Some residents in Sturgeon Falls are wondering if turning King and Main Streets into one-way drives would help alleviate downtown traffic and are sending a petition to council asking for a traffic study.
Longtime resident and Main Street business owner, Tracy Renaud is spearheading the petition, which since June, has garnered around 110 signatures, mainly collected in the downtown area.
In a letter to West Nipissing council, Renaud mentioned “the frustration related to traffic flow and parking in the downtown core,” specifically along Main Street and King Street. She noted “There is limited parking for customers and employees,” adding that “trying to turn onto these streets is horrifying to watch.”
Renaud noted how the city has tried to address traffic issues “by setting up even more four-way stops at every intersection, but this affects traffic flow.”
Her proposal is that council turn Main and King streets into one-way traffic, with diagonal parking on one side of the street. Renaud suggested this arrangement would improve visibility while driving (or walking) and allow for “improved maintenance and plowing in the wintertime.”
Further, the diagonal parking would eliminate the need to parallel park in a busy area and could “reduce the risks of vehicle collisions and accidental impacts that are caused by attempting to parallel park.”
Renaud’s petition will be presented at the August 13th council meeting. She hopes “to have council discuss the potential of having a traffic study completed to see if this option or other options would work in the downtown core.”
David Briggs is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of BayToday, a publication of Village Media. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.
