Residents prefer one-way traffic along Oak Street in Highland

The mail must go through — and that could keep the city from delivering the design option for improvements to Oak Street preferred by its residents.

The city plans to upgrade Oak Street from Maxim Street to Lindenthal Avenue from an oil-and-chip roadway to pavement with concrete curbing and gutters. The reason for the various options is because Oak Street narrows from an unnamed creek to Papin Street, leaving only limited room for improvements over that stretch. The options for the narrow section vary in terms of traffic flow, parking and sidewalks.

▪ Option No. 1 would have two-way traffic with parking on the west side of the street and no sidewalk.

▪ Option No. 2 would also have two-way traffic, but there would be a sidewalk on the east side of the street, and no parking would be allowed.

▪ Option No. 3 would make traffic one-way for that portion of Oak Street. There would be parking on the west side of the street and a sidewalk on the east side.

The city held an informational meeting about the project in December and further solicited written comments from concerned citizens.

“All of the options have pros and cons, and we felt it was appropriate to get feedback,” said Public Works Director Joe Gillespie.

Twenty residents filled out a form in which they rated their preferences of the three options. Of those who submitted written comments, 15 preferred Option 3, three picked Option 1 and two were in favor of Option 2.

Anthony Walker of 1636 Broadway preferred Option 1.

“I am concerned with Option 3. This would force traffic in the opposite direction thru the adjacent neighborhoods. This would put additional traffic on Lynn and Nelson streets,” Walker wrote on his comment form.

Val and Theresa Buchmiller of 1418 Oak Street also liked Option 1.

“Trying to make (Oak) a one-way street from the creek to Papin would be a disaster. It would be way too confusing and would cause problems when big events, e.g., stock car racing, school, and the Madison County Fair, try to move traffic away from the events. Even if people stayed away from Oak to exit the area, it would cause huge traffic congestion on Poplar,” the Buchmillers commented on their form.

Linda Rensing of 1236 Oak St. favored Option 3.

“The sidewalk is the most important thing to me,” she wrote.

Anna Wilson, a renter in the apartments at 1201 El Kay Court, also checked the box for Option 3.

“Children need a safe environment to walk to and from school. Homeowners need a place to park in front of their homes,” Wilson wrote.

Christine Sumner of 1520 Oak St. supported Option 2, because her chief concern was pedestrian traffic.

“Option 1 should not even be considered because of no sidewalks,” Sumner wrote. “If it’s deemed that street parking is more important than a sidewalk, Option 3 would be better.”

However, a complication has arisen since those comments were submitted — mail delivery. Currently, mail boxes are on the west side of the street. But that is where parking would be in Option 3. The issue with that would be that, if a vehicle was parked in front of a mailbox when the letter carrier was there, that resident would not get their mail delivered. Mail boxes could not be moved to the other side, because the street would be one-way, southbound, which would put boxes out of reach of the driver.

Option 3 also has another issue — right of way acquisition.

Gillespie said one household was adamant they would not be willing to provide right of way if Option 3 was the city’s choice.

“They were very against Option 3,” Gillespie said.

City Attorney John Long said the city could likely get any property needed through eminent domain, if it had to. However, that could be a lengthy endeavor.

City Councilman Aaron Schwarz said he agreed with the comments about the one-way span being confusing and would likely alter traffic flow to adjacent streets.

“The point of finishing the road is because it gets such high traffic, but now you are just going to push the traffic somewhere else,” Schwarz said.

Oak Street receives a good amount of traffic, because it is used as a shortcut from Broadway to the Lindenthal School Campus and Lindendale Park.

Councilwoman Peg Bellm said she had favored Option 3, but changed her mind.

“Originally, I thought Option 3 made the most sense… But that was before the post office thing. To me, that means Option 3 is off the table,” she said.

Bellm said she wants residents to have parking, though.

“While a sidewalk is highly, highly desirable, and I don’t want to see kids walking in the street, I don’t see how we can’t give those people parking,” she said.

Councilman Rick Frey agreed.

“If you eliminate parking, the resale value of those houses (on the west side of the street) is shot,” he said.

Council members said they would like to add a fourth option. They directed Gillespie to speak with home owners on the east side of the street to see if they would be willing to sell additional property in order to accommodate all the amenities — two-way traffic, parking and a sidewalk.

If that’s not possible, council members will be back to deciding among the first three options. But there is no rush. Money for the project has not been budgeted until 2020.

This story was originally published April 18, 2016 at 3:00 AM with the headline "Residents prefer one-way traffic along Oak Street in Highland."