WHAT’S THE SOLUTION FOR S. CATHERINE STREET?

The elected leaders of Walhalla put on their thinking caps last night to figure out a safety solution for a one-block section of S. Catherine Street downtown. After discussion, the city will pursue the idea of forbidding parallel parking in front of the businesses on S. Catherine, between Main and S. Broad streets. Before any decision, however, there will be opportunity for public input. One concern, as first voiced by Councilman David Underwood, is how to meet handicap considerations in the event parallel parking is prohibited. When vehicles parallel park there, vehicles headed south are often forced to drift into the opposite lane to pass and that, city officials say, creates the potential for accidents involving vehicles headed the other way. Another option is to convert the one-block section of S. Catherine into a one-way street, but that idea got only scant mention during last night’s meeting.