Waterford Borough Council rejects study to overhaul reverse-angled parking

WATERFORD — After deciding to pursue a solution to Waterford Borough's reverse-angled parking, Waterford Borough Council has done a reversal of its own, putting the brakes on a proposed study of borough parking rules.

Waterford's reverse-angled parking is located along Route 19 which runs through the heart of downtown in the community of 1,500 people.

At a council meeting in April, Councilwoman Beth Weldon proposed a reverse-angled parking study which was estimated to cost $8,790. After the discussion was tabled, Weldon amended the study and presented it again to council Tuesday. The revised study was estimated to cost $5,900.

"This is the least expensive option," Weldon said at the meeting. "With this we can solve the issue about whether or not we can change the parking, which is a big deal in the borough."

Councilman Tim LaFlamme thought otherwise.

"It’s a 50/50 issue in the borough, it’s not a big issue," he said.

LaFlamme was concerned with where Weldon planned to get the money for the study from, which she said their American Rescue Plan fund. But LaFlamme said the borough never discussed the study as an ARP project.

Related:Waterford Borough Council reverses course, approves motion to change back-in parking

"This $5,000 study can be presented to the state and then the state will make a decision, there’s absolutely zero guarantee (we change it)," LaFlamme said.

After facing backlash for the study she proposed, Weldon amended her motion from approving the reverse-angled parking study to approving it, pending that they find the funding for it through sponsors.

The motion was, again, met with disdain from LaFlamme.

"I'm not comfortable with wasting other people's money," he said. "The study we need and that the state told us, before you can even consider changing parking, they first want to research traffic calming measures, but they won’t fund it."

Weldon mentioned the previous $8,790 study, which included several traffic calming measures. LaFlamme thought that was the right way to approach the situation.

Ultimately, all members, except for Weldon, voted against approving the motion to move forward with the proposed reverse-angled parking study. Council President Holly Noble was not in attendance.

Past controversy on traffic study

The back-in parking spaces were implemented in 2017 when then-council Vice President Harry Latta approached Pennsylvania Department of Transportation with the idea that back-in parking would make it easier and safer to exit parking spaces. The angled lines were painted in August 2017.

In October 2021, council approved a motion to move forward with changes to the parking. The council sought out the help of state Rep. Curt Sonney, of Harborcreek Township, R-4th Dist. to pursue a traffic study that would address the back-in parking situation.

At the council meeting in April, Weldon provided a proposed reverse-angled parking study that would be conducted by David E. Wooster and Associates, Inc. The proposal outlined several tasks, including traffic calming measures, the business would complete if the council decided to move forward with the project, which was estimated to cost $8,790.

"This is what we need in order to go back to PennDOT and say, we want to challenge what we’ve done and show the traffic pattern has changed," Weldon said at the meeting. "This is the absolute necessary next step."

LaFlamme was not in favor of the specific study Weldon proposed.

"The state gave us explicit directions and said it’d cost around $40,000 for the study they want," he said. "The $40,000 is more in line with what the state is expecting us to present to them."

Ultimately, the decision to move forward with the proposed study or not was tabled at the meeting over confusion of exactly what type of study needed to be done.

Request for a study from PennDOT

In August 2021, Waterford Borough Council invited PennDOT to a public meeting to discuss concerns about reverse-angled parking in Waterford.

"(Reverse-angled) parking is recommended in all of our guidance," Brian Smith, PennDOT district traffic engineer, said at the meeting. "It can be difficult for people at first because it is a change. We're not used to that type of parking."

'Huge black eye for our community':Waterford's back-in parking has hurt business, community members say

But for some Borough council and community members, the challenges of reverse-angled parking outweighed the benefits.

PennDOT suggested the borough look into traffic calming measures, which are physical designs put in place to reduce vehicle speeds and improve safety.

The study would have to collect data PennDOT does not have, which includes accidents that do not result in an injury, said Doug Schofield, PennDOT assistant district executive.

Making a change from what is currently seen as the safer option could open the borough up to liability, Schofield said. If the borough chose to pursue the study, it could also cost up to $50,000 to hire someone to conduct it.

Baylee DeMuth can be reached at 814-450-3425 or bdemuth@timesnews.com. Follow her on Twitter @BayleeDeMuth.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Waterford Borough Council votes against reverse-angled parking study