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Starting Friday, Jul 7, at 9:00 am, shoppers, visitors, and citizens can participate in a back-in angle parking study on the west side of the downtown plaza where parking is currently head-in angle parking. The trial will last three weeks and end on Saturday, July 29.
What is back-in angle parking? Back-in angle parking is a safer type of angle parking. Instead of pulling into the parking spot and backing out into oncoming traffic when exiting cars back into the parking spots, you are allowing them to make eye contact with oncoming traffic when leaving the parking space. Back-in-angle parking is mandated in some states after they make improvements.
Back-in angle parking works similarly to parallel parking. It’s as simple as 1, 2, 3:
- Signal a right turn to warn other drivers.
- Pull past the parking spot and stop.
- Reverse into the parking spot.
Back-in angle parking is considered a safer alternative for the following reasons:
- Back-in angle parking is a safer position for drivers and passengers to enter and exit the vehicle when going to and from the sidewalk. Back-in angle parked car doors, trunks, and hatches open to the sidewalk instead of the street.
- Back-in-angle parking gives drivers a better vision of pedestrians, bicycles, and other motor vehicles as they exit a parking space and enter moving traffic.
- Back-in angle parked cars can drive onto the drive lane efficiently without backing out unthinkingly into oncoming traffic.
- Back-in angle parking reduces accidents.
- Back-in angle parking is more accessible than parallel parking, requiring one less turning movement.
In addition to increased safety, back-in-angle parking requires less space than parallel parking, which means more downtown on-street parking spaces are available; and will not be converted to similar areas in the future.
Some disadvantages to back-in-angle parking may include the following:
- Some drivers find the backing maneuver awkward, particularly if they have limited backing experience or the vehicle needs better rearward visibility. It can be overcome by the intelligent use of side mirrors and reversing cameras.
- Inexperienced drivers may take a wider clearance from an adjacent vehicle, resulting in less efficient use of available space.
- With standard angle parking, the driver takes very little time to park, whereas back-in angle parking forces traffic to wait until the driver completes the maneuver, and could result in congestion.
- On a two-way street, some drivers may attempt to pull into the parking stalls from the opposite side of the road. Paris has one-way streets, so this does not apply.
In preparation for the study, the parking stalls on the Plaza’s west side will be closed on July 5-6 to install the new parking pavement marking.
The City of Paris Traffic Department will cover the existing parking lanes with temporary markings. “Parking lines will be angled against the direction of traffic, indicating that the driver must back into the spot. They will also mark the spaces with signs that provide step-by-step guides on how to pull into the area. There will be a few cars back in for an example to follow.
Main Street volunteers will be on-site Friday, Jul 7, between 10:00 am and 5:00 pm on the first day of the study. All who participate in the back-in angle during this time will be given a commemorative button and asked to fill out an opinion card on the experience. They will collect the opinion cards at the end of the day and enter them into a drawing for a custom T-shirt with the saying, “I backed into Downtown Paris, Texas.”
Following the conclusion of this study, city, and state officials will consider feedback received and evaluate the success and shortcomings of the Back-In Parking Study. From there, they will present to City Council the results and whether or not to make the changes permanently for all the angle parking spaces around the downtown square.
The trial will impact only one side of the Plaza. As usual, parallel, head-in, and off-street parking is available throughout Downtown. A map of the study area, in addition to off-street parking, is available at Paristexas.gov/parking. Scan the QR code to access the webpage.