When the State of California took over Susanville’s Main Street, in 1933, which is a part of Highway 36, everyone was at the mercy of the State who dictated how the thoroughfare would operate. For a long time it was not an issue.
In the 1940s, there were changes on the horizon. There was a great deal of traffic congestion in the uptown area. In 1947, the City proposed two stop lights—one at Lassen and the other at Weatherlow. When the State Division of Highways learned of this, they objected, citing it did not meet the requirement of 100 cars per hour at those intersections. The State wanted to discontinue angle parking for parallel. The merchants howled. The change would eliminate parking by fifty percent.
The issue turned ugly when the state approved the change. The city adopted a parallel parking ordinance at their July1950 meeting. The city was concerned if they did not enforce it, the State would with hold the city’s apportionment of gasoline tax money. Lowell Hardy of the Golden Rule store, suggested the city did not need such wide sidewalks—they could be narrowed on each side and there would be ample room for four lanes and angle parking. It remained a contentious through 1952, which by that time parallel parking was here to stay.