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Place Parking High on Agenda

Fortunately, Wheeling’s new mayor and nearly all-new City Council have no crises facing them as they take office today. City finances seem to be in good shape, in dramatic contrast to the situation at the state level.

That does not mean Mayor Glenn Elliott and council are not carrying buffet-style full plates into office. Far from it. A variety of initiatives and plans need attention.

High on the list is parking in the downtown business district. Changes are needed to ensure plenty of parking is available both now and for the future, when — we hope — new employers will be enticed to Wheeling.

By this time next year, the downtown parking situation either will have been solved – or will be a mess. By then, The Health Plan is expected to have its new corporate headquarters open. That should mean at least 350 employees working downtown and needing places to park.

Earlier this year, City Council formed a special committee to investigate the parking challenge. After the May 10 election, in which a new mayor and five new members of a six-person council were named, the panel suspended its work. In view of the near-complete changeover in city government, that was appropriate.

Now it is time to get back to the drawing board, however. Elliott and the new council should view the parking situation as a key to any progress downtown.

Perhaps the most important information given to the parking committee was that the large lot at the Robert C. Byrd Intermodal Transportation Center is vastly underutilized. Reversing that situation will be the key to improving the parking situation – and it is a clear indication what is not needed is expenditure of city money to construct new parking garages and/or lots.

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