(6/15) Commissioner Jesse Case has proposed that the Town consider making some, if not all, of the alleys in the town one-way.
Case recounted that even though only a few people have garage access on his alley, cars are frequently using it as a thoroughfare to get to and from Second Street and Main Street. "It’s not uncommon to hear a car every ten minutes." Case said. "Unfortunately, the main door I use to get into and out of my house is on the alley, and the cars pass so close to that door that if I, or the driver are not careful, I could easily be hit."
Case suggested that all the alleys in the town could be made one way, allowing traffic to flow only off of Main Street. "This would ensure that only the people who actually live on the alley use them." Case reasoned that people who now access the alleys to go from Second Street to Main Street can easily go a block to a ‘real’ street to get to Main Street.
"Some of the alleys in town are really only one care wide, if that," Case said. "I can’t even begin to tell you how many times I’ve pulled into my alley only to have to back out when someone enters it at the far end. If the alleys were only one way, we could eliminate this problem."
Case suggested that ‘do not enter’ signs can be placed at the entrance of the alleys on Second Street, with One Way signs added to their entrance on Main Street.
While the Town Council was open to Case’s suggestion, Commissioner Cutshall, who is the Town’s Streets’ Commission Liaison, suggested that the Town consider alternating the one way directions. Cutshall’s concern was that by making all traffic exit the alleys onto Second Street would add more traffic to that street, which might not sit well with residents living along that road.
Burgess Barnes agreed with Cutshall, and suggested that the best path forward would be for Cutshall and the Street Commission to survey residents living along the town alleys and gather opinions. If a majority agrees with the concept of making the alleys one way, then the next step would be to coordinate with the residents to see which direction they would like to see traffic on their alley flow.
Cutshall agreed to take on the task and report back to the Council with his findings.
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