A Comical Guide To Parking In Duluth’s West End
A while back I wrote an article posing the question, "Can we possibly get rid of the bike lane in West End during the winter?" Fast forward a couple of months and now the problem seems to have got a bit worse. Nobody really expected that we would set a record for the SNOWIEST December in Duluth's recorded weather history, but that's what happened. Snow banks around town have piled up, and Superior Street in West End Duluth has become even more narrow.
I go weekly to a business in West End (Shout out Caddy Shack) and play some indoor golf. Parking is a little tight even in the summer months. Now with huge snowbanks, you need to get a little creative to park.
Step 1: Try to find off-street parking.
Look for off-street parking options along Superior Street. Sometimes you get lucky, but most of the time you end up having to park in the new creative parking spaces.
Step 2: Get as close to the snowbanks as you possibly can.
Hanging out a foot or two in Superior Street is a bad idea.
Step 3: Put it in four-wheel drive and drive up the thing.
In this instance, I had to actually put it in four-wheel drive to get up there and off the street.
Step 4: Fold in the mirror if you can.
I really don't want to lose my mirror when a DTA bus comes by. So I fold it in.
Step 5: Wait for traffic to clear so you can open your door without it getting torn off.
It's a pretty busy street. Watch that you don't step out into traffic!
Look, I get bike lanes. I understand the need for them. But this just isn't working for anyone.