Signs
It is Friday and Fridays are for fun. Parking on St. Paul streets is very complicated. The part about stopping the car and getting out is the easy part. I often park my car and sit inside and read signs. On the particular block of Grand Avenue where I found these signs there wasn’t any place I could park that would not be in between two signs. There really isn’t any place on the street in the entire city that a person can park without being in between two signs.
The sign poles with three or four signs are the most confusing. Does the message on one sign override the message on another or does one modify the meaning of another? Sometimes I just look to see if other cars are parked along the street and if they are I park there too.
It is rare to see any cars parked near the signs in the picture but I don’t know for sure if it is because parking isn’t allowed, or if no one parks there because of the signs.
It could be worse they could fit more contradictory and instructional signs on each post but they seem to limit it to five signs. Probably a city budget thing.
I am sure if I talked to someone with the city and asked for an interpretation of the signage they would tell me what they mean and why the meaning is obvious.
My theory is that they use the signs to confuse us because parking tickets generate needed revenue and if they confuse us enough we will park right by a no parking sign and they will slap a ticket on the windshield before we can even get out of the car.
