Greater Harrisburg's Community Magazine

Meeting planned to share, discuss designs for 2-way 2nd Street

N. 2nd Street in Harrisburg

Last year, more than 100 Harrisburg residents came together to hear about preliminary plans to convert N. 2nd Street to two-way traffic.

Now, city planners are back with some firmer ideas.

On July 18, the city and its consultants will present concept plans to return much of N. 2nd Street, between Forster and Division streets, to two-way traffic. The road has been a three-lane, one-way mini-highway since the 1950s.

According to the city, residents will have the opportunity to ask questions and suggest refinements to the alternatives before the final design is drafted.

“We honestly don’t know which design we’re going to go with,” said city Engineer Wayne Martin. “So, we need the public input.”

Martin said that the city will present two major design choices, though some elements could be interchangeable based on public feedback.

The city, Martin said, hopes to begin some work on the $6 million project next year. However, the majority of the work probably will take place in 2021, due to an expected, lengthy state permitting process for signalized intersections.

Also, the city plans to begin soon on related improvements to several other streets, including Forster Street, to facilitate the flow of traffic once N. 2nd goes two-way in Midtown and Uptown.

One thing that residents won’t see is angled parking along 2nd Street, an option that was discussed during the public first meeting in November. According to Martin, angled parking was nixed because it took up more space on the street but didn’t yield any additional parking spaces.

Martin said he hopes that a consensus emerges following the July 18 meeting.

“We hope there will be overwhelming support for one design or the other,” he said.

Harrisburg’s two-way 2nd Street public meeting will take place on July 18, 6 to 8 p.m., at HACC Midtown 2, 1500 N. 3rd St., Harrisburg.

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