Merchant’s patience expiring

Henryk Zowal’s customers often have trouble finding a parking space in front of his downtown tailor shop.

That’s because drivers with disabled-motorist placards park in the two 30-minute metered spaces in front of Zowal’s shop day in and day out.

People who are disabled don’t have to plug parking meters or obey the same time limits ruthlessly imposed on other drivers. In Washington, under state and city laws, a disabled-parking placard allows people who are disabled to ignore meters. The Americans with Disabilities Act prevents jurisdictions from applying the same rules to drivers with the special parking permits.

But some people are taking advantage of the law to get free downtown parking, and others are breaking the law.

“Sometimes I see people, and they get their father’s sticker and use it,” Zowal said.

The state will issue up to two rearview-mirror placards to disabled drivers, making it easy for those who want to flout the law to give the special parking perks to a friend or family member.

“We’ve had complaints” about both the law and people breaking the law, said Mary Anne Ulik, parking operations director for the Downtown Spokane Partnership.

“Generally, we think they’re employees or downtown residents because (the same cars) are there every day,” Ulik said.

Dave Shaw, Spokane traffic control supervisor, concedes that abuse of disabled-parking placards, as well as meter bags intended for short-term use by construction companies and businesses, is a problem.

One remedy may be the recent changeover of all one-hour parking spaces in the city’s core to 90-minute metered spaces, Shaw said. That change may be extended to 30-minute spots, which though intended for a quick turnover have drawn many all-day parkers.

That would make it less likely that people misusing disabled-parking placards would find so many vacant 30-minute spots because more motorists would be competing for the spaces, Shaw said.

Despite being intended for quick errands, 30-minute spaces are more likely to be empty because they don’t give people enough time to do their business and get back to their vehicles. People parking downtown for longer periods of time should use lots or garages, Shaw said.

Other meter news

Letting your meter run out soon will be more costly than ever.

The city of Spokane has decided to raise the fine for an expired meter from $10 to $15.

The change will take place before the end of the year.

New Valley pavement

By early next week, drivers in Millwood will see something they haven’t since late 2002 – free-flowing traffic over the Argonne Bridge.

Crews are expected to wrap up that job by Tuesday of next week, says Spokane County Engineer Ross Kelley.

The bridge was supposed to have been finished by the end of summer, but weather and other small issues delayed things.

Actually, the bridge still won’t be completely finished until spring, when crews will put on a latex concrete layer to make the road smoother and prevent water from seeping into the pavement.

Also scheduled to reopen next week are 16th Avenue between Dishman-Mica Road and Pines Road and South Park Road near Appleway Avenue.

Youth discount

The Spokane Transit Authority has enjoyed a jump in sales of youth monthly bus passes since it lowered the price by 50 percent to $13.

Sales of youth passes went from 1,374 in September 2003 to 1,752 in September this year, when the discount was implemented. And in October, sales of youth passes increased to 2,150.

Kids 6 to 18 years old are eligible.

The discounts are paid for with a Washington state grant to increase bus ridership.

Leaf your car off the street

Leaf pickup will take place in Browne’s Addition on Tuesday and Wednesday. Crews will clean up north-south streets Tuesday, then move to east-west streets Wednesday.

It’s important that residents move their cars off the affected streets on those days because many of the streets are impassable for the trucks if cars are parked along them. Vehicles could be towed.

Also on the leaf-pickup schedule this week are Franklin Park, Indian Canyon and Cannon Hill today; Shiloh Hills and Lincoln Heights on Tuesday and Wednesday; Lidgerwood, Lincoln Heights and Manito Park on Thursday; and Lidgerwood, South Freya and Manito Park on Friday.

Slow going

Construction work on Sprague Avenue this week may cause some delays near Browne and Bernard.

Rowan Avenue will be closed near Lidgerwood Street on Thursday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. for sewer work.