MANITOWOC, WISC. (EXCERPTS FROM HERALD TIMES REPORTER) – The conversion of Eighth and 10th streets from one-way streets to two-way streets in downtown Manitowoc is well on its way.
The plans to convert the currently one-way streets to two-way streets began last year when the city council approved the plans in its August meeting.
“We have so many opportunities,” Nickels said at the August 2021 council meeting. “People are excited about downtown again. You walk downtown … people from out of town are excited about coming to downtown Manitowoc, whether it be by the river, whether it be by the interstate, or whether it be by pedestrians or bicycles.”
The city has three studies from the past 13 years that encourage switching the two streets to a two-way configuration — the Downtown Parking Analysis by Rich & Associates Parking Consultants from 2018, The Port of Manitowoc Downtown & River Corridor Master Plan by Vandewalle & Associates, Inc., from 2009, and the City of Manitowoc Comprehensive Master Plan, also by Vandewalle & Associates, Inc., from 2009.
The Downtown Master Plan from 2018 mentioned the current one-way configuration of the streets but said there seemed to be little interest from the community in changing it.
The streets were converted into one-way in 1960, but city officials, business owners and citizens had debated the merits of such a change for at least five years prior to that.
