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Careful where you park on Woodward now that the QLine streetcars are making test drives up and down the repaved avenue.
Don't say you weren't warned when the city tows track-blocking vehicles and slaps owners with a fine of $650 or more.
Heather Lovier of Rockwood tweets this shot of Tuesday's first test trip.
The M-1 Rail folks start politely in a new post at their site:
We ask that residents, business owners, employees, delivery drivers and visitors participate in keeping Woodward Avenue fully accessible.
That means no double-parking, standing in a lane "or any other activity that will prohibit complete vehicular movement."
Still unclear? The transit system gets specific:
This includes . . . temporarily staging -- attended or unattended (i.e., for carry-out, dropping something/someone off, bill payment, shopping). . . .
Delivery drivers: Please exercise use of side streets.
Business owners: Please advise all staff and customers to utilize parking meters and garages.
Then the hammer falls:
Staging in any lane on an active street is illegal. Enforcement will be administered. The fee is a minimum of $650 for ticket and tow.
Dan Lijana, spokesman for M-1 Rail, said Wednesday that a longtime double-parking on Woodward hasn't always been enforced strictly. Now Detroit police and Wayne State University officers are putting "courtesy warnings" on parked cars. Strict enforcement begins when passengers start riding, which is expected in the spring.
A few Detroiters react at Reddit, where these comments went up Tuesday:
► This ought to be interesting. Detroiters love to park their cars all willy-nilly and leave them running in the street.
► There's going to be some, ah, education in the first couple months of the QLine operations. Tthere's a lot of terrible parallel parking jobs on Woodward that are going to block the line.
► I'm all for it. People will bitch and moan, but a $200-$300 tow charge on top of a $650 ticket will change activities really quick, seeing as people need their cars. Hopefully there will be a system in place for honest mistakes early on and those who honestly can't afford the ticket/tow cost -- but it should be a two strike rule: Break it once and you're forgiven, break it 2x and you're shit outta luck.
► They should start doing this enforcement now, before the streetcar is running.
► I think they will. I remember seeing a month or so ago they were giving people "notices" of illegal parking. but no tickets as of yet.
► Not sure why there should be any parking at all on that three-mile stretch. Plenty of side streets and garages. My other hope is that people know how to use other streets besides Woodward, like Cass, if they want to go north/south or connect to the highways. I fear the QLine could stay stuck in heavy traffic.
