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CALUMET - Stefani Kulpe was visiting Calumet Friday from downstate Plymouth when she unintentionally violated a new parking system on Sixth Street in the village.

Kulpe had pulled front-first into one of the reverse angle parking spaces on the east side of the street despite the presence of signs indicting the space was reverse-angle parking only.

"I never saw the sign," Kulpe said.

When she walked by her car later, Kulpe said she had a warning on the windshield about the new parking system, so she moved her car and backed in without trouble.

"There was no car left or right," she said.

Village Police Chief Dave Outinen said the signs indicating reverse angle parking went up on the east side of Sixth Street between Oak and Elm streets only on Thursday, but for about 30 days, drivers who violate it will be given a break.

"For a period, we'll do just courtesy warnings," he said.

Thursday night during the Red Metal Radio Show at the Calumet Theatre was the first test of the experimental system, and Outinen said it generally went well.

"The majority of the people were in properly," he said.

Outinen said the reason for the change in parking method is because it's supposed to make entering into traffic safer because drivers in the parking spaces have a clear view of on-coming traffic.

However, Outinen said some drivers may stop too close to drivers in front of them trying to maneuver into the spaces.

The same space given to drivers attempting to parallel park should be given to drivers getting into the reverse-angle parking spaces, Outinen said.

Village President Tony Bausano said the village council decided to try the reverse angle parking after learning about other communities which are using it with success, including Marquette.

"They've had tremendous success," he said.

Because it provides a better view of oncoming traffic, Bausano said drivers in communities, such as Marquette, using the reverse-angle parking get to prefer it.

"Once people get used to it, they actually like it better," he said. "We felt we wanted to give it a try."

Bausano said the new parking system is an experiment, and parallel parking will still be allowed on the west side of Sixth Street. The council understands there may be problems early on. There also may be problems in winter when snow obliterates the lines between spaces.

"It may be more of an issue (then)," he said.

At some later time, Bausano said the council will examine how the system is working and make a decision about keeping or abandoning it.

"If we found there were more negatives than positives, we can revert back," he said.

For the duration of the reverse-angle parking trial period, Bausano said only a relatively few parking spaces will be affected.

"It's not the whole street," he said. "It's not the whole village."

Kurt Hauglie can be reached at khauglie @mininggazette.com.