Angle parking works downtown

Pitiful! That’s the word that came to mind when I saw Mike O’Connell’s letter complaining about angle parking on Pioneer Way. He says, “Backing into traffic when parked next to anything other than a convertible with its top down is not fun.” C’mon Mike! First, Pioneer Way isn’t exactly the Indy 500. Second, angle parking has been a standard for nearly a century. Third, there is ample off-street parking for Angle-Challenged-Parkers (ACP).

February 28, 2012 5:13 pm

Pitiful! That’s the word that came to mind when I saw Mike O’Connell’s letter complaining about angle parking on Pioneer Way. He says, “Backing into traffic when parked next to anything other than a convertible with its top down is not fun.” C’mon Mike! First, Pioneer Way isn’t exactly the Indy 500. Second, angle parking has been a standard for nearly a century.  Third, there is ample off-street parking for Angle-Challenged-Parkers (ACP).

If Mike had been complaining about the angle parking at the post office, I would understand. The problems there are that there is parking on both sides — with too little space in the middle — and traffic is quite heavy.  That is clearly a dangerous parking lot. Pioneer Way suffers from none of those defects.

Mike closed his letter with a sarcastic, “It sure is pretty, though, ain’t it?” It is pretty, Mike. Pretty and highly functional. The Pioneer Way renovation solved a problem that has plagued city planners for at least four decades. Let’s celebrate!

Richard Niell Donovan

Oak Harbor