A pilot program to reduce traffic in downtown St. Joseph was tried out at Silver Beach County Park this past weekend.
The Berrien County Parks Department collected payment from beach goers as they were leaving the park, as opposed to collecting as people entered the park.
The county has been working with the city of St. Joseph on possible solutions to the congestion Silver Beach routinely causes in St. Joe during the summer, and the “pay as you leave” parking was attempted as part of that effort. St. Joseph City Commissioner Michael Sarola tells us he thought the weekend’s pilot worked pretty well.
“I noticed the entrance into the park was very, very efficient,” Sarola said. “There was no backups up the street. People were able to flow into the park when it’s the busiest in the morning and people want to get to the beach. It worked relatively well on exit. When there was a weather incident and people wanted to leave in more wholesale fashion, there was a little bit of a backup, but I think those are challenges that could be overcome if we do a little bit more planning, a little bit more organizing.”
Sarola said he was down at Silver Beach a few times over the weekend to see how the plan worked. He notes the city’s parking consultant, Walker Consulting, will be in the area this weekend to observe another attempt and make recommendations.
St. Joseph Commissioners this year briefly held up plans for a new playground at Silver Beach when the county asked for an amendment to the park’s Planned Unit Development designation. Commissioners said they wanted a commitment from the county to address the traffic situation before they’d grant the amendment. The county later agreed.
Berrien County Parks Director Jill Adams told us Monday the county is still reviewing the results from the weekend’s program. She couldn’t yet comment on the county’s thoughts.
