Parking changes will be coming to Russell Road near Naomi L. Brooks Elementary School after action by the Traffic and Parking Board Monday.
The Traffic and Parking Board voted 5-2 to remove 20 parking spaces in several blocks of Russell Road. Board Member Dane Lauritzen made the motion to recommend more parking space removals than city staff had proposed. Staff’s proposal would have resulted in a net loss of two parking spaces.
“I want to go as far as we can to make sure that our students are safe, and particularly here where we have 34% street occupancy,” Lauritzen said. “Let’s work with the school and the teachers to find ways to accommodate people who are driving, but I think we need to go further than what staff has proposed.”
The board’s action included:
- Removal of four on-street parking spaces on the 300 block of Russell Road
- Removal of six on-street parking spaces on the 400 block of Russell Road
- Removal of six on-street parking spaces on the 500 block of Russell Road
- Removal of one on-street parking space from the 700 block of Russell Road, and
- Removal of three on-street parking spaces on the 800 block of Russell Road.
The approval included an amendment by Board Member Kursten Phelps directing city staff to return to the board with parking proposals to serve staff at Naomi L. Brooks Elementary.
The Russell Road changes resulted from a 2017 Safe Routes to School walk audit for Naomi Brooks Elementary School seeking safety improvements and traffic calming. According to the city, there have been two injuries from eight traffic crashes in the corridor since 2017.
The 20 parking space removals approved by the board allow the Option 2 design that bicyclist and pedestrian advocates pushed for. City staff had recommended a revised Option 1 with painted curb extensions, high-visibility crosswalk markings, improved ADA curb ramps at six Russell Road intersections and a new pedestrian crossing at W. Chapman Street. Option 2 includes those improvements and median crossing islands.
One of the concerns noted in written testimony was that removing parking spaces would create parking challenges for Naomi L. Brooks Elementary staff, since the school does not have a staff parking lot.
City staff acknowledged the school community’s concern about staff parking.
“Though the corridor has a pretty low parking occupancy — as we identified 34% during the peak that we identified — that doesn’t paint the whole story of staff parking at Brooks,” the city’s Complete Streets coordinator Silas Sullivan said. “They don’t have off-street parking, so they do rely on parking on the local streets to again go to work.”
At Monday’s public hearing, residents largely testified in support of Option 2 due to safety concerns on Russell Road, and some acknowledged a need to provide parking to school staff.
Becky Hammer, whose daughter goes to Naomi L. Brooks Elementary, called for a solution that wouldn’t have to pit parents against teachers. She noted safety concerns with crossing Russell Road due to parked cars blocking the line of sight for drivers.
“The city’s data shows there is capacity to take away these spaces,” Hammer said. “If teachers are concerned that they can’t park in subsections of the corridor, maybe the response should be to explore other options. Can they be given residential parking stickers so that they can park in those zones? Could there be a dedicated teacher parking zone? What can we do so that we can achieve both of these goals?”
Brian Egan, who has three kids who walk and bike on Russell Road, said the median crossing islands in Option 2 would make a difference for safety.
“It really makes it so much safer to get across one lane at a time, especially kids, especially in the morning, especially in the winter when it’s dark each way going to school,” Egan said.
Resident Paula Moran disagreed with city staff’s assessment of about 34% peak parking utilization, estimating it gets up to 80 or 90% during school drop-off and pickup times. She supported city staff’s Option 1 that minimized parking removals.
“There are evening events, including sports leagues and scouts that are going to need the parking that’s maintained in concept one,” Moran said. “If we take more parking away, as you get in concept two, you are going to end up with increased families and children dashing across the street from further distances and trying to get in on time.”
Some public speakers in favor of Option 2 said it supports daylighting, the practice of restricting parking near crosswalks to improve visibility.
“I had to cross Russell Road either in a car or on foot or in a bicycle, and it was almost impossible without nosing your way into the intersection and almost getting hit any time you did it,” resident Jacquelyn Kittredge said. “I support Option 2 because it increases safety by daylighting these intersections, which sorely need it.”
Nicole Radshaw, an ACPS teacher who moves around to different schools, stressed the need for daylighting as bigger car hoods present challenges with seeing children walking. Radshaw also called for a solution for staff parking.
“Brooks can definitely be a little bit confusing about where to park,” Radshaw said. “So I would love if we could figure out how to give teachers, you know, they can give them parking zones, even though they’re non-residents.”
The Russell Road changes are expected to happen in 2027 as the city repaves the roadway.
Russell Road at Noami L. Brooks Elementary image via Google Maps
