Last September, Marietta City Council was looking to reduce traffic on two residential roads leading to Marietta Square.
All seven council members voted to convert Lawrence Street and Washington Avenue into one-way streets. It was billed as a way to cut down on the number of vehicles, reduce traffic speeds and increase pedestrian safety.
Now City Council seems poised to delay the measure for a year amid opposition from business owners and residents who’ve campaigned against the one-way roads for several weeks.
Councilmembers are expected to make a decision on Lawrence Street and Washington Avenue during a meeting 7 p.m. Wednesday at City Hall in Marietta.
The board discussed the one-year moratorium during a work session Monday night. According to the proposal, which appeared to have consensus from at least five council members, the city will forego turning the roads into one-way streets for a year. At that point, the city will review other traffic safety measures.
Both Lawrence and Washington remain two-way roads with a mix of offices and single-family homes. The plan was to convert them both to one-way traffic between Cole and Fairground streets, with Lawrence Street’s traffic flowing west toward Cole Street while Washington Avenue’s traffic funneled east.
The prospect of the one-way roads is now hotly contested. Nearly 150 people attended a May 25 public hearing on the matter inside City Hall. The room was split down the middle with about half for and half against the one-way streets.
At the Monday work session, Ward 5 Councilman Reggie Copeland, who sponsored the one-way measure that passed Sept. 9, opposed delaying its implementation.
“You can’t fix what you will not face and you can’t conquer what you will not confront,” he said.
Copeland later questioned Ward 2 Councilman Griffin Chalfant, who chaired the Public Works committee Aug. 25 when the one-way policy passed that panel unanimously. About two weeks later City Council unanimously passed it.
“Other than the public hearing, how is this any different than what we voted on the first time?” Copeland asked. “What changed all of a sudden.”
“You told us personally that everyone on that whole street, on both those streets, was completely for one-way streets,” Chalfant shot back. “That’s why we voted for it Reggie. We took your word for it.”
Copeland laughed off the suggestion and later denied making the claim. But Ward 3 Councilman Johnny Walker seconded Chalfant’s version of events.
One other change that has emerged since council made its initial decision last year is the opposition that’s emerged, primarily from business leaders and storefront owners along both corridors.
Attorney Steve Woodman, who owns a law firm located on Lawrence Street, sent council members an email Monday indicating he has a petition with 249 signatures of business and homeowners “adamantly opposed” to one-way streets.
But many who favor them say it’s a safety measure to protect pedestrians and bicyclists on the narrow stretches of both roads.
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