WESTBROOK – Motorists trying to get around the parking lot behind CVS in Westbrook may have an easier time of it soon.

Westbrook City Council’s Facilities and Streets Committee voted 6-0 (Council President Brendan Rielly absent) Monday to remove the barriers from the lot that restrict cut-through traffic from William Clarke Drive to Main Street.

Councilor Victor Chau said he brought the issue before the committee in an effort to aid Ocean Communities Federal Credit Union, which is located in the rehabbed former post office on the edge of the lot.

“The reason why I brought this forward is if you’re coming from Gorham, there’s no easy way to get to Ocean Communities Federal Credit Union,” Chau said. “(The barriers) should be removed so that business could thrive in our community.”

City Engineer Eric Dudley said that the credit union has done a “significant amount of improvements” to its section of the parking lot, and he also supported removing the barriers.

One other proposal before the committee did not get as much immediate support. Councilor Mike Sanphy had proposed allowing a left turn from Main Street into the CVS parking lot at Bridge Street.

“I can see no reason why we can’t have a left turn there,” Sanphy said.

City Administrator Jerre Bryant said that when CVS was built in 1996, a condition of the Planning Board’s site plan approval was the prohibition of left turns at that intersection. He said for any changes to be made, CVS would have to go back and request an amendment to the site plan approval.

“We are somewhat bound by the condition of the site plan approval,” he said.

Dudley said that it could cost somewhere between $20,000 and $30,000, as the current light would not support the additional signal. He added that cost would typically be the responsibility of the applicant, which in this case would be CVS, but the city could pay the cost if it so chose.

Councilor Mike Foley said he didn’t want to see the city bear the cost of the light replacement, but he would support the idea of allowing a left turn there if CVS paid for it.

The committee then voted 5-1 (Councilor Dorothy Aube opposed) to direct the city administration to approach CVS and discuss the potential change and then report back to the committee at a later date.