Residents urge City of Aberdeen to keep Main Street one-way ahead of council discussion

Two Aberdeen residents told the City Council they oppose a proposal to convert Main Street from one-way traffic to two-way traffic and urged elected officials to preserve the street’s current design and appearance.

Leanne Frederickson, who said she has shopped in Aberdeen for more than 50 years, told the council she and people she canvassed oppose the change. “Let’s keep it the way it was,” Frederickson said.

Dawn Shepherd also urged the council to keep Main Street one-way, calling the corridor “peaceful” and “safe” and warning that studies cited by proponents typically involve much larger cities and wider streets. Shepherd suggested lower-cost alternatives such as adding stop signs at Fourth and Second streets to slow traffic and improving downtown marketing and websites so local merchants capture more online shoppers.

The council acknowledged the speakers and told them a comprehensive discussion and public input session is scheduled for the council work session on Monday, Sept. 15, at 5 p.m., when the capital improvements plan and the two-way Main Street item (CIP page 46, item g) will be considered.

Council members and staff repeatedly described the Sept. 15 session as an opportunity to “hear both sides of the issue” before making any budget or capital plan decisions linked to the conversion. No ordinance or final action on changing traffic flow was taken at the meeting.

Why it matters: The conversion has implications for street design, pedestrian amenities, merchant access and capital spending in the city’s capital improvements plan. Several speakers told the council they do not support spending taxpayer money to change Main Street’s configuration without additional local study and public outreach.

What’s next: Council members postponed final budget action to allow more discussion about the CIP item related to Main Street and specifically scheduled additional public discussion on Sept. 15 at 5 p.m.