Council advances Root Street parking plan and dumpster enclosure; Dobbs to remain open with two Church Street spaces removed

The Marietta City Council advanced a downtown traffic and parking proposal known in staff materials as development option B, directing staff to place the item on the Sept. 10 council agenda after discussion about sight distance, parking tradeoffs and emergency vehicle access.

The motion accepted the Root Street elements of the proposal, including: converting part of Root Street to one-way traffic between Dobbs and Hansel with angle parking, adding four angled parking spaces where church-owned straight-in parking exists (to be converted to city right-of-way), and installing a dumpster enclosure at the corner of Root and Hansel. As part of the motion, Dobbs Street will remain open and two parallel parking spaces on Church Street will be removed to improve sight lines.

Mr. Meredith, who presented the plan and the committee’s work, said narrowing the…