This change will force the social engineers among us to think about all sorts of issues. I understand these concerns may seem ridiculous if you live on one of the rare streets in Olympia that has ample sidewalks and road edges that are not puddled with rainwater for months of the year, but here are a few concerns that many Olympians already deal with:
- Cars parked all over road shoulders force pedestrians to walk in vehicle traffic lanes. Will the city accelerate the pace of sidewalk building to accommodate the anticipated increase in those who walk to work and school? Sadly, safe routes to schools in Olympia are still a long way off, even though we prioritized those sidewalks on the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee over 20 years ago.
- Who will keep track of the hundreds of vehicles without current registration parked/abandoned in public right-of-ways all over town? Road shoulder real estate will become more valuable under this new rule, so who will ensure this space is available?
- Where will we put our refuse bins for pick-up? Anyone who lives on roads where on-street parking is already prevalent will understand what I mean.
- Same with emergency vehicle access. Some streets in older neighborhoods with narrow streets already experience bottlenecks due to multiple vehicles parked on road shoulders.
- How will people charge their electric vehicles if they can't park near at-home chargers in driveways or other protected areas?
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