Owensboro’s “We Are Downtown” group has expressed concern regarding heavy traffic on 2nd Street — even suggesting they may request temporary closures during certain weekend hours — but city officials said there are multiple factors to consider.
Officials with We Are Downtown said the issue is a safety concern for pedestrians eating and walking along the roadway, and that the group plans to submit a proposal to City Commissioners about rerouting traffic along a portion of 2nd Street on weekends.
Chairperson and Simply Chic owner Debi Ford said she and other business owners like herself have begun talking to more and more downtown residents about speeding vehicles, revving engines and close calls along the 2nd Street corridor.
“There are more and more residents all the time who are deciding to live down here,” Ford said. “As the weather gets nicer, more and more people are coming downtown. With restaurants and seating, cars are blowing past.”
Though the City of Owensboro lowered the speed limit to 25 miles per hour on 2nd Street several years ago, Ford said not all drivers are abiding by it.
He said loud, speeding vehicles — including motorcycles — are not only bothersome to patrons eating outside on the sidewalk, but are causing major safety concerns for an increasing number of children who come downtown to enjoy Smothers Park.
“You don’t know what could happen,” she said. “It’s a safety issue there.”
Ford added that the traffic along 2nd Street is making people weary of eating outdoors.
Ford suggested closing down a portion of 2nd Street between St. Ann and Allen streets from Friday evening through Sunday morning to allow for expanded outdoor seating.
Though some business owners are concerned about losing the parking spots along that corridor, Ford argued that they wouldn’t be losing very much parking because patrons have access to City and County parking lots during the weekend.
City Manager Nate Pagan said he and other officials were aware of the concerns the group had about street traffic. Pagan said events — such as the International Bar-B-Q Festival — have previously led to the City closing down a portion of 2nd Street, and that those closures were well-received by the community.
However, Pagan noted the hesitation from some of the downtown business owners who believed closing the street could negatively affect their businesses, saying “that would weigh heavily on our decision as well.”
If the We Are Downtown group were to vote unanimously or close to it about presenting their ideas to the City, Pagan said officials would consider hearing their proposal. It would take input from the City engineer and the public works department to reroute a portion of 2nd Street permanently, he said.
For suggested that in the short term, if they couldn’t close down a portion of the street, the City could synchronize the traffic lights so that traffic had to stop at each light.
“We just want to see what we need to present to the City,” she said. “We’ll make a list of pros and cons. When we meet, there might even be some better ideas we come up with.”
