Camden Courier-Post – December 26, 1953
By Ronald G. Van Tine
Restrictions on nightlong parking on principal streets in the business district will be tried out early next year as a major step in a campaign to make Camden a cleaner city in which to live and work.
Public Works Commissioner Abbott, who disclosed the plan today, said the restrictions would be applied only at times when the streets were scheduled for a face lifting.
The city is due to get two street sweepers, which cost $7800 apiece, early in January. Upon their arrival, Abbott plans to have 5000 temporary cardboard “No Parking” signs printed. Then he will set out to see what he can do about cleaning up such streets as Federal, Market, Broadway, Cooper, Kaighns ave., Mt. Ephraim ave. and Westfield Ave.
Outline of Plan
Here’s how the plan will work:
First, a street-cleaning schedule will be set up. Once this schedule is adopted, the “No Parking” signs will go up—where and when needed.
For example, suppose the schedule calls for the sweeping of the north side of Market St. once a week on, say, Tuesdays. In that event, parking on that side of Market St. will be prohibited from midnight to 6 a.m.—the hours the sweepers will be on the job—each Tuesday.
Under such a schedule, sweeping operations on the south side of the street probably would be scheduled for Wednesdays or Mondays, in which case the temporary, removable signs would be posted on that side at the proper times to enforce the ban.
Police to Cooperate
At no time, Abbott pointed out, would the restrictions be applied to both sides of a street on the same night. Parking would be banned on one side one night, and on the other the next night, and only when sweeping was scheduled.
Abbott said Public Safety Commissioner Aaron had promised police cooperation in the experiment and that fines would be levied against car owners who violate the restrictions.
“If the plan works out successfully,” Abbott said, “it can be made permanent by the adoption of a city ordinance, and can be extended to secondary side streets.
Now ‘Hit-or-Miss’
“I think it will work out. At present, with no restrictions on all night parking, cleaning the streets is a ‘hit-or-miss’ proposition. We can’t even clean the streets with a hand sweeper if there are cars parked on them.”
The two new street sweepers, designed to keep gutters clear of trash or other rubbish, are due to be delivered soon after Jan. 1.
They will bring the total number of serviceable sweepers to four—one short of what Abbott regards as the city’s minimum requirement.
One old sweeper is out of service and considered beyond repair. Abbott said he would seek funds in the 1951 city budget to replace it, thus bringing the street-cleaning sweeper fleet up to five vehicles.
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