Saturday, September 9, 2017

KENNETT SQUARE: A Y member's view

I am hesitant to raise any complaint about the Mushroom Parade, which I am sure was well run and gave a lot of pleasure to a lot of community residents. But may I suggest that just a small tweak in the traffic arrangements would make a giant improvement?
Because Race Street was closed well in advance of the parade, motorists (meaning me) couldn't get to the Kennett Y. I found myself tantalizingly close to the parking lot but simply unable to access it. The friendly borough police officer guarding the Race Street/Cypress Street blockade suggested I drive around the block. I did so, in heavy traffic. But then his colleague on State Street was diverting traffic off before the Y. I asked him how I was supposed to get to the Y and he chuckled and said it was flat-out impossible. 
My suggestion is that the detour should be planned so that we Y-goers can turn onto Race Street. If that is impossible (which it's not; it has been done in prior years), the traffic planners should communicate with the Y well in advance so the Y can give us a heads up to stay home.
The parade road closures during already busy Friday afternoon rush hour also had an impact far beyond downtown Kennett Square. At 5 p.m., traffic was already backed up along Newark Road from the Route 1 bypass all the way down to the Toughkenamon intersection. (At that point I should have cut my losses and just turned around and gone home.)
An acquaintance who lives east of the borough reported that he tried multiple routes to get through town, but everything was so backed up that he ended up four-wheeling over the median strip in frustration and taking the bypass.

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