Auburn Traffic Committee – High Street Diagonal Parking Discussion (March 17, 2026)

The Auburn Traffic Committee met on March 17, 2026, at 8:30 a.m. in Room 10 of Auburn City Hall, 1225 Lincoln Way, Auburn. The agenda contained one business item: a proposal to consider diagonal parking on High Street in downtown. Members heard public comment on unrelated parking concerns, discussed the proposal and its relationship to the city’s Active Transportation Plan, and asked staff to return with cost and safety analysis for an interim diagonal parking pilot.

Public Comments & Testimony

• A community member said vehicles were using three-hour parking spaces on Linden Avenue as all-day, full-time parking and asked the committee to consider signage changes or enforcement.
• The same speaker requested permission to install remotely controlled electronic parking barriers in a parking lot near Jacobs Lane. He stated he had the landowner’s approval. Staff responded that the city cannot authorize construction on property not owned by the applicant, and that even with landowner approval the next step would be submitting plans to building, planning, and public works for code review. Because this was public comment, no action was taken.

Discussion Items

• Council Member Amara said the Downtown Business Association had repeatedly asked the city to convert High Street parking to diagonal. She described the request as a temporary, low-cost way to slow traffic, support struggling businesses, and make the street feel more like a town center. She proposed a limited segment from roughly Avant Garden to the Cleveland/Elm area, and said it should complement rather than replace the longer-range plan.
• Public Works staff noted that High Street is part of the draft Active Transportation Plan/Comprehensive Safety Action Plan, which is in final review after about 18 months of work. The plan includes bike lanes, bulbouts, and traffic-calming treatments developed through community workshops, and is being positioned for federal grant funding tied to downtown economic development. Staff cautioned that installing diagonal parking now would significantly change the plan and could delay or complicate the grant application.
• Committee members discussed the safety and design trade-offs. Diagonal parking would add about two net spaces on the segment considered, but it pushes car tails into the street, requiring sight-distance review at driveways and intersections. A diagonal stall would need roughly 16–18 feet of width, compared with the 13-foot clearance required for fire apparatus. Some members questioned whether temporary striping alone would reduce speeds or create new collision risks, while others supported the pilot as a compromise gesture to businesses.

Key Outcomes

• The committee did not take a formal vote, but reached consensus to keep the Active Transportation Plan moving forward and direct staff to develop cost estimates, scope, and safety analysis for a temporary diagonal parking pilot on a limited High Street segment.
• Staff was asked to report back at the next Traffic Committee meeting in May 2026.
• No action was taken on the Linden Avenue or Jacobs Lane public comment items.