New Britain herald., 1927-04-02
PARKING PROBLEM
 ST|RS PLAINVILLE
Congestion at Center Caused by
 Three Large lnlets

New Britain is not the only place which is afflicted with parking trou- bles. for even the town of Plainville is suffering from them at present. This neishhoring town has only three streets which could, by any stretch of the imagination, be called principal" but all three crash into each other at the same place at an- glcs which would delight the most rahid cuhist painter. Add rail- road track and two trolley lines. and even without stirring, a most com plicated problem is created.
 It is not believed that the Indians who once trod the soil of Plainville suffered from any parking conges- ton. It is known that few hitch ing posts and some hitching weights solved the problem in the days of the horse and buggy. But with the growing popularity of the automo- bile came the origin of parking evils.
 The first complaints came from the merchants about the center. They noticed tha. the curbs in front of their stores were lined with cars which stayed there almost all day and prevented customers from driv- ing up to within convenient dis tances. Then someone pointed out that these cars which shut off GUS toners were the merchants own au- tomobiles. This led one genius to have an inspiration. To clear the curb before his store, he drove down one morning and parked across the street. The next day the merchant across the street retaliated, and the practice became so general that, far from Iemedying conditions. it only made the merchants walk further to their own machines. It was abandoned in haste.
 About year ago the Connecticut Co. decided that it's cars stopped at d place where the street was too wide, where too much auto-infested road intcrvcned between the car and the sidewalk and made it dan- gerous to board and leave the troll leys. So it moved it's stopping point to the narrowest place in the street. This made going safe for pedes- trians. but it did so by blocking au- tomobile traffic altogether. as the street was too narrow for passage when car was standing in the center.
 The next episode was the banning of parking at this point by order of the selectmen. They had no au- thority 10 do this but they did 1t. They thought that motorists would believe they had if, But one day when a constable told an autoist to move along, the motorist came back with Make me" The constable couldn't, so this plan was discarded.
 Finally the sclectmen persuaded the trolley officials to announce that they would go back to the old stop ping place, but the announcement was never carried into effect Mo- tormen used their own initiative ]n selecting the points at which thelr cars wouli stop. Some stopped be- fore reaching the center and some went across the square and stopped on the far side. A few even brought their cars to halt in the square it. self. And still others stopped s1larely abreast of the crosswalk. It was all very distressing to would- be passengers, who spent consider able time and breath running back and forth between the possible stopping points.
 With the opening of the ne" Strand theater, parking on West Main street increased materially and aggravated the awkward sltua- ton already existing there. AS Is the case with the Connecticut Co. trolleys. the Bristol cars have been forced by their schedules to remain in ,nid-street for long periods before making the return journey, and at times this has resulted in completely blocking motor traffic.
 A solution is hoped for in ro- parking regulations which will be proposed 10 the Chamber of Com merce next Thursday night and sub mitted to special town meeting the following night. These call for the forbiddng of parking at the various danger spots where the trolley cars wait. It approved at town meet ing. such regulations are legal and ca be enforced. An end to the long series of comic episodes is therefore a possibility. only there still remains the question of whether it is worth paying a special constable to see that the regulations are observed; the selectmen believe it i. not.