A revised downtown parking and traffic study was presented to the Fayette Board of Aldermen last week.

The study still aims to make traffic one-way around the square but will maintain two-way traffic on the adjacent blocks of Main Street north and south of the square.

John Huss, from OWN, Inc., the engineering firm that performed the analysis, spoke with the Fayette city council on Tuesday, Dec. 26. The study was conducted at the behest of the board of the Historic Downtown Fayette Commercial Community Improvement District (CID), which funded the study.

The new plan would make traffic one way around the square counterclockwise, opposite to the first draft. However, traffic would be allowed to travel in both directions on Main Street on the blocks adjacent to the square, from Davis to Elm streets, and from Morrison Street all the way south to MO 240. But to allow for two-way traffic, Huss changed the parking from angled to parallel on those blocks of Main Street immediately adjacent to the square.

That has business owners and alderwomen at odds with the plan. Not only do parallel stalls reduce the number of parking spaces, but it was also presumed that it would make it more difficult for elderly drivers to park. The Peacock Beauty Shop on N. Main, in particular, has a large number of elderly and disabled customers.

A handicapped parking stall directly in front of the Peacock would also be erased under the most recent plan.

“We have a lot of elderly folks. That’s just the reality of things,” said Northwest Ward Alderwoman Michelle Ishmael.

Additionally, the west side of North Main Street slopes steeply toward the curb, making parallel parking precarious. An estimate on N. Main St. suggests a difference in elevation of eight to 10 inches.

Huss suggested diagonal parking on one side of the street and parallel on the other. But, he said, the street is not wide enough to accommodate two-way traffic in that scenario. Angled parking could also remain if the two blocks directly adjacent to the square were made one-way.

Deanna Cooper, board president of Fayette Main Street, Inc., told the council that the organization fully supports the current rendition of the plan, which includes parallel parking along N. Main St.

“I just want to let you all now our board has reviewed this parking study and unanimously approve full support of it,” Cooper told the council.

The group is planning an overhaul of that block with financial help from the CID and a MoDOT Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) grant.

The new plan also widens parking spaces from nine to 10 feet and increases the parking angles from 45 to 60 degrees.

This newest plan adds 35 spaces to downtown, including six handicapped spaces, down from seven currently. It would also remove parking on the corners of the square. The new number of spaces would total around 160, Huss said.

In September 2019, the city changed the angles of downtown parking spaces to allow traffic to pass through the narrow streets more easily. That change increased the width driving lanes by around 10 feet but reduced the number of parking spaces around the square by 41%, from 217 to 127, by this newspaper’s count. The old lines were also painted over in black. Yellow lines marked the new spaces, which some find confusing.

This city, with financial help from the CID, is planning to overlay downtown streets with asphalt at the same time the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) plans a complete overlay of MO 240, which includes Church Street. Once completed, new stripes can be painted, easing confusion. 

CID board member Grafton Cook, who formerly served as a city alderman, said parking and traffic around the square have been problematic for a long time. “It was the consensus of the CID board in order to partner with the city and kind of see what we could come up with in terms of creating the best solution that would take all of the constituencies involved.”

Cook suggested the council table any action for now and continue to revisit the plan over the next month or two until a reasonable conclusion is met.

The city council meets regularly at 6 p.m. on the second and fourth Tuesdays of every month in City Hall. Meetings are open, agendas are published in advance, and the public is invited.