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At 6:45 a.m. each weekday, Dan Plesco straps his 4-year-old daughter and infant son into their car seats for the drive from their Mt. Lebanon home to Metropolitan Preschool and Nursery on Penn Avenue, Downtown.

Then he gambles that a motorcycle cop cruising the Penn-Liberty Avenue corridor during morning rush hour won't tag his car while he parks for 10 minutes to take the children inside.

Dropping them off normally takes only a few minutes, but children that young often need to say goodbye three or four times, Plesco said. On Monday, he got his third $54 ticket in a month for parking in a no-parking zone.

"I knew it was going to be a bad day," Plesco said. "You would think they'd be understanding. ... The first ticket I got, I came out when the officer was writing the ticket. I said, 'I'm sorry. Would it have helped if I'd had my flashers on?' and he said, 'No. It just would have helped me to see your car better.' "

There are three day care centers on the 900 block of Penn Avenue, and no on-street parking. As a result, parents each day run the risk of getting tickets as they rush their children into day care. Even after finding places to park, some parents still have to dodge traffic to get their kids into the building.

Day care center owners have asked the city for help. City officials say they're looking into it.

The parents have few options. The surrounding alleys are narrow and crowded. Penn Avenue's westbound curb lane has valet parking for a new hotel and a busy bus stop. In between the two, a day care loading zone once existed but was removed during construction of the David L. Lawrence Convention Center and the Courtyard by Marriott.

Rob Kania, who owns Metropolitan, said he opened his business at 938 Penn Ave. in February 2003 because the block already had two other child care centers and the loading zone for parents to use. Kania said he thought the zone would be restored once construction was completed, but it hasn't been. In August, the city laid off its traffic engineer, who was responsible for determining where loading zones are situated.

"We've had a couple of parents towed and quite a few tickets," Kania said. "You can't get mad at the cops during rush hour. They're just doing their jobs."

Across the street at Allegheny Child Care Academy, parents are averaging five tickets a month, and their cars are towed occasionally, said Sarah Horn, director of marketing for the academy.

"They're busy. They want to get to work. This could make or break our business," Horn said. "It's hard enough to drop your kid off every day and know that you're not going to be with them, but to drop them off and have your car towed is not the way to start your day."

Metropolitan, Allegheny Child Care and the Small World Early Learning and Development Center encourage parents to park in alleys and provide them with dashboard placards to announce their purpose to the police. Parents also call from cell phones to let staff members know they soon will arrive.

Pittsburgh police routinely send four motorcycle officers Downtown during rush hours and two others to target areas, said Assistant Chief Nate Harper, who oversees the operations division. The officers communicate by radio with tow trucks under contract with the city. During peak traffic times, as many as five tow trucks are sent Downtown.

"It's one of those things where there's just no parking on the street," Harper said. "I know it's an inconvenience for the parents who drive."

Now that the hotel valet zone exists, Harper expects the city will restore the day care loading zone.

"There's going to be cars there anyway," he said.

Kania last week wrote to Councilman Sala Udin for help in communicating the problem to the city's Department of Engineering.

Udin acknowledged the problem might be that the traffic engineer's position remains unfilled. He has asked a staffer to see what can be done to make it easier for parents.

"We don't want to create a dangerous situation trying to be helpful. Someone who knows the traffic flow pattern needs to look at this and make a judgment," Udin said.

Engineering Director Fred Reginella said he has been aware of the problem since the street was designated a detour route during construction of the convention center. It still is a heavily traveled street during mornings and afternoons, he said.

Facilitating traffic flow is important, but so is accommodating the needs of Downtown businesses and their customers, Reginella said. The city asks businesses to receive delivery trucks during off-peak hours, if possible.

"My sense is that, given the dilemma there for the day care centers that have been there for some time, I'd think we'd be willing to make some concessions," Reginella said. "On the other hand, I don't want to go ahead and agree to something without knowing what the options are and, if we do restore the parking there, what are the consequences."

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