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SALEM -- Burchfield Trace has officially become one way only.
City Service Safety Director Joe Cappuzzello first announced that the alley would be transitioning to accept only westbound traffic in the July 18,Salem City Council meeting, with the change officially taking place and being announced early Thursday morning through the city's "TextMyGov" notification line.
Traffic will now be westbound only for the full length of the alley from South Lincoln Avenue all the way to the parking lot behind local business Ziegler's Trophies. Cappuzzello said that in addition to the official announcement the city had also painted directional arrows on the roadway and posted one way road signs in both directions to help ensure residents were aware of the change.
Cappuzzello said that the change had been made to help improve safety in the area when asked why the city had decided to close the alley to eastbound traffic. Cappuzzello said that due to the narrow nature of the alley, particularly near several popular businesses downtown, it simply wasn't safe for the alley to remain open to traffic in both directions.
"It presented a safety issue, especially past Pure Pet it's very narrow, and doesn't get much wider when you get up toward Quaker Steak & Lube. For such a heavily traveled area it's really not wide enough to have two-way traffic," said Cappuzzello.