With the many changes to 4th Street through the Downtown Revitalization Project, questions have arisen regarding the use of both angled and parallel parking in certain areas.
City Manager Jeff Ward clarified that the decision was based on a traffic study conducted by engineers, who assessed the current flow of traffic and parking.
“There are so many turn accesses in, off of [the road],” Ward explained. “You’d have traffic coming from the west, and then from the north and south, all turning in there. Having angled parking would back up into oncoming traffic with little space for vehicles coming around the corner.”
Ward noted that this situation created a safety concern, leading to the decision to implement parallel parking in front of certain businesses.
“That’s why you see parallel parking at that end, in front of A & A Jewelry and in front of some of the other areas on the west end of the 1300 block,” Ward said.
The change was made as part of efforts to manage traffic flow and safety in Estevan’s downtown.