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Letter to the editor: Sound off on Marion's Streetscape Plan

By Bunnie Burgin

Marion

Published: October 27, 2009

On Tuesday night at the Community Building, the City Council proposed the streetscape plan they have been working on since 2003. This plan was presented to inform and to seek ideas and suggestions from the public.
Very few people attended and only about six questions were asked. This is an opportunity for the citizens of Marion to make great improvement in downtown Marion, and it was disappointing that there were so few there.
I did not see the meeting advertised, nor was I able to find any information at all about the streetscape plan on the Marion Web site. The graphics presented showing the downtown change are very difficult to read. It would be so helpful to have a simple artist's rendering of what the downtown will look like with the proposed changes.
The proposal as it stands now calls for parallel parking on Main Street and three lanes of traffic with the center lane for turning. The council thinks that this proposal will be acceptable to DOT. My question is: "Is this the plan that is best for downtown?"
A previous plan proposed two lanes of traffic with angle parking. This plan would slow traffic and provide more and easier parking, both of which would encourage visitors to downtown. This plan seems to have been passed over because the opinion was that DOT would not approve it. That may be the case, but I would like to hear that from DOT. They were not represented at the meeting on Tuesday night so there was no opportunity to question them.
Parallel parking is difficult, especially for seniors. A turning lane (three lanes) requires parallel parking because of space, but with only two lanes, angle parking will work. Angle parking is definitely more user friendly than parallel parking. The traffic flow through Marion today with four lanes of travel is a serious drawback for growth. It is intimidating to get out of or into a car for fear of being hit.
Three lanes will help, but not to the extent of going to two lanes would. If you look at all the small towns around us that have been so successful with their downtowns, you will see that none of them have more than two lanes of traffic: For example, Morganton, Rutherfordton, Hendersonville.
In my opinion, the only reason for the third lane is so cars can get around those who are trying to parallel park. Greenville, S.C., which used to have four lanes of traffic, is down to two lanes now. If you have angle parking, you won't have that "slow down" that parallel parking causes.
Other aspects of the streetscape plan were presented. New signage looks good, and lots of consideration for new trees is being studied. It looks like the city is ready to spend in excess of $200,000 for improvements. Let's get it right. Please take time to study what is being presented and get your questions and ideas to the city before it is all said and done.
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