It's been nearly a year since the city of Denton enacted back-in parking rules on East Hickory Street, and compliance is still far from 100 percent.
On Friday during the lunch rush, Denton Police parking enforcement officer Diane Cottrell and her team had to ticket about a dozen cars on the Hickory Streetscape – most for pulling front-first into spaces.
"You're always going to have one or two," said Cottrell, coming across two more cars not following the rule.
Officers didn't have the exact figures, but said they have had to ticket often for drivers pulling across oncoming traffic to go front-first into a back-in spot.
"You can come out here at one point in the day and you will find everyone parked correctly, and then come out 30 minutes later and there'll be four or five of them that aren't," said Cottrell.
In late March 2015 crews put the final touches on the redesigned streetscape which included the back-in parking rule.
Drivers actually have to pull past their intended spot, signal their turn and then back in at an angle.
Local
The latest news from around North Texas.
City leaders said the move allowed them to open up more parking spots in their popular downtown area and do so in a way that gives people a clearer line of sight when pulling back out into traffic.
Signs are posted all along the street, and police did give a grace period on ticketing when the rule first went into effect. But Cottrell said, now after a year, any cars she catches pulling in will get a ticket.
Denton City Councilman Joey Hawkins said the majority seem to be taking to the new rule well.
"I don't want to say they're fully embracing it but slowly we are getting there," said Hawkins.
At this point, Hawkins said the council continues to keep an eye on the rule and how it is going over, but for now there aren't hard plans to expand it beyond the stretch.
A ticket for parking the wrong way on East Hickory runs $25. The street does also feature a limited number of parallel parking spots and some off-street public lots.
