If you plan to park on North Union Street, you might want to brush up on your back-in parking skills.

The road, one of the main thoroughfares leaving Wilmington, is downsizing from three traffic lanes to two, and the new layout will add angled parking spaces that motorists will need to reverse into.

Striping and painting on the roadway, from Pennsylvania Avenue to Sycamore Street, began Monday. Work also includes the addition of a new bike lane and repainted crosswalks at major intersections.

The project is expected to be completed in about three weeks, and should have a minimal impact on traffic, according to Sarah Lester, director of Cornerstone West Community Development Corporation, which is working with local residents and businesses to help revitalize the city's west side.

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The two right lanes on one-way Union Street will remain, while the left lane is being turned into diagonal parking and a bike lane, about 4 feet wide.

Lines for the bike lane are currently being painted by the state Department of Transportation, Lester said. The City of Wilmington will begin striping for the angled parking on Saturday.

The new configuration on the roadway is expected to add about 20 percent more parking to the street, Lester said. She did not have the exact number of added parking spaces.

There will not be any meters on the new spaces, but two-hour parking limits will remain in place on Union Street, Lester said.

For several years, residents and business owners have complained about drivers speeding on Union Street, a corridor in the city's Little Italy neighborhood that includes a variety of restaurants and stores.

"I'm happy about this," said Andrea Wakefield, a manager at Mrs. Robino's at 520 N. Union St., one of the state's longest-running family-owned restaurants. "Traffic flies down Union Street. I think we have a lot to offer here, but people need to slow down and see it."

In 2012, the West Side Revitalization Plan was developed to help create a “Main Street” concept for Union and Lincoln streets.

A "Better Block event," first held in 2014, attracted hundreds of people and demonstrated what would eventually become the new Union Street configuration.

The new street design and angled parking will help calm traffic, improve safety for bicyclists, pedestrians, and motorists, Lester said, and will increase economic activity for local businesses.

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While a handful of businesses in the area have their own private parking lots, there is only parallel parking available now on Union Street.

The new diagonal, back-in parking will be on the left (eastern side) of Union Street, and parallel parking will remain on the right side (western side), Lester said.

She said drivers will reverse into the angled parking spots rather than heading in frontward.

This is different than some other thoroughfares in the state, such as Rehoboth Avenue in Rehoboth Beach, where diagonal parking is available on both sides of the roadway. Drivers on that one-way Sussex County road pull forward into parking spaces.

Lester said the back-in diagonal parking design was deemed safer for Union Street so that drivers will be able to clearly see pedestrians, bikers and other motorists when pulling out into traffic.

In recent years, AAA has urged U.S. drivers to back into parking spaces rather than pulling forward, even if a vehicle is equipped with such safety technology as rear view camera systems. Those systems are required on all new vehicles by 2018.

According to AAA, pulling into a space, which the majority of American drivers do, is a risky practice that leaves pedestrians and other motorists vulnerable when the driver later reverses from the spot to move into a traffic lane.

According to traffic safety experts, some 300 people are killed and 18,000 are injured by drivers who are backing up, usually in driveways or parking lots.

Some Union Street restaurant owners think the reduced lanes and the new parking layout will benefit their businesses.

Wakefield of Mrs. Robino's, an Italian restaurant that has had a home in the city since 1940, said the diagonal parking will add more spots in front of the eatery.

Right now, there are about five parking spots. Wakefield said the new configuration will add at least three more parking spots.

"People are really happy about it. It's one of the No.1 complaints that there's no parking," she said. Wakefield said more parking also is available on nearby Bancroft Parkway.

John Constantinou, owner of Walter’s Steakhouse, said the two-lane roadway is a return to the way Union Street was at least 50 years ago. He said it will take motorists and visitors some time to adjust to the new configuration.

"I think there's always a learning curve, that's for sure," said Constantinou, who has run his 802 N. Union St. institution since the early 1990s.

"Anytime there's a change, especially when they've been doing the same thing for years and years, there's always that acclimation period."

Constantinou said since his restaurant attracts "a more mature audience," he believes it will be easier for his loyal customers to cross a two-lane roadway, rather than three lanes.

Walter's Steakhouse also will gain a few more parking spots, as well as a designated handicapped parking spot with a ramp. "It will make accessible even better."

Constantinou said the back-in, angled parking initially might be a challenge. "Some people aren't real comfortable backing in, but there's plenty of room." After a while, he said, "it will be a breeze."

However, Constantinou wasn't ruling out that some tweaking might have to be done after the project is finished. "I hope it does work out. I think it will."

The re-striping and angled parking is part of a larger vision and larger investment for Union Street, Lester said.

Current projects include a new façade improvement program and security camera grants funded by the Neighborhood Building Blocks Fund, electric box murals

funded by the Nemours Foundation and painted by local artist Smashed Label, new planters funded by the Rockford Woodlawn Fund, and a City of Wilmington bike rack installation project.

Contact Patricia Talorico at (302) 324-2861 or ptalorico@delawareonline.com and on Twitter @pattytalorico