Tomball City Council addresses downtown parking problems

Following discussion with Community Development Director Craig Meyers, the council agreed to replace the “No Parking” signs on Main Street with signs directing motorists toward parking lots, and to add temporary striping along North Oak and North Walnut streets to identify existing spaces.

“Doing some simple measurement out there, you could stripe the parallel spaces,” Meyers said. “You park more efficiently with stripes.”

In the long term, the council also discussed an option to add angled parking along Commerce Street, allowing for 97 parking spaces from Pine to Elm streets, as well as converting Oak and Walnut streets into one-way corridors to allow for more angled parking.

Due to unknown costs and funding sources, there is no immediate timeline for when angled parking could become a reality along these roads in Tomball.

“There’s more that goes into it than just striping,” he said. “You’re [also] looking at enhancing the streets by putting in curbs … and adding sidewalks. When you start putting those components in, those costs go up. It looks really simple, but it adds up.”