In 1929, the Bismarck CIty Commission began to take control of parking by instituting a two-hour parking limit in the business section between 7am and 6pm. They ordered 65 signs to post around the city for that purpose, and it went into effect the first of May of 1930. Commissioners also decided to paint the parking lines on the sidewalks in yellow instead of the red that had been used, so that they could be seen better at night.
Other regulations dealing with parking continued to evolve. In January of 1932, the Bismarck City Commission proposed and approved another ordinance that would reduce double parking. While the rule did still allow double parking, "for a reasonable length of time and only when regular parking spaces were occupied," cars were not permitted to be left alone unless it was for the purpose of a business delivery, and they weren't allowed to be more than 18 inches from the automobiles at the curb, ensuring that the double-parked vehicle wouldn’t be too far out in the street.
The new ordinance would take effect at the end of April. However, on this date, a week before its start, police in Bismarck started watching for offenders. The Bismarck Tribune stated: "Officers, looking grim and relentless, carried large pieces of chalk, pausing now and then to take a swipe at an automobile tire. Passing on, they left a menacing stripe across the tread. More than one hapless motorist groaned as he thought of parting with a hard-earned dollar...."
But the offenders lucked out. As chief of police, C. J. Martineson admitted, that strategy was simply to get people accustomed to the new rules.
"We had our fingers crossed so it didn't count," Martineson said.
All of these changes prompted one resident to write in to the Bismarck Tribune, saying:
"How long are we going to stand by and see these friends of ours [struggle]...with parallel parking [which was supposed to be an experiment], two hour parking, and now no double parking? Why not put it to the vote of the people at the next opportunity? We are driving our friends out of Bismarck."
Dakota Datebook by Sarah Walker
Sources:
Bismarck Tribune, January 5, 1932, p1
Bismarck Tribune, April 23, 1932, p1
Bismarck Tribune, February 2, 1932, p7
Bismarck Tribune, August 31, 1932, p3
Bismarck Tribune, September 16, 1932, p5
Bismarck Tribune, April 1, 1930, p1
