By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
Del Rio City Council members have given the green light to converting the remaining six blocks of South Main to a one-way street.
The council earlier this year approved converting several blocks of South Main Street from Ogden Street south to Garfield Avenue from two-way traffic to one-way traffic.
City Manager John Sheedy is now proposing making South Main a one-way from Strickland Street six blocks south to Nicholson Street.
City council members discussed the conversion at their regular meeting Nov. 8, and approved the change, although several of them said they’d like to hear from residents along the route.
Sheedy spoke about the proposal to council members.
“We’ve been looking at this since we completed our primary section of South Main and made that one way, and numerous people have asked us why we don’t go ahead and finish, and so we have looked at that, and we see the value in that,” Sheedy told the council.
“One of the primary objectives is to continue the one-way traffic especially past the museum. The museum has a lot of activities and events down there, and the traffic is a problem for them when they’re trying to have their events, so as I mentioned before, what we’re anticipating doing is putting together a traffic survey, so we can look at all of our one-ways. Do we need to do more one-ways? If we complete South Main as a one-way south, do we need to do another street as a one-way going the other way? So we’re going to look at that and let the experts tell us which way to route our traffic,” Sheedy added.
Sheedy said he wanted to bring the proposal to council members to hear their input.
Mayor Al Arreola asked if there were any questions from council members.
“I would like to say that when we do projects like this, surveys, based on it not being a commercial area, it being a residential area, I would like to see the city go ask constituents who live in these areas. Do they like it? Thank you or no thank you?” Councilman Jesus Lopez Jr. said.
“I would like for the constituents to be involved because it affects their homes,” Lopez added.
Sheedy said city administrators could “absolutely” ask for citizens’ and homeowners’ inputs.
Arreola pointed out larger cities often have one-way streets, especially in heavily traveled parts of town.
Mayor Pro-tem Steven Webb added, “I look at this whole thing from a safety standpoint. The museum is having more and more events, so I looked at it from a safety standpoint, that people are parking along South Main or going down to Nicholson, turning around and parking on the other side (of South Main).
“The problem is when I go down to Nicholson, and I want to get out and somebody turns onto Nicholson, there’s one lane. One vehicle fits. So one of us has to give up the road. One of us has to back up somewhere for the other one to get by, and we shouldn’t have that problem. Eventually, somebody’s going to come head-on around that Nicholson turn and hit somebody,” Webb added.
He said he is in favor of the extending the one-way.
Councilman J.P. Sanchez and Councilwoman Ernestina “Tina” Martinez both spoke in favor of the project, but Sanchez said he, too, would like to hear from residents of the area.
Councilwoman Alexandra Falcon Calderon said she has volunteered at the museum for several years and pointed out “there’s a lot of speeding through that streets.”
“Yes, we have to consider the residents, but safety. It’s all about the safety of that area. I’m for it,” she said.
Lopez said he has already walked in the area and spoken to homeowners along that stretch of South Main Street.
“I went Sunday, and the ones that were home mostly all liked the idea. Only one constituent didn’t agree,” Lopez said.
He also recommended the city begin looking for a property to buy close to the museum to be used for event parking.
“My view is that I’m in favor of this (one-way proposal), 100 percent, but we need to put bigger signs to notify people,” Arreola said, adding there are still drivers going north on the new one-way section of South Main.
The mayor then called for a motion, with Webb making the motion to create a one-way from Strickland to Nicholson. Calderon gave the second, and the motion passed unanimously.
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