Aberdeen council approves first reading to convert Main Street to two-way traffic, trims project funding

The City of Aberdeen City Council voted to approve first reading of a resolution to convert Main Street from Railroad Avenue to Sixth Avenue from a one-way configuration to a two-way layout, adopting the two-lane option and adjusting the project appropriation at its Sept. 22 meeting.

The move follows more than two hours of public comment and council debate about parking loss, traffic flow and downtown economic impacts. The council approved an amendment that strikes a previously listed $500,000 line item for the project, appropriates $200,000 for initial work and places $300,000 into an undesignated street/bridge account. Council members voting in favor outnumbered those opposed.

Supporters argued a two-way Main Street could bring more shoppers and foot traffic to downtown, while opponents warned it would remove parking spaces, create congestion and pose safety and delivery challenges. Business owners and residents gave the council a mix of testimony during the public-comment period, with several speakers urging the council either to reject the plan or to scale it back.

Brent Fisher, a property owner on the 500 block of South Main, told the council the design would eliminate what he called "prime" parking and predicted a "snowball…