by nathan oster
There’s a new battle brewing over the Wyoming Department of Transportation’s vision for downtown Greybull — and this time it has nothing to do with a proposal to remove the town’s only stoplight.
That issue is dead, as WYDOT announced recently that it had shelved its controversial four-way stop proposal in favor of a new and improved stoplight that will move vehicles through the intersection of Greybull Avenue and Sixth Street.
But the highway department’s other proposal, which calls for a widening of the sidewalk on the north side of Greybull Avenue between Fifth and Sixth streets and the elimination of a few more parking spaces, now finds itself under the microscope.
Mayor Frank Houk and Public Works Director Randy Rumpler met for more than an hour last week with WYDOT officials to discuss the changes, which WYDOT plans to implement sometime during the summer of 2011.
Houk said it was a “frustrating” discussion.
“True, this began with the four-way stop, but I think all along, this was our second-greatest concern,” he said.  “The concern is, you are, in reality, going to lose some parking on Greybull Avenue because those who are nervous about parallel parking just won’t go there.
“And I’m afraid WYDOT is pretty much moving down that road right now, and that it would take an effort similar to what happened with the signal to send the message to WYDOT that this is not the true feeling of the Greybull public.”
Houk said the town has several concerns, but that parking tops the list.
Several parking spaces along Sixth Street have already been lost.
Shelby Carlson, district engineer for WYDOT, said approximately 2 ½ spots would be lost if WYDOT goes ahead with what is currently proposed. Two of them are on Greybull Avenue at the corners of Fifth and Sixth; the third is in front of the Historic Hotel Greybull.
Myles Foley, the owner of the motel, and Joni and Marion Hanson, owners of the Uptown Café, crashed the WYDOT meeting last week as well, to voice concerns about the loss of parking throughout the downtown.
In response to those concerns, WYDOT presented a list of alternative.
Carlson said a one-way on Fifth Street, between Greybull Avenue and First Avenue North, would more than make up for the loss of parking, especially if motorists were allowed to diagonally park there.
Carlson also pointed to other areas close to the downtown with the potential to be converted to parking stalls, including the lot across from Town Hall, the old Core Chevrolet lot which is now vacant and the Masonic Temple lot.
Houk said the one-way proposal has some merit, but quickly added, “I’m still just not sure I see the need for an additional 300 feet of concrete” between Fifth and Sixth, citing, among other things, concerns about snow removal. “We already have 15-foot sidewalks there — and this proposal extends them by an additional 12 feet.”
Carlson said she and other WYDOT officials did not expect business owners to attend the meeting, which she called “a design inspection” gathering in which the people who design the project meet with the field people to make sure that what is being proposed can be constructed.
“We knew there would be concerns about the loss of two more parking spaces along there, and we tried to give the mayor some viable options,” she said.
Carlson maintains that the elimination of a lane of Greybull Avenue will help truckers make the turn onto northbound Sixth Street. As it is now configured, with the two lanes, the large trucks must make the right turns from the inside lane, rather than the outside lane as required by law.
She said the parallel parking shouldn’t be much of an issue, that the “bump-outs” will result in ADA ramps on all four corners of the intersection, and that the town will be able to put in decorative lights that are consistent with those on Sixth Street.
“Overall, this plan will keep the trucks on our system, which is our goal,” she said.
She said the proposed intersection will look “very similar” to the one that was tested last summer and fall.