The Dispatch wrote Shops ready for 2-way traffic
Monday, November 5, 2007
By Tim Doulin
There will be a grand “reopening” of Gay Street on Wednesday. No fanfare is planned, and the street never was officially closed, but tell that to merchants who have struggled to attract customers during the six months it’s taken to convert Gay from a one-way street.
There will be landscaped medians, trees, plants, bike racks, decorative planters, brick crosswalks and new streetlights and traffic signals. Some of that work won’t be completed until next year.
That should help slow traffic. One-way traffic tends to zip through town, efficiently getting in and out of the central city, but buzzing past shops and restaurants vying for attention. Gay Street merchants, particularly those in the stretch between 3rd and High streets, are just happy to see fewer orange barrels and construction equipment out their front windows.
“All the businesses on this street are very eager to get this cleared up and have a good, functional street again,” said Geoffrey Binkley, owner of Sign-A-Rama.
The Gay Street conversion to two-way is only one of several the city has planned. The conversion of Front Street from Broad to the I-70/71 corridor is scheduled to begin next year, starting with the stretch between Broad and Rich streets.
Related Stories:
– Two-Way Gay Street Almost Finished… Who’s Next?