Parking Hours Reduced At Bde Maka Ska As Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board Cites Safety Concerns

Parking Hours Reduced At Bde Maka Ska As Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board Cites Safety Concerns

Parking will be prohibited from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. in lots and bays located on the west and south sides of the lake.

MINNEAPOLIS — Beginning Thursday, new parking restrictions will take effect at Bde Maka Ska, limiting access to certain lots two hours earlier each night. The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board announced the change as part of an effort to address safety concerns in the area.

Parking will be prohibited from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. in lots and bays located on the west and south sides of the lake. Previously, the restriction began at 10 p.m. Vehicles parked in violation of the new hours will be ticketed.

Mike Seaman, a longtime neighbor of the park and daily walker around the lake, was surprised at the new signage. "I'm surprised to see it. I hadn't noticed that. In all my years, I've never seen or encountered any violence in this area; in this parking lot."

The Park Board cites disruptive, illegal, and sometimes violent behavior—often involving large groups of teens and young adults—as the reason behind the change. Officials also referenced a shooting on May 9 at 36th Street West and East Bde Maka Ska Parkway as an example of escalating safety issues.

Some nearby residents have echoed concerns about nighttime disturbances.

"I've heard it can be a little noisy at night," said Noah Hanson, referencing what his fiancée’s parents, who live in the area, have told him. "That kind of echoes what my fiancée's parents have said—is that it can get really noisy at night and there is a lot going on in hours of the night that there doesn't really need to be."

Others, like frequent visitors Margot McCabe and Miles Bandelow, have not experienced problems. They disagree with the new parking restrictions, saying the parking lots should remain open for normal hours of operation.

"I've never seen anything like that while I've been here," McCabe said in reference to the disruptions cited by city officials. "I've never once felt like I was in any danger or there was anything going on that was going to prevent us from being here. I've never seen any rowdiness."

The new restrictions apply only to the designated lots and bays on the west and south sides of the lake. The park itself remains open daily from 6 a.m. to midnight.

SOURCE: KARE 11