QUINCY — Quincy City Council members have approved a variance for two blocks of B Street Northeast, ending long standing discussions about the street and a repaving project that narrowed it. Some residents and business owners along that section of the street said in their opinion the repaving project narrowed it too much.

The variance was approved on a 5-1 vote, with council member Dave Dormaier voting no. Council member Josey Ferguson did not vote. 

After the vote Mayor Paul Worley said city employees will be looking to see if there’s any way to alleviate some of the concerns with B Street. The city’s 2024 budget includes money for preliminary design work on A Street Northeast, the next block over.

“When that’s being done, I’ve already given (city employees) direction to look around the corner and see what can be done with B Street,” Worley said during the regular council meeting Tuesday.

In answer to an emailed question from the Columbia Basin Herald, Public Works Director Carl Worley said A Street Northeast needs some upgrades if it is to handle the traffic city officials want it to handle.

“A Street is in need of repair and is the truck route. It is a narrow roadway as it sits and is unlikely to meet our street width requirement of 50 feet,” Carl Worley wrote. “Our goal is to make it and improved truck route design with the thicker lays of asphalt.”

Carl Worley said the opinions expressed and information gathered at the public hearings on B Street will be evaluated during the A Street design process, but that there were reasons for the design of B Street Northeast.

“During the design of A Street, we will provide the comments received at the B Street public hearing to the designer for consideration of concerns brought forward. This will allow a fresh set of eyes on the project at the design stage to tie the two projects together,” he wrote.

“The B Street design is working like it should. The intent was to slow traffic, eliminate truck traffic, address stormwater drainage and designate parking on the street. These complaints go back to 2007 and we addressed as many as we could,” Carl Worley wrote. “In the past vehicles parked anywhere they wanted and created pedestrian and vehicular conflicts which were unsafe. Stormwater puddled and ran into property owners’ homes, and trucks were using a non-truck route.”

The repaving project on B Street was completed in 2022. Sidewalks were added the entire length of the project, and a walking path was added on the south side of B Street Northeast between Fourth Avenue Northeast and Sixth Avenue Northeast.

That narrowed the two blocks of B Street to a width of about 22 feet, which prompted concerns from residents along the street. The two-block section is the site of one block of residences and a vacant lot on one side of the street and two blocks of businesses on the other side. 

Residents expressed concerns about the design after the curbs were installed, and periodically ever since, including a public hearing last November. The 22-foot street didn’t meet city codes, and city Engineer Ariel Belino said during the public hearing that because it didn’t it required a variance. That in turn required the public hearing. 

During the public hearing and in other discussions with the council, residents said the narrow street made curbside parking difficult if not impossible. Some residents owned commercial trucks they wanted to park in the neighborhood, and said the narrowness of the street made turning difficult.

Dormaier encouraged residents to be aware of that process, and attend public information sessions.

Cheryl Schweizer may be reached via email at cschweizer@columbiabasinherald.com.