Marinette panel tackles Edwin Street parking matter

MARINETTE — An issue with vehicles parking on the sidewalk on a portion of Edwin Street was discussed by a Marinette committee last week.

The Civic Affairs, Cemetery, Traffic & Lights Committee last Monday decided to send a letter to all residents on Edwin Street, from Pierce Avenue to Shore Drive, informing them that parking is not allowed on the sidewalks.

Edwin Street was under discussion for much of the summer and the portion referred to has a sloping curb that connects to a black sidewalk.

“The street was designed in a special way that it does allow for vehicles to drive up over the curb and onto the sidewalk,” Alderman Doug Oitzinger said. “It actually is being permitted for the U.S. Postal Service.”

Alderperson Debbie Klegin, the committee chairperson, said the black sidewalk adds to the confusion.

“There’s no definition there,” she said. “It’s confusing. Our job here is to decide what’s the best way to educate the public and people from out of town. Is it a good idea to be putting signs in people’s yards?”

The committee discussed putting up no-parking signs, but in the end decided to try educating residents through correspondence. Mayor Steve Genisot said the Public Works Department will be responsible for sending the letters.

Oitzinger said education and signs go hand-in-hand. “If you have education without a sign and you write tickets, people will say, ‘Well, I didn’t know,’ ‘I never saw that,’ ‘maybe my dad got it,’ ‘I’m just visiting,’” he said. “That’s the importance of signage — you’re making it know there is an ordinance here, folks, you’re not supposed to do this.

“If you don’t have the signs up, it’s kind of hard to prosecute that.”

Alderperson Dorothy Kowalski said she would like to start with education and, if that’s not working, then move to the signs.

“If I live on Edwin and my brother comes to visit me, I’m going to tell him not to park on the sidewalk,” she said.

Oitzinger said he will bring the matter back to the committee in a couple of months.