Market Street Parking To Be Eliminated Under NCDOT Plan
SMITHFIELD – On-street parking on East Market Street (US 70 Business) in downtown Smithfield will be removed soon to improve safety.
The N.C. Department of Transportation will be making this change to reduce the risk of crashes, particularly between vehicles traveling in the outside lanes and those parked parallel along the curbs between Second and North Seventh streets.
During a recent five-year period, there were more than 500 crashes on East Market Street downtown. More than half involved property damage when a parked vehicle was struck or sideswept. The over 500 crashes during that period resulted in 71 injured people and one traffic death.
This change will affect about 70 on-street parking spaces along East Market Street, which are among more than 400 available parking spaces downtown.
The department plans to make this interim safety enhancement in early December while its engineers continue to develop plans to resurface this same roadway, widen the existing travel lanes, and improve pedestrian access, such as by installing marked crosswalks and pedestrian signals.
These improvements are significant because this route is signed as U.S. 70 Business and carries almost 19,000 vehicles on the average day. The department will announce a timeline for these improvements when the plan is finalized.
Discover more from JoCo Report
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
32 Comments
Comments are closed.
I am sure the business owners along Market Street are happy about that.
Especially Larry, that metal spatula is gonna get a workout.
You hopefully will have several public parking lots in mind for businesses that will be affected by this change.
How about we just limit 18-wheelers from traveling through town?! That’s what causes a majority of the “accidents”. They better improve and add parking somewhere else or this will ELIMINATE downtown. It’s bad enough with the courthouse and it’s very limited parking, churches restricting use during non-service times. I’m not trying to walk 4-5 blocks to shop/eat downtown and I’m sure most others aren’t either. #wewantaparkingdeck
There are only 70 parking space. I am sure they fill up fast during a busy day. What do you think everyone else has to do when they want to eat/shop downtown. WALK!!. Stop being lazy and just walk.
I personally never park on the main thoroughfare. I park on a side street and walk.
Well sadly it’s not just 18 wheel vehicles causing the issue, it’s light duty trucks with big mirrors, and of course people texting and generally being distracted. I see it daily as a person that works downtown.
I know some folks won’t like this but I personally think it is a great idea for downtown Smithfield!!
APPROVE!!1
Bye downtown ….. that’s what Smithfield is trying to do anyway is to eliminate downtown. They began with the Howell Theater, to follow will be all the other small business. Also, agree with Kayla, stop the semi trucks from going down town and that will eliminate alot of the issues.
Nothing says, “Let’s eliminate downtown Smithfield” like getting rid of all of the parking. I guess it makes sense now that the town has killed most of the business in downtown anyway.
this is what happens when you let them take over! only going to get worse
#savejoco
Take a look at Goldsboro. It looks good down town and it is safe because nobody is there. Beautified and no parking. It’s not about being lazy. For lunch people don’t have time to walk and eat.
Such a bad idea for what little bit remains of downtown Smithfield. Parking along Market St has existed for a long, long time. Re-routing the semis is smart. Can’t let DOT dictate what happens to our town. Speak up people.
DOT tried to eliminate the traffic circle in Pinehurst, but people pushed back. Time to push back in Smithfield.
Totally agree’. This is ridiculous to say the least! Who comes up with these asinine ideas?? The parking is already a problem! Market street parking spots stay full— where is everyone supposed to park?
Those parked cars are the only protection from getting hit by passing cars and trucks while walking.
It scares me to death as it is right now.
You will never see me or my family walking there anymore.
Should just make it an Interstate hwy.
This is great news! This has been needed for a very long time. There are plenty of other parking spots in downtown. Now, hopefully, a center turn lane will be added. Nothing worse than being behind somebody trying to turn left in the left lane when you can’t get around them.
Now they need to do this in downtown Clayton as well
Sideswept… look it up.
Yup. Sideswept means swept to the side. They should have said sideswiped.
Definitely a great idea, how about try walking people that don’t like it, just like the rest of us that regularly work downtown. A little fresh air will do the body good. The parking lot behind the library has plenty of room in most cases as well as the local churches that during the week don’t really care if folks park in their lots.
Some of y’all could win the lottery and still complain. It’s for safety! You ones that are complaining are also the ones that park in the fire lane at DG and Walmart. Park at the soccer field and walk the greenway to downtown. I’m sure most of you could use the walk.
They need to make it one of lane travel in either direction with angled pull in parking on each side as other downtown areas have done. It would add parking spaces for downtown businesses. Also stop tractor trailers from coming thru. There’s several other routes that trucks can use.
Safety? The safety of the cars and semis speeding through town? The issue is oversized vehicles passing through town at unsafe speeds and failure to enforce current traffic laws. The problems is letting Amazon turn Market St into a corridor for its trucks. With the elimination of on-street parking, Market Street will be turned into a highway making the area even less safe for pedestrians. DOT has its head up its rear end.
Don’t cuss the truck driver with your mouth full!!! There is nothing that you buy, touch, use or consume in a day that is not transported by a truck driver. I have always said that parking should only be allowed only on one side of every street in town – even the residential areas.
You guys do realize that you can still park on the side streets, they are only eliminating parking on Market Street.
You do realize that the remaining 82.5% of parking spaces aren’t on the side streets directly connected to Market St, yes? Imagine a person with limited mobility having to park 2-3 blocks over from a business they would like to visit on Market St. Won’t happen- they will go elsewhere. A single woman wanting to visit the dress shop on the corner. But there are no parking spaces within the block. She will keep driving and order online. It’s dangerous to walk downtown Smithfield, especially around the courthouse.
Small businesses get screwed from every angle….
Usually people have to park with passenger side tires up in the sidewalk. Just saying
I’ve seen some people get tickets for doing that.
More development, more traffic. More traffic, more wrecks. More wrecks more danger to the public. My car got sideswiped on that road and cost me a new side view mirror. Of course, the fine citizen that did it just kept on going if they even knew they did it. Probably a truck of some kind.
Wouldn’t parking decks make sense? Tear down that eyesore on Johnston St. and build one. The town is spending ungodly amounts of money on things the town doesn’t need. How about spending on things we do need.