To ease traffic congestion, city alters routes near church

The parish and the city are bracing for a negative impact on their finances.
& lt;a href=mailto:kubik@vindy.com & gt;By MARALINE KUBIK & lt;/a & gt;
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
CAMPBELL -- The "city of churches and champions," as signs welcoming visitors to Campbell read, is redirecting traffic around one of its 30 churches to help alleviate congestion as thousands continue to flock to the site each night in hopes of seeing a miracle.
Ever since a group of women leaving a parish meeting at St. Joseph the Provider Church more than a week ago noticed the heart and eyes on the statue of the Virgin Mary on the west side of the bell tower glowing, crowds have been growing.
The congestion has made some streets near the church nearly impassible, according to police, and neighbors have been unable to get in or out of their driveways.
What's being changed
To help alleviate the congestion, traffic on Sanderson and Porter avenues will be limited to travel in one direction between 12th Street and Struthers-Liberty Road beginning Saturday.
Traffic on Sanderson will travel west; traffic on Porter will travel east. Thirteenth and 16th streets will also be closed to through traffic between Sanderson and Porter.
The changes are temporary, according to Mayor Jack Dill, but will remain in effect until the crowds subside.
Parking will be available in the paved lots at St. Joseph as well as in some grassy areas as long as the ground is dry.
Additional parking is also available at Archangel Michael Greek Orthodox Church, 401 12th Street, and the new elementary/middle school, both of which are within walking distance, the mayor said. Discussions are under way to bus visitors from those parking areas, Dill said. "We don't have the money or the resources to do a lot of things, but we're going to do the best we can."
Crowds are expected to be especially large today, the Feast of the Assumption, so at least two police officers will be on duty to direct traffic, said Gus Sarigianopoulos, chief of police.
Thus far, officers have been called to the church to direct traffic and help control crowds on an as-needed basis, he said.
Rev. Michael A. Swierz, pastor of St. Joseph the Provider Church, is going to ask parish members to volunteer to help direct traffic. "That will help as well," Sarigianopoulos said.
"We want to accommodate the people coming to see this, but we want to make sure it's safe. There have already been a couple minor fender-benders," the police chief added.
Negative aspects
While the parish and the city want to accommodate the influx of visitors, both are bracing for the negative impact on their finances.
"We have to watch what we do because we can't afford to have an extra officer on duty all the time," the police chief said.
Rev. Swierz said his church canceled bingo, one of the primary sources of funding for its school, because he didn't want to risk having some of the elderly players being injured in a fall because they would have to park so far away and walk.
"It's making things tough," Rev. Swierz said. Church grounds have also sustained damage from cars parking on wet fields and the thousands of people trampling lawns.
Collections last weekend, Swierz said, didn't show a significant increase over a typical week.
In consideration of the neighbors, church and city officials are asking visitors to leave church grounds by 11 p.m. That request will go into effect Saturday, after the Feast of the Assumption, Mayor Dill said. This week, visitors have stayed at the church virtually around the clock.
& lt;a href=mailto:kubik@vindy.com & gt;kubik@vindy.com & lt;/a & gt;