Drivers in Downtown Denton may want to brush up on their back-in parking skills.
On Tuesday night the city council approved an ordinance establishing back-in only parking-zone rules to be used on the East Hickory Streetscape.
Once implemented, drivers will have to pull forward past their desired parking spot and then back into it at an angle.
City Transportation Director Mark Nelson said the main draw to the new style is to improve sight-lines for drivers pulling out of parking spots and into traffic on the popular street.
City leaders also hope that will aid in establishing the East Hickory district as a more walkable stretch, which is the main goal of the current $3 million makeover project happening on the stretch of Hickory from the A-Train Station to the Downtown Square.
Right now construction on that project is still underway but on-street parking spots are slowly starting to reappear as crews move up the road.
For now drivers are allowed to continue pulling forward into those new spots, but Nelson said they are in the process of acquiring signs to establish the back-in only rule and start weaning folks into the new manner of parking.
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Eventually, failure to follow the back-in only rule could result in a fine. Nelson said it will likely cost the same as any other normal parking ticket, in the $25 range, but even when the Streetscape is fully complete and the new rules are widely used he expects that citizens will be given a grace period to get used to the change.
The switch to back-in parking should add an extra 53 spots along the stretch with about 25 percent being rated for compact vehicles only, Nelson said.
People walking the construction-filled stretch Wednesday were torn on the coming rule with many hearing about it for the first time.
"I'm not a fan of it,” said University of North Texas student Sarah Banis. "You have to pass the spot and then back into it, therefore creating a traffic jam, therefore creating upset people because they have to wait for you. I wouldn't park here. I'd go somewhere else."
Bob Harmon, owner of the Hickory Street Lounge said he expects a learning curve as folks get used to backing in, but that eventually it will run smoothly as he has experienced on back-in only streets in Austin.
"Easy in, easy out,” said Harmon. “You've got smart people in this town and it's going to work."
Drivers can expect to slowly see spots converting to back-in as construction moves forward and the space becomes available.
The Hickory Street Grand construction project is scheduled to be complete in early 2015.
