" How about we let Cruising happen on Main St. There isn't much else to do in this town. Oh wait, ya there is, look around at all the tweekers! They've found something to do! Lets make this town more fun for people to do better things then drugs. "

" Well it seems our bllog is slowing down, to those of you that want to see a change I would suggest that you contact Mrs. Warren, she has a womans clothing store on Main st. She is trying to start up a downtown bus. assoc. or more easily would be to contact Chip Massey of Chamber of Commerce. Most probably the only way change will come about is through a petition. This can be easily accomplished because signatures can be easily obtained from participating downtown businesses. In talking to businesses I found that it was an absolute no brainer for our downtown restaurants, but some businesses feel that the added congession of a two way may keep people away from downtown. And some feel they will loose their local clientel if we go one way the other way. My response is that if the business is good then they will retain their present clientel and gain new ones from the west side and also business can and will diversify towards tourism, thus opening up new avenues for their businesses. "

" To Marie, the reason the Chamber Of Commerce moved into the building on Riverside, was to eliminate the rent at their previous location on Main st. The building on Riverside is owned by I believe the county. There are a couple of reasons for the new proposed off ramp onto Riverside. They are planning to do beautification efforts in the area, and it will go by the Chamber of Commerce. Also with the west side housing development booming it is realized that the current off ramp will be to short to handle the futuristic traffic. ODOT may be footing the bill for the ramp. "

" To Marie..
I knew someone who was involved in this project. As I understand it, ODOT wanted to change the current hwy 97 downtown on-off ramp maze because they consider it somewhat dangerous. The Portal project was designed around a new on-off ramp, and the idea was to beautify the area on 97 as you come into town. It was suppose include walking trails, an interpretive center, and have the entrance to downtown come in from Riverside. So having the chamber and visitor center on Riverside would be ideal since all traffic would come down Riverside. It a good idea and would make the arrival into KFalls on 97 look a whole lot better. I am sure there are funding problems thru ODOT and the city has no extra money, so the project may be a long time coming. Call the city planning dept, they may give you more info. "

" I agree with Jerry that Klamath Ave needs to be developed/made more attractive. No matter what we do with Main Street, Klamath Ave is still a part of our downtown.

Thanks to G.T. for the info on the south portal project...can you tell me the purpose of this project? Why do we want traffic to be diverted to Riverside Drive and why do they want to spend $ to make new offramps slightly further south? I just don't understand the reasoning behind the project...I'm sure someone had a good reason, I just am not aware of the project. "

" By all means change main to a two -way or one way other direction ! AS is does not promote tourism or do anything for merchants ( that are still here ) along main street . Currently north bound cars turning off onto klamath falls exit see : a park and train , unfinished construction , library and backs of buildings then finally a couple of shops before turning off onto esplanade / main and back to crater lake parkway and then out of town where they finally see a RESTAURANT (MOLLY'S ) AND A GAS STATION ON WAY OUT OF AREA UP 97Y NORTH . WHERE IN THEIR PATH IS SIGNS POINTING WAY TO "HISTORIC DOWNTOWN " AND SHOPIN G AND RESTAURANTS ? SOMETHING SHOULD BE DONE ; ORIGINALLY I LIKED CHANGE TO ONE WAY OTHER WAY BUT AFTER READING COMMENTS THINK TWO-WAY IS BEST , WITH ONE WAY SIDE STEREETS ( WITH GOOD SIGNAGE ) WITH DIAGONAL PARDING ON ONE SIDE ONLY . With good signage this could give a real boost to our downtown area . "

" There was a rational reason for moving the Chamber to Riverside. There is a plan called the "South Portal Project" that would create a new Hwy 97 off ramp for downtown just south of the current one. The new off ramp would bring traffic onto Riverside right past the Chamber and Tourism offices. Will that ever happen? Probably not, since things just never seem to get done in KFalls! "

" My two cents idea.

Leave Main street as it is and clean up Klamath Ave. Klamath needs to be part of our presentation, not an eyesore.

I'd really like to see main paved over in brick as mentioned, and turn Main street into a walkway. Make Klamath and Pine a big loop around it.

Some of those shops on Main have been empty for years. I've lived her just over six years now and there are a couple I have never seen anything in.

I don't get it, I guess that's why I don't own all those empty shops on Main. "

" Then you just designate certain parking areas on each block as not parking between certain hours unless you are delivering product. Put main back to two ways and get some more retail on Klamath Ave it might as well be an alley at this point, there is no real retail until you get all the way down to the far end. "

" I sure like the blogs that are arising. Sandra, an old timer told that Main Street was changed from a two way to a one way just to stop the kids from crusing. dt, you have come up with a novel idea for our area of a structured parking lot, thanks. Another idea that many small towns do is to make the connecting ( our #'ed streets like 3rd, 4th, 7th ect.) streets between our main streets into one way with streets with one lane of traffic with diagonal parking on both sides. And of course using our many empty lots for parking, and I believe there are even a few big enough for RV parking. To solve the crosss over of Klamath Av. and Main street, you would have to have a light there. I pushed hard for this because I knew they were going to put in an island that would effectively block any change in direction of Main Street, and they did. Price $270 thou. plus what ever the heated sidewalk down to the Memorial cost. To DC, you hit the nail on the head. Do you remember when there was construction on Klamath av. and we all had to come into town down Main Street. A lady wrote an editorial stating how beautiful our historical downtown looked compared to looking at the backside of businesses that we have on Klamath av. I would like to see Klamath av. two way because this would not only give exposure to our new Shoreline Development off of Hwy 97 but also from Crater Lake Parkway, and So. 6th. Right now it has only very limited direct exposure. To Marie, you are right that is a place to start, I'll give you one idea, on Hwy 97 for our downtown exit, it could read instead of the word business, just simply put Historical Downtown. Of course the other direction has only the word "exit", that surely could be improved. Your right about moving our Visitors Center and Chamber Of Commerce off of Riverside. I believe almost everyone thinks it should be in Veterans Park along side the boat house. "

" Who cares which way traffic is flowing. The community and business leaders need to get involved and get something that draws people to the downtown area. How many places are for lease or closed? There are no trendy lofts for people to live in, nor any FINE dining establisments. Just another small town downtown area that missed it. "

" I think a lot of additional traffic could be generated simply by better signage - that would cost a lot less than re-doing intersections and switching out lights/signs in downtown. We need to have signs that point people in the direction of "downtown/Main Street". There aren't any signs coming off of the highway to direct people to Main Street.

I am also amazed that the Chamber and the Tourism Info are on Riverside - what better way to draw visitors into downtown than to have your Visitor Info Center on Main Street? Bad choice for whoever decided that one...

And for those of you who keep complaining about delivery trucks on Main Street - get over it! There are a lot of businesses on Main Street that do not have access to an alleyway...how else are they going to get their merchandise if trucks are not allowed to stop on Main Street? By asking for trucks not to stop (which, by the way, you can just GO AROUND...we are not talking NYC traffic here) you are basically telling businesses that you don't care if they stay in business or not. Think about others for once and quit complaining about something that takes 2 seconds out of your day! "

" I THINK MAIN STREET SHOULD TURN INTO A TO WAY BUT WE SHOULD BE GIVEN NOTICE!!!! "

" The city council needs to direct the planning dept. to devise a plan for better signage, more parking, and delivery zones for a 2 way grid or 1 way the other direction to maximize highway 97 traffic flow down main street to increase tourism. the past planning director was in favor of 2 way, and so was the mayor and chamber of commerce.. bud hart is the main council opponent against 2 way. we need more tourism in our depresses local economy. "

" Why not just put in a parking structure or two and clear up the problem of parking and open up the streets? "

" Why not convert it back to the original two-way traffic pattern. Visitors from both directions can then have the opportunity to see downtown. "

" Why would you want visitors to make a special point of driving Main Street when you have trashy apartments and the 'lovely' Riverside Meth and Murder Inn as the cornerstone across from Veteran's Park?
Why doesn't the Travel Klamath, Chamber of Commerce and the City Council do something to clean up Main Street, then take steps to draw different types of businesses and develop additional parking. Make it a place worth going to, rather than just worrying about the direction of the traffic! "

" What a mixed up mess, but it better be left alone, I'm not smart enough to figure out any of this city's strange ways of doing things and I'm not alone. I also guess no one has ever heard of rear door deliveries. "

" I think that Main should go back to 2 way. I think kids should be allowed to cruise Main again. Do you think that kids could have one more thing taken away from them? After all, we have some much in Klamath to offer them. I think the BUCKET" should stay put. It sticks out like a sore thumb, just like the new court house. Engineers?? "

" No matter which direction Main Street flows (I like the one way as it is now) there is not enough parking for all the visitors everyone is yammering about. When there is a 2-hour limit, that does not allow visitors time to come and shop, browse, have lunch, shop some and browse some more before they have to move their car - and then more than 2 blocks away or they will be ticketed.

Waiting in a single lane of traffic for someone who is attempting to parallel park will most definitely hold up traffic. Seems to me if we make it a 2-way, the locals will simply avoid downtown altogether and shop where they can park easily and take their time.

Also - how will the traffic planners handle the traffic crossover where Klamath Avenue and Main Street now split by Veterans Park? There is not enough funding already for everything that needs doing locally so why would we add an unnecessary cost to a workable situation? "

" I think it's fine the way it is. The reason downtown doesn't have a lot of business isn't because of the way the street runs. It's because there is no reason for people to go downtown at night and on the weekends. We need more restaurants, more pubs, more music shows, more stores that are open later, and more advertising that downtown Klamath Falls is the place to be. I think the Chamber of Commerce has done a very poor job as has the Klamath Tourism Board. Look at downtown Ashland! That's what we need to start modeling downtown Klamath on. "

" When you say Main Street has always been one way, wasn't there a time that we had it both ways and then one way and then tried it again as 2-way? I know you cannot go through downtown on 2-way streets with delivery trucks allowed on either Klamath or Main Streets. I've lived here long enough to do it. After Timber Mill Shores is built up and has the new hotel then Klamath Avenue will have a great view into town. Leave it the way it is and if you want to change it, disallow deliveries on the two main streets through town. "

" I am a proponent of Main Street going one way the other way. I did an exhaustive study of this scenario. I had meetings with Travel Klamath, DURC, The Shoreline Development, Chamber of Commerce, City Planning which included City Public Works, ODOT, City Engineers, and City Streets. I also met with business owners and proponents of the two way proposal that acured twelve years ago. Which lost by one city council vote. I want to thank the H&N for running this blog. To answer the H&N question; I do not believe that we are getting tourism from any direction with the current downtown street system. Main Street is bypassed off of Hwy 97 by Klamath Avenue. And it is a far stretch to assume that we get tourism off of Crater Lake Parkway, it is simply to far out of the way and south bound gets diffused way before the Main street exit, which by the way has no signage stating that our Historical Downtown is that away. Our Signage is horrific. There is no mention of Klamath Falls being down Hwy 97 at the split of Hwy 97 and Crater Lake Hwy as you are coming into town from the north. It states that San Franscisco and Weed is down Hwy 97 and also the sign of Crater Lake Parkway states that Klamath Falls and Reno is down that way along with the tourist info. center. We all know that the tourist center is on Riverside. To answer SL, the cost of changing the lights on Main Street and Klamath Av. is $330,000. This does not include an extra light and some sidewalk work at the intersection of Main Street and Esplanade. This could raise this figure by quite a bit. The general puplic that I polled about this, all stated it was a no brainer that we need to expose our Historical Downtown by having tourist come into town down Main Street. Whether it is two way or one way I think we can agree that our Main Street needs a boost in the arm. There are just to many empty shops for a downtown that is this close to a major hwy, and supported by this much populace, for me to think that things are just ok the way it is. I have come up with 17 distinctive advantages for bringing tourist off of Hwy 97 and on to Main Street that would help our downtown economy. Also the Westside housing developments will be exploding once the economy turns around and this will bring a lot of locals down Main Street. "

" I have lived here my whole life and Main St. has always been one way. I think it should stay. It was and still is really from when they changed the side streets to two way. I don't really know the whole point ofwhat that was. Since some of the side streets remained one way. "

" Pave it over with brick and make it a mall area.
Restaurants would be able to use the space for outdoor tables.
Maybe bars could use it for a smoking area. "

" Change the directions of Main and Klamath Ave opposite to what they are now, so that cars coming off Hwy 97 will go down Main instead of Klamath. It is really bad that guests coming into our downtown must first drive down ugly Klamath Ave....it certainly doesn't give a good first impression of Klamath Falls. There has been a lot of talk on these blogs about our poor image problem....this change could help how people view our town. "

" I moved back here just two years ago (used to live in the area for over 20 years) so was suprised to see the one way streets which are totally confusing & NOT well marked or planned. I really wonder if we have ANY traffic engineers in this town, & if so, exactly what do they do? There are many clips & turns & stupid planned streets going nowhere. I think PLANNING is required. And YES, lets get RID of that UGLY water bucket (an eyesore!!) so the nice courthouse actually looks professional. "

" Both Ways!
The best times in my high school days were getting together with others on Main Street (dragging Main) - and yes, there will be some who will make the comment "trouble makers", but let's be real -what else is there to do in K.Falls with the younger generation? This is also a time to "put K.Falls back to its original " both ways" and help the downtown business people." Some of the most profitable areas in the central valley are the small towns (one in which I reside -Ripon, CA) that accomodate persons that come to shop and brouse throughtout the various stores "both ways." Whoever thought the idea of a one lane on Main Street was a big joke! "

" Make it 2 way again, I see a lot of confused drivers turning in to the wrong way directions all over the place, an accident is waiting to happen. "

" Turn your headlights on next time, anonymous. "

" I think before you it a 2 way street I think you need to think about putting some street lights up so we can see where we are going. I lived in Klamath Falls for 20 some years and I just came down there to visit recently and I went down Main street and was totally lost. I could not see where I was going or where the one way streets were at or nothing. If you make it a 2 way street. I think you need to stop and think about how hard it will be to try and drive down there in the dark first especially a 2 way street. "

" Living here most of my life, I though I saw in one of the old centinual papers where the cars are backed in to the parking area.
If not, why not give it a try.
If you turn the direction now, the travelers from the north will not go down street.
Make Main a two way street and then it will make all the visitors happy.
Look back to when 9th and 11th were too way. There is another mess. "

" I would like to see Main Street 2 way again. I have seen it both ways & I like the 2 way traffic. "

" I would suggest leaving Main as it is because this forces tourists to travel down Klamath and up Main before they see the ugly dented oversized bucket that resides across the street from the lovely courthouse. "

" Yes, I think it makes more sense to change the direction of Main Street to be more accessible to visitors. But, how much would that cost is the issue now? "

" Traffic should be both ways. It would make downtown more user freindly "

" I think it's fine how it is. You can only imagine how many people STILL drive the wrong way on the side streets that have been made two-way streets years ago.. imagine if our main drag was that way.. our main drag with several bars. Not a good combo "

" Make it two way and force the delivery trucks off of main street, they have no business blocking traffic the way they do..oH, that right, the alley's are not big enough for those BIG trucks..use smaller ones..make that street user friendly..not GOOD OLE BOY FRIENDLY.
Dont let city councel sugar coat another load of BS and get us to swallow. "