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WARREN -- Members of the North End Neighborhood Watch Group want to see vehicles off the roads, especially at night, and their councilwoman is helping them to make it a reality as city officials are banning overnight parking.
Councilwoman Tina Milner, D-2nd Ward, told about 20 residents at a neighborhood gathering Tuesday at the Warren-Trumbull County Public Library said city officials have been addressing problems with people parking on roads. She said no one is permitted to park vehicles on truck routes within the city or during the overnight hours between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m.
Milner said no parking is permitted on such federal aid truck routes as Parkman Road, Elm Road or Larchmont Avenue.
"Council has been addressing this. No one should be parking on Elm Road or Parkman Road. They and others are designated truck routes,'' she said.
As for overnight parking on roads, Milner said the hours have been changed from 2 to 6 a.m. to now no parking between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m.
"There are some streets that were so crowded with cars parked on the roads that the garbage collection service was not able to get to the garbage cans. I have seen some streets with numerous cars parked everywhere, which creates a problem. The ordinance council will pass will eliminate this overnight parking, which does affect the flow of traffic on the streets. We can't let people utilize the streets as a driveway,'' Milner said.
She said there were people parking on both sides of streets even where there were fire hydrants.
During daytime hours, there are also restrictions that a vehicle can only be parked on the road for a maximum of four hours. Milner said commercial company vehicles doing work at a property are the exception.
"We want to get people off the streets with their cars. Some places there are six or seven cars at one home and some are in the street as part of the driveway,'' Milner said.
She said others have been on the sidewalks and devil strips.
She said police will issue warnings and traffic citations, which include court costs totaling $115 for the first offense.
REDISTRICTING AND ROAD PROJECTS
In another matter, Milner said with redistricting, each ward of the city now will have a more equal number of residents.
"The redistricting maps council will approve takes each ward to between 5,500 and 5,700 residents per ward. My ward will go from 4,900 residents to 5,600 residents," Milner said.
She said previously some wards had between 7,000 and 8,000 residents.
Warren Director Engineering Paul Makosky said there have been road and sidewalk projects that have been done or will be done in the city.
"It is good that residents show interest in their neighborhoods. The city is working on projects to meet the needs of the community," Makosky said.
He said capital projects that have received funding have included roads projects, with the Ohio Public Works Commission providing $1.5 million for various roads and $600,000 for road improvements at Dana and Paige streets.
Two pedestrian bridge projects included the Perkins Park pedestrian bridge with $3 million in Appalachian Regional Commission grant money and at Packard Park to replace a bridge put in more than 45 years ago at $1.23 million.
Makosky said this summer, a rock bank stabilization and access path at the property where the Summit Street dam was removed in 2024 will be completed. He said the city received a $370,000 grant for that project, which also included filling areas where stagnant water can accumulate, and sidewalks and an overlook area will be added.
Makosky said this would allow the area to be used for recreational purposes such as canoes, kayaks and fishing.
DEMOLITION OF HOMES
Makosky said between 2010 and 2018, the city saw 155 houses per year torn down with the assistance of Trumbull Neighborhood Partnership.
He said TNP has helped get funding and spearheaded the demolition of homes.
Makosky said in the past six years, the demolitions have decreased to 85 per year, which is still a lot.
Resident Leroy McKenzie said he is concerned with the condition of some of the streets in his neighborhood.
"Someone needs to really look at the condition of these streets. They are bad and need to be paved,'' he said.
Makosky said officials keep an eye on the budget for street work.
He said what sometimes happens is a street will be paved and then there is a water main break and the street ends up being dug up.
Makosy said the city seeks state and federal funds for roads and has obtained $86 million in funds in the past 20 years for road improvement projects.
Other residents said they are concerned with flooding of their yards and streets.
Makosky said the best he can do is to let the city know of the problem so the location can be checked.
Makosky said plans are to work on Dana Street and Summit Street. He said Dana Street has been closed for more than 10 years.