By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
Four more blocks of South Main Street are slated to become one way for traffic beginning in early spring, city officials have decided.
Members of the Del Rio City Council on Jan. 25 voted to make South Main Street open to one-way southbound traffic only from the railroad tracks south to Garfield Avenue.
The decision came during a discussion on possibly widening the intersections on South Main between Ogden Street and Garfield Avenue.
After Mayor Bruno “Ralphy” Lozano introduced the topic, City Manager John Sheedy said, “This is a topic that has been discussed since before my tenure (as city manager), but we all recognize the difficulties sometimes on South Main, primarily when you’re turning. It’s pretty tight in there, so, I think we had budgeted $150,000 for that project, to widen the street, and we’ve looked at that, and I’ve visited quite extensively with public works and our engineer, considering that we’re only going to gain three feet, it’s a lot of money, since we have ramps, we have rails, and it’s going to take a lot of work.”
“We’ve reviewed it and discussed it among ourselves, and we feel a viable alternative, a much cheaper alternative and possibly a better alternative, would be just to create a one-way as we have for that section of South Main Street south of Garfield. It just makes sense to just extend that,” Sheedy added.
The city manager said the one-way would allow for easier traffic flow and easier parking access for customers of businesses along that four-block stretch of the street.
Mayor Pro-tem Jim DeReus interrupted the discussion, asking that it be tabled until Councilman Alfredo “Fred” Carranza Jr., who was absent from the meeting, could join in.
“On his behalf, I would like to make a motion to postpone this discussion until 8 February. This is something that he has been very involved in, and he really wants to be here for that conversation,” DeReus said.
Councilwoman Alexandra Falcon Calderon gave the second, but the motion failed, with only DeReus, Calderon and Councilman J.P. Sanchez voting in favor, and Lozano and Councilman Raul Ojeda and Councilman Steven Webb opposed.
Sheedy then continued his discussion, calling the creation of the four-block one-way “a viable plan with no serious traffic implications.”
He also directed the council members to a series of maps included in their packets that depicted the change.
Lozano then asked council members to give their inputs.
DeReus said, “I understand the benefit of making it one way as far as turning from Main onto one of the side streets, but I don’t see how this is going to solve the problems that we currently have, because it’s still going to be fairly narrow.”
He asked Sheedy to explain how the change would solve traffic problems in the area, adding, “Something needs to be done, because clearly anyone who’s come down Main Street and tried to turn knows that it’s pretty bad, so turning from Main onto those side streets is not going to be any better, and that’s a big part of our problems there. Also it’s not just turning onto Main, it’s turning off of Main.”
City Public Works Director/City Engineer Alberto Quintanilla replied, “Turning off of Main will be better because you’ll have a 14-foot lane as opposed to a 10-foot lane.”
“Right now you have two 10-foot lanes (on Main Street), one northbound, one southbound. We’re going to convert it to one 14-foot lane southbound, with a three-foot buffer, so you won’t be right up against the curb, there’ll be a three-foot offset, so you will be able to turn onto the side streets more easily,” Quintanilla replied.
“So you think that three feet will make that much of a difference, turning onto the side streets?” DeReus asked.
“It should,” Quintanilla replied.
“You’re telling me that the geometry is going to work out?” DeReus asked.
“Yes,” Quintanilla said.
Webb said he had looked at the traffic in the area in question and agreed that turning off Main now is sometimes difficult because of how cars and trucks are positioned.
“What Mr. Quintanilla is saying, by offsetting the vehicles (on Main) closer to the center of the street, that gives you a wider radius to make that turn and not hit the curb, which is the whole idea of going with the one way,” Webb said, adding he believes it will make driving safer in the area.
Since part of the plan would be making Ogden Street between Griner and South Main a two-way street, Ojeda asked if a traffic light or stop sign would be placed at that intersection, and Quintanilla said a stop sign would be placed for Ogden traffic traveling east.
Ojeda said he also believed people would complain because the traffic pattern is something new.
Quintanilla said the change would be heavily publicized.
Saying he approved of the proposed change, Sanchez asked, “Who was the genius who came up with this plan? I wish I knew who it was because I’d like to thank him. I think it’s a great idea.”
Calderon asked staff also to consider continuing making South Main a one-way street all the way south to Nicholson Street.
Lozano thanked staff for “saving the taxpayers’ money by coming up with this plan.”
The mayor then made a motion to approve making South Main a one-way street between the railroad tracks and Garfield, with DeReus giving the second. The council members present then voted unanimously to approve the change.
Sheedy said after the meeting the change to the one-way traffic is likely to begin in March or April.
“We have quite a few things to prepare, and traffic marking paint is currently in short supply,” he said.
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