There’s going to be a hearing Tuesday, Sept. 15 at 6:30 p.m. at West Bend City Hall as the Traffic Safety Commission considers a request to change the 500 block of S. Second Avenue from a two-way street to a one-way street.
Neighbors in the area received a note from Police Chief Ken Meuler about the proposal. The flow of one-way traffic would be from Maple Street south to Oak Street.
Richard Sussman has lived at 508 S. Second Ave. for the past 20 years. He said he initiated the request.
“There’s nowhere to park on this street,” Sussman said. “When Habitat for Humanity added six living residence at the end of the street it added 14 cars that need parking on the block. Some of those vehicles are not running and they park those on the street for storage and that gives long-time residents on the street no place to park.”
Sussman said if the street was changed to a one way there would be room to park 12 vehicles on the other side of the street and that would alleviate the issue.
“It would also make it safer for the children that play in the street at the end of the block,” he said. “They would only have to worry about traffic coming from one way.”
Several weeks ago Sussman went up and down the block collecting signatures.
Scott Gerritson lives on Second Avenue and said he signed the petition but now is having second thoughts.
“Parking is an issue but turning the street into a one way would be unreasonable,” he said. “The company at the south end of the block has big trucks going down the street and if you park on both sides the street is barely wide enough to get one car down.”
Gerritson said the house on the northeast corner of Second Avenue and Oak Street was built by Habitat for Humanity and it has quite a few vehicles.
“That makes it hard when handicap people on the block need the taxi,” he said. “They have to access it in the alley. In the winter it would be terrible to have parking on both sides as far as snow plowing and stuff.”
Currently there is no parking on the east side of Second Avenue.
“I just see traffic patterns changing and being a disaster,” Gerritson said. “People would end up using the alley as a street and we have grandkids and people are in the alley all the time and I just don’t think it’s a good idea.”
Sussman turned in about 26 signatures on his petition to make Second Avenue a one way.
Neighbors who would like to express an opinion at the meeting next week are being asked to submit a letter to the Chief or call 262-335-5010 prior to Monday, Sept. 14.