The Village of Walden board packed up and brought its meeting straight to residents on Monday, June 17 at the corner of East Avenue and Hill Street to discuss a situation of street-wide proportions: the parking and traffic issues on East Avenue.

For the last several months, residents have raised concerns about double parking and speeding on East Avenue, creating dangerous conditions when navigating the neighborhood. Excessive parking in particular has constricted the road’s width and, while it may force cars to stop speeding, has prevented larger vehicles from passing through. This could become even worse during the summer when numerous parents drive through East Avenue to drop off their children at James Olley Park’s day camp.

“The road is especially narrow at the end of East Avenue, and there’s been a lot of parking and speeding, which has become problematic even just for regular driving,” said Mayor John Ramos.

“I’ve seen at least three cars hit and smashed here. I’ve seen cars parked on either side that makes it hard for people to get through,” said John Harrington, a resident of East Avenue. “Though I don’t mind the double parking so long as there’s curbing and enough space for people to drive through.”

While not present at Monday’s meetup, former Mayor Susan Taylor has also shared her issues with East Avenue during previous meetings, emphasizing the problems that snow plows and emergency vehicles faced when confronted with double parking.

“When it snows, they don’t move them off the street, so the plows plow them in, and the snow ends up in the street in that area,” Taylor said at the village’s May 21 meeting. “If you’re trying to go down East Avenue and you’re in the middle of the road or more, another vehicle has to stop and try to pull over so you can even pass in that area.

“Down near Route 52, there are people that park on both sides of the street and you’d never get an ambulance or a fire truck through” she continued. “We’ve had FedEx trucks stop and try to back out to 52 because they can’t get in between those parked cars.”

After the board listened to the residents’ feedback during Monday’s session, the mayor and trustees proposed a solution: a local law that would prevent drivers from parking on both sides of East Avenue, providing more road space. The board will discuss this law further during the next official meeting.