Council reviews Church Street issues

 PRESQUE ISLE, Maine – During two recent meetings, City Council has been discussing issues affecting the Church Street section of town.
On Feb. 21, Council debated the discontinuance of the traffic light at the intersection of Church and Main streets.
    “The light was initially installed to allow emergency vehicles” to come and go from their Church Street headquarters, City Manager Tom Stevens advised the Council. “Since the new facility was built on North Street, there has been a reduction in traffic in that area.”
Stevens told the Council that the majority of traffic using that intersection appeared to be making right-hand turns onto Main Street and that the stop light did more to hinder north-south traffic than to aid merging traffic from Church Street.
“Over a three-month period, from March through May, we’d like to place the light on flashing mode to determine if it warrants removal,” said Stevens.
Councilor Ron McPherson said that idea “made good sense.”
“I’ve pondered (the need for the light) and have spent some time sitting at the old historical building, watching what people did. Many left the post office and went with the flow to the right. It’s an awkward stop. I’ll definitely support this. The light affects the flow (of traffic on Main Street),” said McPherson. “I think this is really a good idea and something we should take a look at.”
With that, McPherson made the motion to put the light on flashing mode for a three-month period, with the Council considering the elimination of the light entirely once that period had passed and it was determined whether it would create a traffic problem to discontinue the light entirely. The Council unanimously approved the motion.
At the March 5 meeting, Church Street parking was the next topic brought up for discussion affecting motorists in that area. The discussion focused on the angle parking used currently and stemmed from comments made by Councilman Calvin Hall at the Feb. 21 meeting.
“I’m questioning changing the current diagonal parking on Church Street, since snow removal in that area has caused traffic to have to go across the center line when snow is plowed,” said Hall at the Feb. 21 meeting.
Hall asked whether it might not be better to change parking back to the way it is along State Street and elsewhere.
The Council agreed at that time that it was an issue that should be looked into.
At the March 5 meeting, Stevens acknowledged the Church Street angle parking was an issue of concern, since it created a problem with the street lining up properly east and west of the Second Street intersection.
He noted that he wasn’t overly concerned about the angle and parallel parking. It was the possible loss in parking spaces that Stevens seemed most concerned about.
“To change would reduce the number of available spots – seven to 11 vehicles consistently park there. Changing the way people park would reduce the spaces available to four or five,” said Stevens. “I’m sure if we change it, we’ll get at least one call from someone asking, ‘where am I supposed to park?’ I’m not sure it’s the city’s position to provide parking for residential.”
Hall indicated policy stated it was the manager’s call.
“I brought this up because of comments and calls from concerned citizens regarding plowing and pushing vehicles over into oncoming traffic,” said Hall. “It’s not up to us to provide parking for apartment buildings.”
McPherson said a change would affect more than apartment residents.
“The church uses those spaces, as do the Elks and the bowling alley,” said McPherson. “I won’t support (a change). I think it’s the wrong thing to do.”
The number of accidents in the area in question have been limited, said Stevens.
“We’ve only had one reportable accident in that area in 2005. This isn’t a high-accident area,” said Stevens.
Councilor G. Melvin Hovey said he’d also be reluctant to support a change.
“I appreciate what Ron said and agree unless there’s some issue of safety, I’m reluctant to go in that direction,” said Hovey. “I wonder if we could get some feedback how it would affect people before we make a decision.”
On that note, Council ended the discussion by asking for the public’s comments on whether to replace the angle parking with parallel parking spots or leave them as they are. Comments can be made by calling City Hall at 764-4485.