OCEANSIDE — Diagonal stripes have already been painted in, and on Aug. 20 the City Council approved reverse angle parking on west Mission Avenue.
David DiPierro, city traffic engineer, described the parking spaces as cutting edge.
Reserve angle spaces fit in more cars, and give drivers full visibility when exiting, which increases safety for bicyclists sharing the road.
“We’re starting something new here,” DiPierro said. “Reserve angle spaces are much safer, and just as easy as parallel parking.”
The back-in parking spots will be on the north side of the recently overhauled one-way road. Other city parking spaces require drivers to pull head in to park.
The reverse angle spaces have been a steady part of the road improvement plan for west Mission Avenue since the plan was adopted in 2010.
During the public review process there were some protests to the back-in spaces.
Councilwoman Esther Sanchez and Mayor Jim Wood both voiced their objection to the one-way street and reverse angle parking during council discussion that evening, which concluded with a 4-1 vote to approve the parking spots.
Sanchez cast the no vote, and said back-in parking is difficult for drivers and could increase road danger.
“I was rather hoping not to go the way of a one-way street, and not go the way of reverse diagonal parking,” Sanchez said.
“I tried backing into a spot in a parking lot, and can’t get close.”
Wood voted to approve the parking spaces, but said he would like Mission Avenue parking looked at within a year to see if the reverse angle spaces work.
Fellow council members agreed a review would be beneficial.
“It’s something that will either make us heroes or goats,” Councilman Gary Felien said.
“We’ll see how this experiment’s going.”
The council majority was on board with giving the back-in spaces a try.
Councilman Jack Feller advised people who have difficulty backing into the spaces to park in nearby parallel parking spots.
“It takes some getting use to, but seems like a ‘try it you’ll like it’ situation,” Feller said.
Reverse angle parking is also being tried in Solana Beach, and is under consideration in San Diego as a safety measure for cars and bicycles sharing the road.
