Foley Shuts Down Proposed Changes to Dewey Street

FOLEY -- Residents in Foley have heavily rejected a proposed - and tested - project to redesign the parking on Dewey Street in town.

Beginning in early July, the city re-striped the south side of Dewey street in downtown to include:

• Bumper curbs, signage and a wider sidewalk
• Bike lane and parallel parking, replacing the existing diagonal parking.

The city asked residents to take a survey asking on whether or not they liked the changes as the city was considering making them permanent, when Dewey is worked on in 2018. Overall 64 percent of respondents say they did not support the changes to Dewey Street.

Of the responses, the reduction in parking spaces, and safety of pedestrians, drivers and cyclists were the primary reasons people rejected the proposed changes.

The city council decided to adhere to the results of the survey at Monday night's meeting, and the city will not be moving forward with permanent changes to Dewey.

The project was paid for by a Statewide Health Improvement Partnership, which is given to organizations that are attempting to better the health or level of activity within a community.