Golden Valley Approves Glenwood Avenue Parking Restrictions
The Golden Valley City Council voted in favor of parking restrictions on Glenwood Avenue Tuesday night. Council members sympathized with residents who were upset about losing parking in front of their homes, but agreed the change could make the roadway a safer place.
Hennepin County plans to overlay a two mile stretch of Glenwood Avenue and create bike lanes. The change would make the road between Highway 100 and Xerxes Avenue similar to the bike lanes already in place elsewhere on Glenwood Avenue. The roadway is a key east-west route between Minneapolis and Golden Valley.
However, adding bike lanes would limit parking restrictions for residents who live on Glenwood Avenue. Residents have spoken out against the changes.
“There’s no place to park on half of Glenwood,” said Bruce Pappas, who lives nearby. “It is a treacherous road. There’s no place to cross, no stoplights, nothing. It is very fast-moving traffic as far as I’m concerned.”
Council members agreed with residents that’s it’s a busy road for bikers and pedestrians as well as people parking on the side of the road. All council members mentioned that narrowing the roadway and creating bike lanes could make it a safer place for everyone.
“The happy medium is that we can’t have it all, so what can we give up,” asked council member Joanie Clausen. “I’d hate to give up safety.”
“It’s a dangerous road,” said Mayor Shep Harris. “I’m voting for this, not only for the bikers, but it’s also a dangerous place to park too.”
Council member Steve Schmidgall mentioned that the city also needed to prepare for more bike and scooter traffic.
The council voted 5-0 to support the parking restrictions. The Golden Valley city council also urged Hennepin County to look into adding crosswalks and reducing speed in order to make the roadway safer.
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