DOWNTOWN YOUNGSTOWN Plan to open up plaza gains support

Reopening Federal Plaza streets will improve traffic circulation downtown, business people say.
By PETER H. MILLIKEN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Downtown business people and city residents seem to favor a complete reopening of Federal Plaza to motor vehicle traffic with traffic lights instead of a traffic circle in central square.
At least that was the consensus of the opinions expressed in a public open house Tuesday evening at City Hall at which MS Consultants presented options with either traffic lights or a traffic circle in central square, where Market Street becomes Wick Avenue.
The firm also presented options of either keeping the section of Federal Plaza between Walnut and Champion streets, where the amphitheater is now located, as a pedestrian mall, or removing the amphitheater and reopening that block to motor vehicle traffic.
"I think a lot of people will avoid the circle. It's confusing," said Barry Silver, owner of Silver's Vogue Shop, a Federal Plaza clothing store, who favors traffic lights at central square. He said he wants the amphitheater removed "to completely open up town, east and west.''
"I think more people will come into town, and you'll have more businesses thinking about coming in where there's an open town. You need to get motor vehicles and trucks in front of businesses to deliver goods," Silver said. He said customers "want to park out in front of the door, run in, get their goods and leave."
Provide access: Dr. Fredric D'Amato, an ophthalmologist whose office is in the Metropolitan Tower Building, said that, because downtown is meant primarily to be a business district, the main goal should be to provide the best possible access to businesses, and visual appeal should be secondary. "Let's make progress by going back to the way it was," he said, referring to the through street that existed before the construction of Federal Plaza in the 1970s.
D'Amato said he thinks the proposed median strip should be removed from the design because the strip impedes the passage of firetrucks and large delivery trucks, and because its removal will allow for diagonal instead of parallel parking.
Kathleen Mahalko, a South Side resident, said she'd like to see diagonal parking on the new street because people find it easier than parallel parking, because more cars can be parked using the diagonal method and because parallel parking delays traffic. She said she favors a traffic circle because she thinks it would be more visually appealing.
Amphitheater: Richard E. Mills, a downtown resident and president of Ohio One Corp., which owns several downtown office buildings, said he supports removal of the deteriorating amphitheater because no funds are available to repair it. "I think people want to come downtown and make a left or right, rather than going around in a circle," at central square, he added.
"One of the problems with downtown is it's not easy to get around. This obviously creates that ease to move about the downtown area," Gary Roberts, president of Metropolitan National Bank, said of the reopening of Federal Plaza to two-way motor vehicle traffic.
Councilman Artis Gillam Sr., D-1, whose ward includes downtown, said he favors removal of the amphitheater and having traffic lights, instead of a traffic circle, at central square. "A traffic circle can cause congestion," he said. Instead of keeping the amphitheater, he favors closing the street for special events such as Cityfest.