By Victoria Martinez

The Solvang City Council voted 3-2 on July 23 to eliminate parking on the south side of Mission Drive from Nykobing to Pine Street to increase pedestrian safety and allow for the addition of a bike lane on each side of Mission Drive.

In total, 24 parallel parking spaces will be eliminated from Mission Drive through downtown Solvang from west of Fifth Street to east of Mission Santa Ines.

Some council members, most emphatically Joan Jamieson, have been calling for the elimination of all parallel parking on Mission Drive to increase safety.

In 2015, after a Mission Drive traffic study was completed, Jamieson voted to eliminate parking on the south side from Park Way to First Street, but Councilman Neill Zimmerman and Mayor Jim Richardson’s “no” votes prevented it from happening at that time.

During the July meeting, both Councilwomen Karen Waite and Jamieson mentioned the need for increased safety and the continued danger of people walking out between cars into the crosswalks along Mission Drive.

Councilmember Ryan Toussaint was hopeful that eliminating some of the parking on Mission would lighten traffic somewhat and discourage people from using residential streets as bypasses, which has been a continuing complaint from residents.

Both Zimmerman and Richardson voted against the resolution. Zimmerman, though against removing any parking on Mission Drive, said he would compromise but preferred eliminating parking on the north side of Mission rather than the south. Richardson said that eliminating parking would not guarantee more safety and he was hesitant to change the main road’s layout.

However, the potential for a bike lane on the city’s main road with parking on only one side seemed to be an added bonus for some council members.

“I’m pleasantly surprised by this report,” said Karen Waite, who has been outspoken about her desire to see Solvang become a more “bike friendly” city.

Public Works Director Matt van der Linden said that the removal of the south side parking should be more than sufficient to allow for a bike lane’s required width. The findings of the 2015 traffic study gave two alternatives that would allow for such a bike lane, and both options eliminated just some of Mission Drive’s parking spaces.

The city will now move forward with acquiring approval from Caltrans to paint the south Mission Drive curbs red and with engineering plans necessary for the permits required for the bike lane once they confirm that the street will have the required width. If approved by Caltrans, the bike lane would cost approximately $60,000.

Mike Hecker, who spoke during the meeting as a representative of Santa Ynez Valley Spoke, said a bike lane will both encourage bike tourism and increase bike and pedestrian safety on Mission Drive.

“It’s going to be a good, positive change,” Hecker said after the meeting.