Borough Delays Switch On Spring Street Traffic

Candace Braun

After being alerted to the potential downside of making Spring Street a two-way road, Borough Council said it will wait six weeks after the new garage opens before making a final decision.

The downtown parking garage is scheduled to open by Communiversity Day, on April 24, about a week later than the previous timetable, said Borough Engineer Carl Peters.

Council members David Goldfarb and Mildred Trotman disagreed with back tracking on the Spring Street plan, which had already been approved by the Regional Planning Board in 2002 after a consultant on development said it was necessary to accommodate the planned 500-space garage.

At the meeting Wednesday, April 7, Mr. Goldfarb and Ms. Trotman said the community was promised this change to alleviate traffic in residential areas on South Tulane Street and Vandeventer Avenue. Ms. Trotman noted that keeping Spring Street as a one-way road would most likely involve taking a proposal back to the Planning Board.

Council decided it will continue with its plan to prepare an ordinance allowing two-way traffic on Spring Street; but, because it will take about six weeks to put the paperwork through, the Borough will have adequate time to observe how traffic changes with the opening of the garage before approving it, Mayor Joe O'Neill said in a separate interview.

Mr. Peters will prepare a report on traffic patterns in the Spring Street area to present to Council two weeks after the garage opens.

Council was prompted to revisit the traffic issue following comments made by John T. Henderson in a letter sent to Council in December.

Mr. Henderson, owner of Benson Henderson Enterprises on the corner of Spring and Witherspoon streets, said that while the new garage will provide additional parking, it will not make up for lost loading zones that are currently used on a daily basis on Spring Street.

Making the road two way would eliminate eight parking meters and a loading zone between South Tulane and Witherspoon streets.

Members of the Borough's Traffic and Transportation Committee presented information regarding what changes would occur if Spring Street was changed to a two-way traffic area. The committee's report concluded that changing the traffic pattern would cause more traffic problems, rather than less.

"I think it would be a hardship for businesses on Spring [Street]," said Tom Schmierer, a member of the committee. "[This plan] doesn't seem to function on a logical level."

Among those concerns listed by the committee was a lack of space for loading. Pedestrian safety was also a concern.

Two mail trucks, along with a large delivery truck that extends across approximately three store fronts, would also have no place to park if this change were to go through, said Mr. Schmierer.

Concerns were raised that eliminating the loading zone would shift loading activity onto Witherspoon Street, and thereby potentially snarling traffic to and from Nassau Street.

Arch Davis, another member of the traffic committee, as well as a licensed engineer and resident on Vandeventer Avenue, said he has observed traffic congestion remaining about the same on Witherspoon Street from the time the Park-and-Shop lot closed, and anticipates the traffic only worsening once the garage opens.