Talk continues on Ferry Road traffic

Another selectboard meeting, another discussion of traffic on Ferry Road south of Greenbush Road and at the intersection of those two roads.

And this is a discussion that goes back more than 15 years and probably before that.

Lane Morrison came again to the selectboard meeting on Sept. 11, representing the senior center as chair of its board. He reiterated, as he had at the previous selectboard meeting, that the senior center was willing to raise funds to buy property, which it would turn over to the town, for parking in the West Village.

The senior center’s offer comes out of concern about the dangerous parking and traffic situation there.

Because the senior center is offering to raise money to buy property for parking, board member Lewis Mudge said, this is something that should be carefully considered.

In a letter that Morrison sent to the selectboard, he wrote that there have been several close encounters with folks getting out of cars with young children in the center of the Ferry Road by the Old Brick Store all the way to the senior center: “Considering traffic rushing to the ferry, it is an accident waiting to happen.”

Both Morrison and chair Lee Krohn said this is the dangerous result of a happy circumstance — the success the Old Brick Store and the senior center are enjoying. Both of these positive developments have resulted in more traffic, and as always, there are the vehicles speeding down Ferry Road, rushing to make it to the ferry on time.

“It’s a wonderful challenge, not that I’m looking for anyone to be injured or have an accident, but every successful downtown sees itself as having a big traffic and parking problem,” Krohn said.

He said the challenge is for the selectboard to look for ways to make changes to the roadway, the intersection or “other aspects of business operations in order to improve safety.”

Morrison told the board that town administrator Nate Bareham had found a report of a town meeting from around 2008 when residents approved a plan to narrow Ferry Road and add parking with a sidewalk. After the town meeting that year, the community got upset with that decision.

According to Morrison, those opposed to the town meeting decision said, “We’re not a sidewalk community.”

He said he went to the largest selectboard meeting he’s ever been to at Charlotte Central School with around 600 people. The majority didn’t want sidewalks, so the previous decision was shot down.

Morrison wonders if things have changed enough now that residents would support a sidewalk in the West Village.

One of the things the senior center has done to alleviate the danger is have employees park at the town hall. Morrison said the town might be able to persuade the Old Brick Store to have its employees park there as well.

“I see young families, mothers and fathers, their butts out into the road with a carriage and a baby. I mean, it’s just an accident waiting to happen,” he said.

There is property across the road where the medical center was proposed and at least two properties next to the senior center, whose owners the selectboard discussed approaching, to see if they were willing to sell.

Although the board discussed the feasibility of putting in gravel sidewalks, board member Natalie Kanner said she had pushed a lot of strollers in her life and pushing them on gravel is not easy. It is likely that people would continue to push their strollers in the road.

Krohn said because Ferry Road is the route to the ferry, the Vermont Agency of Transportation will likely have a role in a decision to modify the road, a process that could take years.

Sarah Beal lives next to the Old Brick Store. She said her family has been impacted by the increase of business there because their parking lot is shared with the store. People are often parking at their end of the lot and cars driving around looking for a parking space make it seem more dangerous, particularly when she is walking her children to school at the Charlotte Children’s Center.

Jolene Kao, who bought the Old Brick Store two years ago, has been very cooperative, Beal said. For example, she discontinued selling donuts because they were drawing so much traffic chaos.

But, things got more dangerous, Beal said, when the Old Brick Store changed from just a store to a store with a seated café.

Jim Hyde joined the discussion remotely to say the problem is multi-faceted that one solution won’t fix.

Bareham suggested that maybe he, the town planner and other stakeholders in the issue could get together to troubleshoot some potential short-term solutions.

The discussion wound down with selectboard members deciding which of them would get in touch with which of the individual property owners to see if they’re interested in selling or letting their property be used for parking.