CROTHERSVILLE
A second one-way street in Crothersville is close to becoming reality.
Concerns with vehicles cutting through Benham Avenue from the industrial park led the town council to propose making it a one-way street.
Also, several property owners told town officials their yards get torn up when two cars meet each other on the narrow street, and a police officer said he nearly was run over by a vehicle while making a traffic stop on the street.
An ordinance to make Benham Avenue a one-way street going east from Bethany Road to Kovener Street passed on first reading during a council meeting earlier this month.
The second and final reading will be up for a vote at the next meeting, set for 6 p.m. Tuesday at the town hall.
Brad Bender with FPBH Inc. said it typically helps with traffic flow and reduces confusion if another nearby street also is made a one-way. In this case, that would be making Benham Avenue one-way eastbound and Rider Avenue one-way going westbound.
“If you’re getting that much in and out of the industrial park, it really does help a lot,” he told the council.
Council President Danieta Foster said that makes sense instead of having a one-way street by itself.
The council, however, voted for now to just make Benham Avenue a one-way.
Town attorney Jeff Lorenzo said according to town ordinance, the only other one-way street in Crothersville is the east-west alley east of Preston Street along the north side of a lot in the Swope addition. That would be Oak Street where it runs parallel to the school building and curves around and ends at Bard Street.
Councilman Chad Wilson said he remembers one-way signs being placed in that area years ago, but those signs no longer are up.
At one time, school buses left the parking lot and used Oak Street to get to Bard Street to go on their routes.
Wilson said for the upcoming school year, school administration has discussed having parents pick their kids up at that end of the building along Oak Street. Then they would continue on out toward Bard Street.
“Right now, a lot of the high school parents are picking up their kids right in front of the school,” Wilson said. “They are parking out in the street, and they are parking in front of the school.”
The council agreed one-way signs should be placed in that area since it’s defined a one-way street in the town ordinance.
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What: Crothersville Town Council meeting
When: 6 p.m. Tuesday
Where: Crothersville Town Hall, 111 E. Howard St.
Who: Open to the public and press
On the agenda: Second and final reading of an ordinance to make Benham Avenue a one-way street eastbound from Bethany Road to Kovener Street
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