River Prairie's back-in only parking now permanent

Thursday, July 27, 2017
Stephen Kelley | WQOW

Altoona (WQOW) -- Drivers at Altoona's River Prairie development better get comfortable driving backwards.

Thursday, the Altoona City Council voted 3-2 to make the "back-in-only" parking permanent. The policy had originally been a one year trial. 

Altoona's City Planner, Joshua Clements, told News 18 the back-in only option is a safer alternative to head-in, or parallel, parking because it allows drivers to clearly see what's ahead of them when they're pulling out of their spot, and they aren't forced to back out into traffic. He also said it allows for people to access their car's trunk without having to stand in the road. 

Officials told News 18 when River Prairie is completely finished there will be more than 250 back-in only street parking spots, but there will still be plenty of regular off-street parking. 

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Posted: 7:30 p.m. on 7/27/17
Altoona (WQOW) -- They might seem strange to you, but Altoona city officials told News 18 Thursday that some parking spots around town were designed to keep drivers safe. 

Back-in only street parking has been in effect for the past year at the River Prairie development and Altoona City Planner Joshua Clements said, so far, there haven't been any major problems. Apart from a couple calls of confusion they received early on, and the occasional "wrong-way" parker, Clements said most people seem to have adjusted to the spots. 

He said the back-in only option is a safer alternative to head-in, or parallel, parking because it allows drivers to clearly see what's ahead of them when they're pulling out of their spot, and they aren't forced to back out into traffic. He also said it allows for people to access their car's trunk without having to stand in the road. 

But when crews laid down the lines last year they used temporary, latex paint, just in case the spots weren't as effective as officials had hoped. 

"It's a lot easier to do that then to spend many thousands of dollars to build something that may or may not work," Clements said. "So I think it's a low risk, high reward possibility."

The Altoona City Council will meet Thursday night and decide whether to re-paint the lines and make the spots permanent. 

Officials told News 18 when River Prairie is completely finished there will be more than 250 back-in only street parking spots, but there will still be plenty of regular off-street parking. 

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