Durkee Parking Lot Redevelopment: Street Talk

Prime Companies Vice President Todd Curley answers a question from the audience
during the Durkee Street Parking Lot Redevelopment Forum.

(C) 2019  Luke T. Bush


PLATTSBURGH CITY, NY -- Jan. 8, 2019


Pull in or back in?

I didn't think of the question until I returned home after the meeting.

The forum held at City Hall Tuesday evening dealt with the proposal by Prime Companies of Cohoes, NY to renovate the Durkee Street parking lot as part of the Downtown Revitalization Initiative (DRI) grant.

Todd Curley, Prime Companies Vice President, handled most of the questions from the audience.  Projected behind him on the big screen was an aerial view of the Durkee Street parking lot area superimposed with renderings of proposed structures, the redevelopment eliminating most of the public parking spots.

His company received considerable public input regarding parking and his company listened to those concerns.  More parking was added to the proposal including angled/diagonal parking on Durkee and Bridge streets which would add more spots.

I noticed one detail about the diagonal parking.  No handicapped spots.  I asked about access to the disabled community, that two parking spots were needed so that someone using wheelchair could easily disembark from a vehicle.  To add those spots would reduce the total number.

Todd agreed, saying that this was a proposal and changes would be made as needed.  He stated the redevelopment project would be ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) compliant.

 A commenter in the audience pointed out delivery trucks use Durkee Street, sometimes double parking.  That could mean someone in the angled parking spots could find themselves trapped until the truck moved.

I asked Todd about how much disruption the construction would produce especially with the traffic flow.  He replied there would be one dedicated entrance to the site and that traffic would only be affected when deliveries were being made.

As I mentioned there's the question pulling or backing in with angled parking.  Pulling in would mean the vehicle would have to back out into traffic when leaving.  Backing in would be safer because loading the trunk would be done from the sidewalk.  When the vehicle left the driver would have a better view of the street.

One time the city tried angled parking on Court Street and at the Post Office on Miller Street.  It didn't work and the diagonal lines were covered up.  But like a ghost haunting the present some of the lines are showing through on Court Street, conflicting with the newer stripes.

Would angled parking work a second time?  A roundabout confused some drivers when it was first introduced in the city.  They kept circling, trying to figure out how to exit.  Car sickness ensued.  Education would be needed for angled parking or improper parking will result. Headaches for everyone.

Failure haunts Court Street.