Shorewood Residents Moblize to Combat Kensington Square Parking Plight

Absolutelyfabulous April 23, 2012 at 09:13 pm

The Cornerstone looks great and I'm sure the Ravenna will also. Though, residents do have rights as well. The last thing anyone wants is what residents living around UWM/North Ave. experience.
BTW, w/ these new developments, how many employees will need parking all day in addition to all the patrons? If Shorewood institutes hourly parking restrictions, then what will employees do or will they be playing musical cars all day? What about winter parking regulations/2 inch rule? You think it's going to get better w/ not only the summer months coming, but the addition of 3 or 4 more retail stores and one, yomama (if that's correct) which will draw a steady crowd. Remember, those 17 parking spaces via Shorewest will most likely be eliminated once construction of the Ravenna is completed, unless the developer/Village(taxpayers) come to another agreement/pays for additional parking after hours. Well, they are buiding a 5 story pay parking structure ~4 blocks away. Maybe patrons will utilize that and walk the distance :) Though, you can look forward to higher assessed values on your properties so the Village can generate more tax revenue Question- Those very large delivery trucks ie Sysco semis beat the daylights out of pavement. Who's responsible for picking up the extra wear & tear on the alleys (if deliveries continue this way) when they need to be repaired/patched/replaced? Many businesses have separate drives/loading docks for delivery trucks/semis.

christel henke April 24, 2012 at 11:03 am

I'd like to note that I saw an accident just last week near the intersection of Kensington and Oakland. So it seems odd that nothing has been reported. And having lived near that corner for more than 12 years, I have seen a number of close calls due to drivers just going right through that stop sign. The increased traffic will only worsen that situation. That said, I love the energy and vitality of all the new development and I feel confident that we can jointly come to a resolution about all of this.

Vicki Bennett April 24, 2012 at 11:13 am

One of the reasons that Shorewood has been slow in the past to add lots of new businesses and apartment complexes is because of the limited parking and the problem with traffic. Our village board and planners have created a monster. We've always had parking problems, now it's going to be a nightmare. As far as delivery trucks go, in many cases they don't even bother to use the alleys to deliver. They just block traffic. If you've ever driven down Oakland when deliveries are made to Harry's, you'll find the beer trucks double parked and creating traffic hazards.
One other problem that I'd like to address with construction in our village is the crazy construction crew drivers. I've had three incidences in two weeks where someone in a construction truck has run the four-way stop sign on Kenmore by the Sendek's, Walgreens, Presbyterian Church off Oakland. Can the village require them to use one route only off Capital and avoid our side streets as much as possible? Also, could they make a deal with UWM and allow employees to park at the U-Park lots and ride the buses free of charge to their jobs in Shorewood?

David Price April 25, 2012 at 06:44 pm

I represent the Three Lions Pub and truly understand peoples concerns. I am very happy the people also understand the positives of the situation we are in around "Kensington Square." You have my expressed assurance that our establishment are happy to work with all the local residents to do what we can to help. I have asked all our staff to be sure they park on Shorewest car park at the moment and we are also exploring other options for our staff to park in the area.

tim wick April 26, 2012 at 02:41 pm

Shorewood wants to sell it's self as a walking community. I don't understand why there are so many cars parked in the area if we are suppossed to be this walking village. It also seams to me most drivers tend to ignore basic traffic laws in this area too. Cars are parked too close to the crosswalks and too close to driveways. Do you really know how far you are suppossed to be from te walkway?.

CowDung April 26, 2012 at 03:08 pm

I think that the decision to sell Shorewood as a 'walking community' is a big mistake. Most people drive their cars to get to and from their jobs--even in Shorewood. I know that I can't be the only person that would like to stop by one of the coffee shops on the way to work or stop to pick up take-out food on the way home from work. If it is too difficult to find decent parking, more people will stop patronizing Shorewood businesses and take their business to more car friendly communities.
People also aren't likely to walk far in to Shorewood from the surrounding communities. If we want to attract non-Shorewood residents to our businesses (and bring more money into our community), we need to have plenty of parking available.

Keith Schmitz April 30, 2012 at 10:59 am

One of the things that drives me nuts are the parking lines on the 4000 block of North Oakland. Many times I see people parked in such a way that you could get two or three cars parked but you can't because of car spacing.
The space just north of Oakcrest can handle two cars, but people park there taking up the two spaces. Just wait til the parking lot north of Sendik's isn't available.