Residents along portions of two state roads in Reading may be spared parking fines for another 12 months.

City Council at its regular meeting Monday introduced an ordinance that would extend the moratorium on no-parking fines for a portion of Hampden Boulevard and North Fifth Street.

The one-year extension would give officials more time to develop plans for long-term traffic safety improvements.

The no-parking zones on the boulevard at the intersections of College Avenue, Richmond, Amity and Perry streets were installed last year following a PennDOT-supported safety review aimed at improving sight distance and reducing crashes.

Similar restrictions on North Fifth Street at the intersections of Oley and Douglass streets were created several years ago after a series of crashes raised concerns about visibility at intersections, Councilman O. Christopher Miller said during a previous discussion.

The changes eliminated about two dozen parking spaces, Miller said.

The moratorium suspending fines at both locations was initially approved in December after residents objected to the no-parking zones.

Reading City Council halts parking fines on Hampden Boulevard for 6 months

 

Residents and some council members have questioned whether visibility was the primary cause of the crashes.

“It’s more a question of the speed of the cars on Fifth Street,” Miller said, explaining that drivers entering Fifth Street may misjudge how quickly approaching vehicles are traveling.

Residents along Hampden Boulevard have raised similar concerns, saying speeding and reckless driving are the larger safety issues.

In a recent telephone interview, 34-year Hampden Boulevard resident Anthony Carrozza said he and his wife believe the loss of parking unfairly affects residents without addressing the cause of crashes.

“Speeding, reckless, careless, drunk, high, distracted, and whatever else driving is the cause of most of the accidents up here,” he said.

Carrozza said he has witnessed several crashes during his decades living on the boulevard, including three incidents in which his legally parked vehicles were struck and damaged.

Removing parked vehicles makes the roadway feel more open and encourages higher speeds, he said, calling the boulevard a racetrack.

Carrozza said officials should focus on enforcement rather than eliminating residential parking.

Miller said he is unaware of additional crashes at Fifth and Douglas streets during the six-month moratorium.

Enforcing the restrictions would hurt residents in an area where parking is already limited, he said.

“The parking situation is at such a crisis, to eliminate these spaces again would be a true hardship to the neighborhood,” Miller said.

During the previous week’s discussion, Councilman Raymond Baker said he supports temporarily extending the moratorium but remains concerned about safety along Hampden Boulevard.

Baker said Hampden is a heavily traveled corridor and certain curves and intersections continue to create visibility concerns.

“Frankly, I take Perry and Hampden every day to go to work, and if those cars are parked there, it is a sight-line issue,” Baker said.

Baker said he supports keeping the moratorium in place while the city moves forward with broader traffic-calming efforts.

Officials said traffic studies have been completed for both North Fifth Street and Hampden Boulevard and were recently reviewed by the Local Traffic Advisory Committee.

Plans are being developed for traffic-calming measures on both corridors, and the city engineer is seeking grant funding to help advance the projects.

The painted no-parking zones would remain in place while officials continue to explore safety measures.