The segment of Kennedy Street between Main Street and Boylston Street will see a reverse in direction of travel, effective Aug. 23.
City Council unanimously passed the ordinance Tuesday. Currently, the section of Kennedy Street is one-way, with traffic traveling south from Boylston Street to Main Street. Effective 10 days from the passage of the ordinance, which will be Aug. 23, the traffic will begin to travel from Main Street north to Boylston Street. The remainder of Kennedy Street, which is two-way, will remain the same going forward.
During the July 23 City Council meeting, Police Chief Chris Lucco explained that when Kennedy Street was first made one-way, it was because local businesses wanted more parking. The street is not wide enough to have parking on both sides and two-way traffic. Originally, the direction of travel was thought to be better for trucks. However, improvements to the sidewalks on Main Street have made either direction equally suitable for truck traffic. Meanwhile, there have also been safety concerns over the years with people turning left onto Main Street at the stop sign, according to Lucco. This concern will be addressed with the direction change.
In other business, City Council granted permission for the Bradford City Police to advertise for testing to establish a new eligibility list for entry level police officers.
Also, a motion to approve payment to the Bradford Area Public Library to fund 50% of the costs for renovations was approved. The funds were received from a Keystone Grant in the amount of $45,440 and deposited in the general fund. The application for the funds was submitted with Bradford as the sponsoring municipality. Those funds will be passed on to the library.
“I’m glad we could help out with that,” said Bradford City Mayor Tom Riel.
Other business included approval of a revolving loan agreement with Wright Monumental Work Inc., in the amount of $70,000, as an Enterprise Zone Loan application was completed and approved; a lease agreement for 9 Main Street was approved for Dickinson Mental Health Center for a three-year term; and a quote from Tom Vickery for $20,554 was accepted to construct a foundation for a new house at 17 Congress Place. The motion noted that Vickery’s quote was the only one received of three solicited. The foundation work will be paid for by Keystone Communities/PHARE grants received for the project.
