Bus stop zone at St. Mary's

Gus Philpott
Woodstock Advocate
February 27, 2010

For the past couple of years, after attending a funeral at St. Mary's, I have wondered about the Bus Stop zones on Throop and Lincoln Streets by the church. Two emails to Public Works went unanswered, and I was never able to learn, officially, whether they were legal bus stop zones.

Now I know the answer. They aren't.

There is a Loading Zone there, but on Tuesday night the City Council will consider an Ordinance to remove the Loading Zone and formally change it to a bus stop.

But it looks like it might be an all-day "bus stop", not just a bus stop during morning and afternoon school hours. If this is the decision that the City Council makes, what consideration is the Council giving to the residents who live in the houses on the east side of Throop, across from the church? Where will visitors park? I'm not sure from this side of my keyboard right now, but I believe parking is prohibited on the east side on Throop. At least, you never see any cars parked there by church-goers on Sunday mornings.

It would be reasonable to restrict parking between 7:30-8:30AM and 2:30-3:30PM on school days, if those are arrival and release hours. Why not permit parking there during the middle of the day?