BATH — Bath officials are weighing whether some streets should become one-way during the busiest hours on the roads to the city’s South End traffic woes, but consultants have told them a parking garage is off the table. Locals got their first look at a series of proposals aimed calming traffic and parking problems during a meeting Thursday.

The proposals came from the South End Transportation Study, a joint effort between the city, the Maine Department of Transportation and Bath Iron Works. The study is looking to address two major issues — the limited amount of parking for shipyard employees and residents in the South End, and the traffic issues that result from the afternoon shift change at Bath Iron Works, when hundreds of employees depart the south end in a mass exodus.

TRAFFIC

The most noteworthy proposal of the night was to turn Washington Street into a one-way road toward Leeman Highway and Centre Street from 3:30-4:00 p.m. as Bath Iron Works employees exit the shipyard following the shift change.

That half hour is the biggest issue the city faces, with traffic across significant parts of the city affected.

“I think most people don’t even want to go near this street when the shift’s letting out,” said Thomas Errico of T. Y. Lin International, one of the consultants working on the study. “You guys probably plan your lives around not being there.”

As part of that plan, all of the street connecting High and Washington streets from the shipyard to Leeman Highway would be converted to one-ways as well, diverting all outgoing traffic from the South End to Washington Street. That change would divert an estimated 426 vehicles down to Washington in that time period, reducing stress on High Street and the Route 1 on/off ramps.

With all of the traffic diverted to Washington Street, the city would extend the green light for traffic coming from Washington Street to Leeman Highway and Centre Street by 10 seconds. That change alone would reduce the wait time for those cars from about 346 seconds to 106 seconds.

“We have to do something significant if you did make it one-way,” said Errico. “If you just made it one-way and nothing else, there would be severe congestion — more than what we have now.”

Errico noted that the city would have to add a lot of signage to make people aware of the temporary change of Washington Street to a one way.

In addition to redirecting vehicles, Errico stressed that pedestrian traffic need some attention as well. Those proposals included changing some of the crosswalks, adding more lighting around crosswalks, improving and adding sidewalks, and even installing barriers at the end of Washington Street to prevent jaywalking.

OFF THE TABLE

One solution that’s not on the table: A parking garage. According to consultants, even if they could find a location for a parking garage in the south end, the cost would be prohibitive. The consultants were also skeptical that workers would use the parking garage. That’s because workers want to get out of the area quickly after their shift ends, and traffic tends to get bottlenecked exiting a parking garage.

Mitchell Raso, another consultant on the study, suggested rezoning parts of the South End to help get rid of the small, private parking lots that dot the neighborhoods. While those parking lots would be grandfathered in, if they went unused for a year they would become noncompliant with city code and redirected to other uses, such as parks. Residents at the meetingnoted that it would be unlikely for any of the lots to sit unused for a year, making the zoning change unlikely to have any real effect.

BATH IRON WORKS

Bath Iron Works Vice President of Human Resources Andrew Bond outlined what the shipyard had already done to reduce the demand for parking in the South End. The company has increased the number of satellite parking lots and provides buses to transport workers to and from the shipyard. The company also provides a shuttle every half hour for workers who need to leave early.

According to Bond, the company has 1,200 parking spots for employees near the shipyard as well as another 600 off-site parking spots — 200 of which were added last year.

“Overall, we want to be a good neighbor,” said Bond. “We’re sensitive to you’re concerns.”

Bond also said that the company is working to relocate workers who do not have to be at the shipyard to do their work to other company locations in Brunswick.

When asked whether the shipyard would be stepping up to pay for these changes, Bond argued that the company already contributes to infrastructure in Bath in the form of property taxes.

STUDY NOT YET COMPLETE

While Thursday offered residents’ their first look at some major proposals the city will be considering, the Bath traffic study hasn’t wrapped up. Once the study is complete, some of the bigger changes, such as transforming Washington Street into a temporary one-way, will be up for public comment at City Council meetings.

nstrout@timesrecord.com