Smithfield council conditionally approves NCDOT Market Street plan, warns of about 98 lost parking spaces

The Town of Smithfield council voted to give conditional approval to the North Carolina Department of Transportation's proposed Market Street traffic reconfiguration, while recording the town's concern that the plan would eliminate about 98 on-street parking spaces in the downtown core.

The action came after a task force assembled by the town reviewed DOT's plan and presented alternatives and mitigation options. Kim (task-force staff) read the draft resolution aloud, which finds that implementation of the DOT concept would result in a net loss "of approximately 98 existing on street parking spaces within the downtown core" and then lists seven conditions for the town's conditional approval, including streetscaping, enhanced pedestrian markings, maximizing angled parking where feasible, continued coordination with NCDOT, and reservation of final design review by the council.

"Whereas the town council has reviewed the proposed plan and finds that its implementation would result in a net loss of approximately 98 existing on street parking spaces within the downtown core," Kim read as part of the resolution language.

Resident Pam Lampe told the council she opposed one-way pairs and angled parking on adjacent streets and worried about safety and the practical gain in net spaces. "I'm not in favor of the 1 way pairs on 2nd And 3rd Streets," she said, urging the council to press DOT for alternatives.

Mayor Andy Moore framed the vote as a pragmatic next step after repeated town attempts to secure different options from DOT. "We don't want to lose that parking either," Moore said, adding council members had lobbied DOT and state officials and would retain the right to revisit or withdraw the conditional approval if a better alternative appeared.

Councilmember (mover) made the motion to adopt the resolution (identified in the proceedings as resolution 800) and the council approved it by voice vote; the minutes record the motion carried.

The resolution in the record conditions the town's cooperation on measures intended to preserve downtown economic vitality and pedestrian safety and explicitly states that final design plans for town-maintained roadways will be subject to council review before implementation.

What happens next: staff and the appointed task force will continue coordinating with NCDOT on final design and mitigation steps; the resolution also preserves the council's authority to withdraw or amend approval if economic impacts or design elements materially change.

Votes and procedural note: the council approved the conditional resolution by voice; no roll-call tally was recorded in the meeting transcript.