Parking on Hyland Avenue from Lincoln Way to Ontario Street will soon be prohibited on both sides of the street, according to an ordinance passed by the Ames City Council.

Sandy Ryan, Ames city clerk, said the ordinance will become law sometime this week.

Consequently, the City of Ames plans to place bicycle paths on both sides of the newly widened street.

In the past, meter parking was allowed on the east side of the street while parking on the west side was prohibited.

Many ISU students and Hyland residents regularly used the meter parking.

In fact, some residents without off-street parking relied heavily upon the meters.

Most of the residents on Hyland are ISU students, and many do not have off-street parking. These residents will be forced to find alternative ways to park their vehicles.

Also, guests of residents on Hyland will be forced to park elsewhere if space is not available.

We feel the bicycle plan is unfair to residents who live on the street.

In fact, many residents might not have leased their apartments if they had known parking was going to be prohibited.

The Iowa Department of Transportation said in a city council meeting that parking within the designated bicycle path could cause potential hazards for bicyclists.

We strongly disagree with the plan to eliminate parking on both sides of Hyland.

Although we believe a bike path is a good idea, we don’t think a path on both sides of the street would be beneficial to the city.

The solution is simple: Allow meter parking on the east side of Hyland and place a bicycle path on the west side.