By Jason Stone | Surprise Independent
The city of Surprise’s temporary solution to semi-truck parking on the side of city streets seems to be working.
Assistant City Manager Tracy Montgomery told the city council earlier this month that truck parking has been greatly reduced to almost none since the council voted to ban it on city streets starting in March.
The city created some temporary parking areas it hopes to make permanent now.
In February, the council voted to create up to 40 official spots across three areas, while officially telling drivers not to park their trucks in city rights of way or other city streets.
The ordinance went into effect in late March when police gave truckers who were still parking illegally 60 days of warnings before issuing citations.
During that warning period, Montgomery said the city found traffic went from 60 to 80 trucks a day to just five. After the warning period, it’s down to about one a day.
“This has worked, especially in my district,” City Councilmember Patrick Duffy told Montgomery on Aug. 20, referring to traffic that used to be parked on Cotton Lane. “There’s nothing there anymore.”
