Marengo makes May Street 1-way by pool

MARENGO — As construction continued on the Marengo swimming pool, the Marengo City Council decided on traffic and parking changes around the new facility.

During a meeting last month, the city council approved a parking plan that will create 30 angle parking spaces on May Street north of the pool and another 28 on Marengo Avenue east of the pool.

The plan will make May Street one way.

City Administrator Karla Marck presented two other options from engineers Veenstra & Kimm. Option one would keep the configuration the city currently has — five parallel parking spaces on May Street in front of the Iowa Valley Elementary School and 28 angle spaces on Marengo Avenue.

Option two created parallel parking on the pool side of May Street and removed the school’s drop-off lane.

Option three would remove the pickup lane and make May Street one way. It would align the street with the intersection. Under option two, the alignment would be off, said Marck.

Marengo Police Chief Ben Gray recommended option three. “[It has] the most amount of safety in front of the school,” he said.

The designers say the one-way street in front of the school gives them the most space, said Marck.

“I was dead set against have a one-way in town,” said Councilman Travis Schlabach. He changed his mind after seeing the design.

“That one-way make sense, that block,” Schlabach said.

The people coming out of the school parking lot can still go straight or right.

“The school will have less staff that has to staff that [crosswalk]” said Gray, if cars are coming from only one direction.