No two ways about it

Two-way traffic could return to downtown Main Street next year, 50 years after Cape Girardeau city officials made it one-way southbound.

That prospect thrills some downtown property owners and merchants who say it will bring more traffic to the downtown, slow down traffic and make the area more pedestrian friendly.

But others see it as a recipe for traffic tie-ups with delivery trucks blocking the road and keeping shoppers stuck in traffic or discouraged from entering the downtown entirely.

Deb Maevers, owner of Pastimes Antiques at 45 N. Main St., said most Main Street businesses and property owners oppose making the street two way.

Maevers surveyed Main Street businesses earlier this year. Nineteen of 24 merchants said they opposed it. Two favored the proposed traffic change. Three others were neutral on the issue.

The traffic consulting firm of Crawford, Bunte, Brammeier of St. Louis recommended the city go back to two-way traffic on Main Street. The street currently is one way with two lanes of southbound traffic.

Consultant Douglas Shatto, president of the engineering firm, said it would provide easier access to the downtown for shoppers and tourists.

The city needs to designate loading zones for delivery trucks that serve the downtown stores, bars and restaurants, he said.

Shatto also recommends the city prohibit all left turns at the intersection of Main and Themis streets because of the old-fashioned, ornamental clock that stands in the middle of the pavement.

The city's planning and zoning commission plans to consider the proposal at its Jan. 11 meeting. The final decision rests with the city council.

Mayor Jay Knudtson said he isn't sure what action the council will take.

City officials and downtown merchants have wrestled with the idea of two-way traffic on Main Street for more than a year.

Old Town Cape redevelopment organization wants to see two-way traffic.

The move would generate more traffic and translate into more customers for downtown stores, said Tim Arbeiter, Old Town Cape executive director.

It would allow motorists to reach the downtown from Broadway on the north and William Street on the south. It would also make it easier for Independence Street to funnel traffic to the downtown, Arbeiter said.

Two-way traffic also will slow down motorists, making the downtown more user friendly for pedestrian shoppers, Arbeiter said.

A two-way Main also would eliminate the need to use the south downtown parking lot as a de facto northbound street.

That would allow for improvements to be made to the parking lot to better accommodate parked cars, Arbeiter said.

Arbeiter believes some on-street parking must be reserved for delivery trucks.

But others say loading zones will add to the parking problem, eliminating on-street parking spaces for customers.

"I don't think you should take away one parking space," said Mark Weber, owner of Rude Dog Pub at 123 N. Main St.

The traffic consultant estimates as many as 10 parking spaces could be lost along Main and other downtown streets for loading zones.

Maevers, the antique store owner, said Main Street is too narrow to safely handle two-way traffic.

She would prefer to turn Main Street into a northbound route if any traffic change must be made. That would complement neighboring southbound Water Street, she said.

Cathy Davis, owner of Reruns clothing store at 110 N. Main St., suggested a better solution would be to make Water Street a one-way northbound street. The city council earlier this year changed it from a two-way street to a southbound one.

The traffic consultant looked at that idea, but concluded that wouldn't work without construction of a cul-de-sac so eastbound motorists on Broadway could turn around at the intersection.

Downtown property owner and businessman John Wyman has lobbied tirelessly for a two-way Main Street.

"When developing a retail center, you want to make it as easy for the customers as possible," he said. Opponents, he said, seem more concerned with shipments than shoppers.

Deliveries won't create a huge problem, particularly if the trucks make their downtown stops early in the morning, he said.

Main Street was a two-way road for the first 150 years of the city's existence.

The city council changed it to a one-way southbound street in August 1956 in conjunction with Cape Girardeau's sesquicentennial celebration.

The council kept it that way at the urging of downtown merchants who at that time said the public liked the one-way route.

But Wyman, who owns five properties on Main Street, said changing back to a two-way street will improve the retail climate.

Improving the parking lot in conjunction with a two-way Main Street would draw more shoppers, he said.

Stores, said Wyman, need foot traffic. "People can't buy anything if they are in their cars," he said.

mbliss@semissourian.com

335-6611, ext. 123