Parking rules confuse motorists

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Some motorists attempting to park along a stretch of Sixth Street Southwest are trying to decide whether the correct information is on street signs or on stickers recently attached to meters -- and the wrong choice is resulting in $100 tickets.

Two sign poles -- one at each end of the block between C and D streets -- state the area is a bus zone and calls for no standing or parking from 4 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

However, beneath one pole a sign states 2-hour parking is allowed from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. The sign beneath the other pole states parking is allowed from 7 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.

To help motorists, the District has affixed stickers to the meters telling motorists the duration of the meters and the times they are operational. The stickers on the three meters in the 300 block of Sixth Street Southwest also state parking is allowed from 7 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.

However, the information on the stickers is not always the definitive answer because parking in one of the spaces between 4 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. will result in a $100 fine for illegal rush-hour parking.

Cars in three of four occupied spaces on the block yesterday were moved in the last 10 minutes before 4 p.m. One straggler pulled out at 4:25 p.m., about six minutes before a parking-enforcement officer arrived.

City officials say they are addressing the problem.

Bill Rice, a spokesman for the D.C. Department of Transportation, which posts the signs, said officials would check to see whether the signs are confusing or contradictory.

He said the agency, which makes tens of millions of dollars annually from the 16,300 meters in the District, has been working recently to reduce sign clutter.

"We have a very aggressive program to simplify and reduce the number of signs," he said. "If there is confusion, we want to hear about it and look into it and correct it."

Mary Myers, a spokeswoman for the D.C. Department of Public Works, acknowledged the signs "can easily be confusing," but said motorists should obey signs indicating rush-hour restrictions when the signs appear to contradict themselves.

"If people feel they interpreted the signs to the best of their ability and they were still ticketed they should absolutely [challenge] it," she said.