When the lines were painted for new parking arrangements on College Ave, some locals were understandably confused. Many have encountered diagonal, side-street parking before, but these spaces often branch out with the flow of traffic, allowing drivers to pull straight into their spot. In the case of College Ave, however, drivers are required to back into these angled spaces.
The arrangement is rather counterintuitive at first glance; but, upon further investigation, the strategy makes considerable sense. (Back-in angle parking has already been implemented in dozens of US cities, including Charlotte, NC; New York, NY; Portland, OR; San Francisco, CA; Seattle, WA; and Washington, DC.) According to a report by Nelson\Nygaard Consulting Associates,
Back-in/head-out angle parking is similar to both parallel and standard angle parking. As with parallel parking, the driver enters the stall by stopping and backing, but need not maneuver the front of the vehicle against the curb. When leaving the stall, the driver can simply pull out of the stall, and has a better view of the oncoming traffic.
People “back in” to their parking spaces all the time when they parallel park; the only difference between parallel parking and back-in angle parking is that the latter is a bit less complicated. And the only difference between straight-in angle parking and back-in angle parking is that the former requires one to blindly back out into a lane of traffic while the latter gives perfect visibility when exiting the spot.
According to the report, back-in angle parking also improves safety for bicyclists on the road. The city of Tucson, AZ, experienced a considerable reduction in bike-car accidents after implementing back-in angle parking. According to Matt Zoll of the Tucson-Pima County Bicycle Advisory Committee, Tucson “went from an average of 3-4 bike/car accidents per month to no reported accidents for 4 years following implementation.”
Of course, every city is different, and time will tell if this strategy works for Lancaster. To read the Nelson\Nygaard report in its entirety, please click here.
