April 23, 2024
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More details released about Columbus Street trial closure in Princeton

Street expected to close March 1, following ordinance approval in February by city council

By Goldie Rapp
The city of Princeton will transform Columbus Street, between Spoons Restaurant and the former Centrue Bank, into a walkway next spring.

Columbus Street in Princeton will be closed starting March 1 if the city council approves two readings of an ordinance in February to legally allow the street closure. (Goldie Rapp)

PRINCETON — Plans to close Columbus Street in hopes of making it a walkway in downtown Princeton are underway.

Princeton Mayor Joel Quiram on Monday got a positive consensus from his fellow city council members to move forward with legally closing the one-way street to see if it will work logistically as a future public space to enhance the downtown atmosphere.

On Feb. 1, the city council will vote on a first reading ordinance to close the street. If approved, a second reading will be voted on at the city council’s second meeting in February. If the second reading is approved, the street will be closed March 1, according to Quiram.

Barricades will be set up to block of the street starting at Main Street and running east to the first entrance of the parking lot on Columbus Street behind Spoons Restaurant.

Quiram said the rest of Columbus Street will be changed to a two-way street. Street parking will not be allowed in the residential area. Parking spaces will be made in front of the two businesses on Columbus Street, which are A Second Glance Salon and The Bike Place. Quiram said these parking spaces will face west. The alley behind Four Seasons will remain open and no changes will be done to the one-way lane.

After a 30-day trial period, if traffic logistics prove this to be a good idea, planning on what to make of the walkway will begin April 1.

“We might find out in a day or two it doesn’t work and we reopen Columbus (Street). We don’t know until we try it,” Quiram said.

Geraldine Woodlief of Princeton made a comment against the Columbus Street closure on Monday. She’s concerned with safety when it comes to downtown fires.

“You need access off of Main Street and closing it would be a hazard,” she said.

Woodlief said Marion Street, which is one block north of Columbus Street, will be a traffic jam with cars coming and going from the parking lot behind Spoons if Columbus Street is closed.

While Quiram did not address her concerns directly during the public comment period, but he did say that both police and fire departments had signed off on the street closure during his talk about the plans for the street closure.