We strongly believe that removing parking from the north side of 5th Avenue NW and leaving it only on the south will compromise pedestrian safety. The majority of people parking on 5th Ave are visiting residents, going to the community association, or going to Riley Park. Although The City says new improvements will slow traffic down, we believe that there is no valid reason for leaving parking on the south, when the majority of users are going to the north. In addition, the parking by the community association will be on the north so we believe it should be on the same side all the way between 10th - 14th Street NW. Many of the people parking also have picnic baskets, chairs, pool equipment, or sporting equipment so it does not make sense to ask people to carry things across a busy road when it can be prevented. Leaving the parking on the North will help reduce the number of people jaywalking and the risk of young children being forced to cross a busy street to get to Riley Park.