Residents across from the Ridgewood sprayground have been living with parking and traffic congestion for the last three summers, ever since the water playground opened. Neighbor Melanie Grimes (who sent the photo of the parking problems — see the sprayground in the background?) told me that this week, "Resident Parking Only" signs went up along the 6700 block of Trammel Drive. Grimes says she and her neighbors have been working with the city for six months to make this happen.
The major reason 100 percent of the block’s residents petitioned the city for the signs? Safety, Grimes says, obviously for neighbors living there, but mainly for the people who have been parking on their side of the street and crossing to the sprayground.
"The sprayground is located just past a dangerous blind turn and next to a fire station," Grimes says, "and we haven’t been able to slow down traffic with speed bumps because of access required by the fire station. Many young children are crossing this street during busy times, particularly when the sprayground first opens in late spring and on weekends during the summer." Also, neighbors have had to deal with danger backing out of their driveways, plus trash and other disrespect for their property.
The signs make Trammel Drive "Resident Parking Only" zone 22 — the 22nd such block to be granted this zoning in the city. Most of the zones are — where else? — Lower Greenville.
Grimes says she wanted to pass the information on to other Lakewood/East Dallas residents who might use the sprayground "so folks aren’t unnecessarily ticketed or towed." That’s very nice of her.
