Dec. 8—Drivers are going to have to parallel park instead using diagonal parking stalls in some areas of downtown Newton. Members of the Newton City Council adopted the street parking changes during their Dec. 2 meeting at City Hall. The changes mainly affect two blocks of streets currently under construction.
Following the council’s approval of the third consideration to make changes to street marking, the amendments were adopted to prohibit diagonal parking in the 100 block of East Second Street North and the 100 block of East Third Street North, which are undergoing streetscape improvement.
Also included in the amended ordinance were parking restrictions on the south side of the 4200-4300 blocks of South 22nd Avenue East. City staff had been receiving concerns of heavy trucks damaging private property owned by Iowa Rural Water Association along the route when trucks try to turn around.
Downtown parking changes were the result of the streetscape project making street widths more narrow on the 100 block of East Second Street North, between Sersland Park and the old Newton Daily News building, and the 100 block of East Third Street North, between Cappy’s and Pizza Hut.
It is important to note diagonal parking is still allowed in a number of other areas in downtown Newton, including the town square.