Bend looking to ease parking problems downtown

The city of Bend has a new plan to crack down on oversized vehicles parked downtown. A pilot program’s been approved, and officials say it will begin this fall.

David Abbas, Bend’s streets and operations director, said Thursday the painted parking lines on Bond Street between Franklin Avenue and Minnesota Avenue will be extended. That will reduce the driving lane from 14 feet to 12 feet wide.

Hash marks will be painted at the end of those extended parking-space lines. If a vehicle exceeds that mark, the driver will be fined.

” Downtown is a busy area, ” Abbas said. ” We want people to focus on the travel lane ahead of them and people crossing the street. When there’s an obstruction out there impacting that travel lane, and you have to deviate out of that lane, (that’s) not a good thing. ”

Abbas said the city tried to tackle this problem last summer. He said signs were posted downtown, warning people they would get fined if their car extended beyond the painted line and into the street.

Diamond Parking, the company that enforces those fines, said the program did not have the impact it was hoping for.

Abbas said this new program also gives the city time to figure out how it would handle the changes internally.

” It’s added onto the maintenance duties, juggling our priorities and our work efficiently, ” Abbas said. ” Where can we pull a couple people off of something? Maybe we’re pulling somebody out of a street sweeper to go do this. ”

If all goes well with the fall pilot program, Abbas said the city may extend the painted parking lines on every street in downtown Bend next spring.