was selected.
“I think their first visit when they came in September was a good visit,” Chimel said. “I think they did a good job of listening and got a sense of what people thought were the issues. What people thought were solutions and got a feel for the town. It already seemed like they had a good grasp on potential solutions. (Consultants) did get a sense of what we were looking at.”
The goal is to take that information, combine it with the data collected in October and craft a draft report in the coming weeks.
Chimel said there will be a public meeting to discuss the findings and give feedback to Walker Consultants before a final report is submitted by the end of the year.
“From there, it will be about council and the community getting behind the recommendation and implementing,” Chimel said.
Volunteer days
Aspinwall was split up into quadrants for volunteers to canvass a few days before Halloween. The goal was to get a count of spaces used during a weekday and weekend.
Lou Curcio, councilman and general manager of Luke & Mike’s Frontporch along Commercial Avenue, went out with a team in the mornings on both days.
He was accompanied by his mother and fellow resident, Diana Curcio, on Oct. 26.
The Curcios counted cars from Eastern to Delafield avenues and on Center to Western avenues and First to Fifth avenues.
“I think parking is one of our biggest issues that we have here in town,” Lou Curcio said. “Being able to do it firsthand and see the data and get everything straight is going to help us make better decisions moving forward to help address the problem.
“The company that we hired counted the spaces themselves. We just did the cars. A lot of people are pitching in to get the information that we need. Once we get the data, then we can make the best decisions for the town.”
He credited Chimel with spearheading the project. Chimel and Mayor Joe Noro canvassed the eastern section of the borough in the evening Oct. 24.
Having residents participate in the data collection gave them a sense of ownership and partnership with the study, according to Chimel.
“I think that was very important, and that was one of the reasons that we went with Walker as a consultant on this project,” Chimel said. “They have a lot of experience and are competent. Beyond that, when they gave a presentation, their proposal to us really had a plan involving residents in the process. … We aren’t really parking experts, but we know what the issues are here.”
One thing that was not counted at the time were the alleys.
Pollice said people often use alleys for parking either as personal preference or when no spaces are available. She hopes council takes into account the alleys and any discrepancies in the findings between the volunteers and the consultants.
She gave an example of information provided by the consultants showing there were 22 spaces on her block when she counted only 20. Reports also showed an accessible parking space as designated by the Americans With Disabilities Act where there was not one, Pollice said.
“The data should be right,” Pollice said.
Chimel acknowledged there may be a few numbers off in certain areas, but he does not expect significant differences in numbers that would impact overall recommendations.
“Those are all things that we can take a look at and see when they come up, especially if someone has a specific thing on a specific block,” Chimel said. “That’s something that we can easily go out and take a look at.
“I think the more important thing is block by block we’re looking at specific areas and making sure that we’re balancing the supply and demand of (parking).”
Collection data has not been released.
Walker Consultants senior analyst Megan Gardo on Oct. 26 deferred all questions to borough officials.
A parking study was a recommendation in the borough’s comprehensive plan developed within the past few years.