Pedestrian safety concerns have been voiced about parking near the small Canatara Park lake that many Sarnians use for ice skating, city officials say.
Boulders laid in recent years by the edge of Lake Chipican haven’t dissuaded some from parking in what is actually a pedestrian walkway, Coun. Brian White said.
“I think people have just said, ‘Forget it. I’m parking here anyway,’” said White, recounting one recent complaint from a family pushing a baby stroller who were forced into adjacent Lake Chipican Drive and live traffic because vehicles had blocked the pathway
“Pedestrian safety there has to be the top priority,” White said.
Amid that and other complaint, city council recently considered, and voted down, restricting parking on the narrow roadway that winds through Canatara Park.
Mayor Mike Bradley called for looking into other solutions.
“I just (wonder) if there’s some other way around it,” he said, arguing adding signs in the area is “almost being killjoys as it relates to people getting access to the lake.”
There’s been lots of use at Lake Chipican, he noted.
“There’s lots of people enjoying themselves and carrying goal posts, and yes we’ve had some complaints.”
Council voted 6-3 against parking restrictions.
Staff agreed to instead look into other options.
A white line separates the walkway and roadway at Lake Chipican’s northern edge.
Boulders were added roughly five years ago for people to sit on, but more were placed later to stop people from parking in the area, parks supervisor Jim Harkins said.
“The rocks were moved out towards the white line after that to try to prevent parking in that area, but it got to the point it was too narrow,” he said.
The curve there, he noted, is busy with the path and roadway, as well as a driveway to the north to access beach parking.
“It was kind of scary for the cars that go through that corner, so we brought (the boulders) back in towards Lake Chipican to where they are now,” he said.
High water levels also made an impact, said city engineering and operations general manager David Jackson.
“The water levels had gotten so high that water was coming up to where the boulders were,” he said, meaning people had to walk around and into traffic.
The boulders were moved closer to the lake to solve the problem, he said.
Rocks were added in February 2021 “to restrict vehicles from being parked too close to the existing pedestrian walkway,” city officials announced at the time.
“What we’re looking at now is have the water levels gone down enough where we can move those boulders back to the roadside, so physically a car couldn’t park there without actually parking in the lane of the road, and then giving pedestrians protection there?” Jackson said.
A willingness to park further away would also be helpful, White said, noting that beach parking lot is very close, although up a hill that could be slippery.
“People are so accustomed to parking in front of what they want around here. It’s a culture shift that I think we have to inch our way towards,” he said.
There are plans to repave the roads in Canatara and to try to “enhance” the pedestrian pathway, Jackson said, but there’s no schedule set for the work and no plans to do any of it in 2022.
“It is funded through our annual road rehabilitation budget and so we try to do some every other year or so as budget permits,” he said.
count. George Vandenberg said he’d rather see the city get rid of the rocks altogether.
“That’s what’s causing the traffic problem is those rocks … so just get rid of them,” he said. “Let the kids have a good time and let the public enjoy Lake Chipican.”