Possible two-way street on Indian Canyon Drive
The owners of Liberty Christmas Trees, located just off of Indian Canyon Drive near downtown Palm Springs, got an unpleasant surprise when they found the signs out front of their lot.
“It is the front of our business, the front doorstep perhaps, so people that come here that’s the only place that they can come and go and get the trees,” said Charley Garland, who has been volunteering at the lot for 10 years. “There’s a lot in the back that’s shut off due to construction on both sides.”
According to the new signs, parking on the one-way street out front is temporarily closed Monday and will remain unavailable through Dec. 23- eighteen days that cut right through the prime holiday season.
Garland said he has seen the difference.
“I think it affects it a great deal because our customers won’t have anywhere they can pull up and park,” Garland told CBS Local 2’s and KESQ News Channel 3’s Katie Widner on Tuesday. “That’s the biggest part of Christmas. You know where are you going to get your Christmas tree at and you can’t carry them down a mile down the road.”
Customer Rondle West said he was not expecting the detour either.
“I was surprised. I thought it was kind of stupid this time of year when people need to get a tree and unload to get a tree. It’s kind of crazy,” West said.
West had to cut through a construction zone in the back to get to the lot. The city of Palm Springs told CBS Local 2 and KESQ News Channel 3 that the roadway is being repaved as the final step in a citywide project; however, the signs are not accurate.
Assistant city manager Marcus Fuller said they will be gone by Friday, but local business owners will have to deal with more construction sometime between now and Christmas. In addition to that, Fuller said there is a new, large-scale project for the road in the works.
“Make all of Indian Canyon two-way by converting one of the lanes to southbound and leaving two lanes northbound,” Fuller said.
Fuller said the project is still under consideration so there is no time frame for if, or when, construction on it will begin. He said it is estimated to cost $2.5 million to $3 million and is expected to help some of those downtown businesses.
“It can improve the effectiveness of traffic circulation downtown and in a way slow speeds and open up access to businesses where one-way traffic may not fully utilize those businesses today,” he said.
Fuller said the City Council is expected to provide direction on the project during a meeting Wednesday night.
