Normal Street Median Improvements Completed

By Ron James

SDUN Editor-in-Chief

Uptown’s Normal Street, the utilitarian 110-foot-wide, four-lane ribbon of roadway, got a bit of a much-needed facelift last month. On Jan. 26, District 3 Councilmember Todd Gloria cut the ribbon on the long-awaited Normal Street Median Improvement Project. The project, located at Normal Street and University Avenue, includes 15 new diagonal parking spaces, including two for the disabled and a raised median with irrigated landscaping.

“The Normal Street median improvements mark significant progress in addressing Hillcrest’s parking shortage,” Gloria explained. “I will continue to work with community members on additional creative solutions to add more parking spaces and batter manage those we have.”

The parking spaces have a common meter with a two-hour limit. According to Gloria’s office, the metering will allow for more frequent turnover of space, and 45 percent of the parking meter revenues will be reinvested in more parking solutions for the neighborhood.

The project, which cost nearly $250,000, was partially funded through revenues from Uptown parking meters with the balance coming from state and city infrastructure and transportation funds.

Also taking part in the ceremony were Patti Boekamp, director of the city’s Engineering and Capital Projects Department; Carol Schultz, executive director of Uptown Partnership; and Nancy Moors, president of the board of directors of the Hillcrest Business Association.