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Letter: We need to resolve parking crunch at library, gym

What horrible news it is to have two of the most popular venues in Menlo Park, the Menlo Park Library and the new gym, creating parking problems, full lots, back-up traffic, double parking and worse.

Dropping off and picking up young people is a major problem and physical danger. Young people are walking through a packed lot with vehicles circling and searching for spaces. The gym and our library are competing for space and have caused serious congestion. Lack of parking (the loss of actual parking spaces in the library parking lot and the addition of a huge, attractive gymnasium sharing the same parking lot) has created serious problems for both the gym and the library.

This danger cannot simply be dismissed by telling the gym and the library to coordinate their major events. The problem is the normal day-to-day programs. The gym's problems are not only endangering young people, they are frustrating both the gymnasium and the library community, and the situation is only going to get worse when the gymnasium becomes fully operational.

Our library, which serves the needs of the very young to the very old, is no longer a comfortable venue to visit — unless one knows what is happening at the gym. Nobody wishes to guess when it is a good time to visit the library to avoid traffic problems. One trip to a packed parking lot is enough to discourage people from visiting the library. That situation has been unheard of in this community. Patrons have had and continue to expect a welcoming library with available parking throughout the day. Both attractions, the popular gym and the popular library are working against each other as they share a parking lot with reduced parking because of the gym. Menlo Park does not need this kind of vehicular competition.

It's not "the large events that need coordination"; it's the daily use, normal for two major venues.

This situation begs for an immediate solution.

Tim Goode, Vine Street, Menlo Park