The Urbana City Council voted to postpone an ordinance to eliminate street parking in order to make room for bike lanes on Kinch Street in Urbana to be discussed further next week. Half a dozen residents of the street attended the meeting on Monday to express safety and convenience concerns.

Although no concerns were brought up at the city council meeting last week when the issue was discussed and recommended for approval among council members, Karen Dickson, resident of the street, said many people are upset but haven’t yet spoken up on the issue. Dickson said the biggest concern, if parking is eliminated, is that guests would have to walk to a nearby parking lot that is not well-lit and notably dangerous.

Steven McCaw, another resident of the street, said he is afraid that the elimination of parking will impact whether guests will be able to stay at his home.

“Just yesterday I had 31 family members over to my house for Easter,” he said. “I have people at my house for cook-outs quite a bit. I don’t want my 82-year-old grandfather to have to park a block and a half away, or to have him leave early because he doesn’t feel comfortable walking in an ill-lit area.”

Because the street is already very narrow, McCaw believes a solution to the problem would be to have just one bike lane and retain parking on the west side of the street.

“That way it doesn’t affect anyone and we still get a bike lane,” he said.

Dickson and other residents requested statistical information from the city on how many bicyclists ride down Kinch Street because many said they hardly see any bicyclists.

Eric Jakobsson, Ward 2, said one consideration in eliminating parking is that by creating a more bicycle-friendly street, there might be more bicycle traffic.

“There are data that are fairly conclusive that bike lanes do reduce accidents for cyclists,” he said. “They are safer with lineated bike lanes.”

Dennis Roberts, Ward 5 and member of the traffic commission, said the issue has been discussed over the last three months within the commission and that it was a difficult decision.

“You don’t have a guaranteed spot in front of your house,” he said. “It is a public space. There is no law that allows you to reserve the spot in front of your house.”

Roberts said the deciding factor came down to protecting the safety of students on their way to Prairie and Thomas Paine elementary schools, which are located at the ends of both sides of the street.

Council will continue the discussion at the next meeting to consider shared vehicle parking with bike lanes in certain narrow areas of the street as well as other solutions.

Corinne can be reached at [email protected].