Park Lane closed to drivers in Lititz Springs Park
When: Lititz Borough Council meeting, Oct. 29.
What happened: Lititz Springs Park representatives will no longer allow drivers to use Park Lane to cut through the park from North Broad to Maple Street, Rich Motz, park board president, said.
Background: The park already has signage that designates Park Lane as a private road with "No Thru Traffic." However, the park board plans to erect two gates that will prevent drivers from cutting through the park, Motz said. The gates can be left open during special events. Also, emergency personnel will have codes to open the gates.
Why it matters: "Park Lane has become a major cut-through to the school complex and the recCenter," said Motz. "Many of the cars drive recklessly through the park."
More: The park board plans to install one gate just past the parking lot, so that people using the park will be able to enter from North Broad, park in the lot and exit from Broad Street. The other gate will be at the west end of the park and will prevent drivers from entering the park from Maple Street, the Warwick campus and the Lititz recCenter.
Quotable: "We are doing this for safety reasons and to help with preserving Park Lane, which is a private road that we have to maintain," said Motz, adding that tractor trailers have used the lane.
Concerns: With Park Lane blocked off, council expressed concerns about families accessing Warwick School District and the Lititz recCenter. The alternative route of Maple Street will still be available.
More: Lititz Borough police Chief Kerry Nye said he has been looking at changing Maple Street to a one-way street, heading east to west. Currently, drivers can access Park Lane from the west side of Maple. By changing it to a one-way, traffic would be more streamlined to access the school and recCenter.
Improvements: Council members said they would look at traffic improvements in light of the park changes.
Downtown parking: Motz also brought up what he called a lack of downtown parking. Many people who work downtown park in Lititz Springs Park, he said, which reduces parking for park users. He suggested council consider making the gravel lot at the former depot on Water Street a municipal lot.
Quotable: "Lititz does not have any public parking besides parking on the streets," said Motz, who said visitors are often advised to park at Rock Lititz or other areas outside of downtown. "Lititz needs at least one public parking lot," he said.
Liquor license: In a public hearing prior to the meeting, council approved the transfer of a liquor license from Stanley's Cafe in Marietta to Beccafico restaurant, owned by Serafina PA Holdings LLC, at 27-31 E. Main St., Lititz.
