WALNUT CREEK, Calif. (KRON) — Neighbors in Hillside, a Walnut Creek neighborhood, are testing out a parking pilot challenge to maintain the streets cleared of visitors jams.
Yearly, round this time of 12 months, individuals flock to Shell Ridge Open Area for picturesque views of California poppy tremendous blooms anticipated later this month. The parking restrictions are upsetting to some guests.
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Sandwich boards studying “Restricted parking” and “Residential parking only with placard” lay flat on landscapes alongside Sutherland Drive and Virginia Court docket in Walnut Creek. However beginning this previous weekend, via the spring, they are going to be up each Friday morning via Sunday nights, discouraging guests to Shell Ridge Open Area from parking close to properties.
Video filmed of the realm throughout final 12 months’s California poppy tremendous bloom season exhibits the visitors congestion brought on by individuals driving into the neighborhood to see the flowers.
One resident named Susan has lived within the neighborhood for 35 years and mentioned the issue has worsened over time.
“It became a safety issue,” mentioned Susan. “We were fearful of wildfires. One occasion I couldn’t get out of my driveway because there was just standing traffic.”
Up to now 12 months, Susan and different members of the Sutherland Drive and Virginia Court docket neighborhood committee labored with the Metropolis of Walnut Creek, which manages the open area and Contra Costa County, which regulates the roads, for an answer to this system. The result’s a pilot program proscribing parking with the indicators, fliers and an digital billboard suggesting drivers discover various parking.
“Last year was absolutely horrible and then they had to live it here,” mentioned a neighbor named Lana. “I had to live it, but I live three blocks away. But Walnut Boulevard, which is a main thoroughfare, is now blocked off with cars.”
Although there are a number of different methods to achieve the open area with out parking within the neighborhood, some frequent park guests are upset about being discouraged from parking on public property.
“I don’t think it’s right,” mentioned a park customer named Susan. “I mean there’s public open space. We’re paying tax dollars to be able to use this open space. I mean, if you choose to live here, then that’s where you choose to live. But these are county streets. It’s maintained by the county, and you know, it’s public space. It should be used by everyone.”
The County Public Works Division mentioned it’s going to consider the effectiveness of the pilot program after the spring and hopes getting the phrase out earlier than the tremendous bloom season will stop the necessity for any enforcement.
