|
By Carey King
and Carey Phillips
An attempt to slow speeding through downtown Sylva, town officials
Monday (Oct. 27) gave their OK to the placement of barricades
in Main Street's left lane.
Members of Sylva's public safety committee - town board members
Maurice Moody, Anne Cabe and Eldridge Painter - approved the plan
in order to protect pedestrians.
"The left lane tends to be used as a passing lane,"
said committee chairman Moody. "In the mornings, I've seen
cars going 40-plus through there."
The proposal would change Main Street's left lane into a turn-only
lane. To ensure drivers use the lane as directed, town officials
plan to erect a barricade of posts in the left lane on the far
side of the intersections at Grindstaff Cove Road, and Landis
and Spring streets.
The barricades will each eliminate one parking space on Main Street's
left side.
N.C. Department of Transportation traffic engineer Reuben Moore
presented the plan to the committee, saying workers would need
to put in the posts before the end of November because the temperature
"has to be above 50 degrees to put plastic down for markings."
Police Chief Jeff Jamison agreed that winter would be a good time
to introduce drivers to new street markings because most tourists
will have gone home and traffic will be reduced.
Initially, Jamison said he considered the DOT plan to be unsafe.
Drivers in the left-hand lane that decide to not turn or park
could create problems for right-lane drivers as they try to re-enter
the stream of traffic, he said.
"My concern is the congestion. The more movement you've got,
the more likelihood you'll have an accident.
Congestion reduces speed but increases accidents," Jamison
said.
In addition, he said that "most speeding takes place beyond
Spring Street," which is an area past the proposed barricades.
Committee members contended that the barricade plan is necessary
to slow traffic for Main Street pedestrians.
"In Sylva, for whatever reason, cars tend to not stop for
you. Maybe one out of a 100 cars will yield," said Moody.
Town Manager Richard McHargue told the Herald Tuesday that Street
Committee members had been looking for several months at ways
to curb Main Street speeding. He said DOT officials came up with
the plan for barricades.
Conrad Burrell, the 14th Division representative on the State
DOT Board, said he did not know about the plan when contacted
by the Herald Tuesday.
"DOT shouldn't be involved in anything that has to do with
speeding," he said. "That should be the Police Department's
problem. To stop speeding, they need to put a police officer there."
Burrell later said he was told by Ron Watson, DOT's 14th Division
engineer, that the plan for barricades was not recommended by
the DOT but instead came from the town.
Committee members plan for the barricades to be erected in tandem
with repainting crosswalks on Main and Mill Streets. They also
decided to have "Yield to Pedestrian" markers added
on the road near non-intersection crosswalks. Both will be painted
with thermoplastic, a substance 10 times thicker than paint that
has a reflective effect and is visible in the rain.
"Many crosswalks have started to fade," Moody said,
as a result of snowplows, traffic and utility work.
Committee members said it has been five or six years since the
crosswalks have been painted.
While agreeing to paint the crosswalks and yield signs, Moore
said those changes alone might "give folks a false sense
of security."
"If you get hit anywhere but a crosswalk, you haven't got
a legal leg to stand on," he said.
Painter said he hopes the posts will remind Main Street drivers
of the need to go slow starting at the courthouse fountain.
"(The barricades are) really going to send a signal when
you get around that turn," he said.
- In other business Monday: the committee also asked DOT to consider
creating a loading zone on the right side of Mill Street across
from Cope's Newsstand and Superette.
Officials initially proposed creating parallel parking spots there
in order to alleviate the parking problems near Cope's, but Moore
opposed the idea, citing the danger of pedestrians crossing Mill
Street between cars that would block them from drivers' view.
"Mill Street is 'friction-free' in that area and introducing
three new parallel spots would affect through traffic," Moore
said.
The proposed loading zone would be big enough for short trailers
and van-sized trucks, but would not accommodate a 40-foot trailer.
The zone would aid traffic flow by providing a spot for trucks
that sometimes stop to unload near Cope's in Mill Street's left
lane, Moody said.
Concerning the danger of truck drivers crossing the street to
make deliveries, Moore said he had "more faith in a truck
driver than the general public" since they are used to making
deliveries.
Creation of a loading zone would involve a cut in the curb, Moore
said.
According to Moody, DOT officials will have to approve the plan
and the town's street committee must approve its funding before
any action is taken.
|
