Head-in angled parking to return to Main Street in Grafton, village leaders say

In response to a public survey and community feedback, the village of Grafton will begin re-striping the angled parking along Main Street on Monday, July 8, returning to a head-in angled configuration from the current back-in parking configuration. Todd Tomasheski of Plas Brothers Paving will do the work Monday and Tuesday, with decorative crosswalk improvements also scheduled, the village said in a news release. Following Saturday's Independence Day parade, "the next time the parade passes down, it will be with new parking," Grafton Mayor Charles Duke said in the news release. "The residents wanted it, and we delivered." Duke said back-in parking would make more sense if Main Street were a one lane street. "Based on the current configuration, you have to back into oncoming traffic or hold traffic up. We're reverting the striping to the opposite direction, the way it was in Grafton for years. Folks have been madder than wet hens about this parking, and we're listening to them, including to our downtown businesses." he said in the news release. Crosswalks on Main Street will get new decorative striping modeled after railroad tracks, an element envisioned in the original streetscape plan intended both to reinforce pedestrian safety and to highlight Grafton's historical identity, village leaders said in the news release. The new striping plan won't require changes to curbs, sidewalks or drainage systems but will slightly increase parking stall depth to improve sightlines and may require one regular stall near the library be removed. Three ADA-accessible parking spaces will remain in place and be restriped to match the new configuration, village leaders said. Village leaders said residents and businesses should plan accordingly during construction and that updates will be shared on the village website and social media. The decision to revert to head-in parking followed a community survey this year in which a minority (16 percent) of nearly 400 people who responded didn't want a change in the parking. The village said that was due to difficulties with the current reverse-angle layout introduced in 2022 as part of the first phase of the "Envision Grafton" improvement project. Back-in parking was enacted in 2022 at the recommendation of City Architecture, a Cleveland planning firm Grafton hired to analyze the situation, according to the news release. More than 62 percent of survey respondents were Grafton residents, the rest being business owners and visitors or patrons, village leaders said. Letters from downtown businesses complaining about back-in parking and asking for a change were read at the May 20 Village Council meeting, village leaders said, and Council approved the change in June. The survey also showed that most respondents go downtown to visit the iconic Lu's Pizza (82 percent), the Grafton Midview Public Library (72 percent), the Marathon gas station (43 percent), and Spitzer Hardware & Supply Co. (37 percent). Respondents said new businesses they wanted to see were something like the old "Durkee General Store" with antiques and candy, and eateries like a deli and a Hardee's.