Main Street closure requests prompt discussion at Brockport village meeting

Main Street closure requests prompt
discussion at Brockport village meeting

Requests to close portions of Main Street came from separate groups and were made to Village of Brockport officials at the February 26 meeting. Mike Davis, director of programs at SUNY Brockport, made the request so his group could host a SUNY/Community event prior to graduation and Gloria Lear, donor relations assistant at Lakeside Health System, made a request to close a portion of Main Street for the hospital's second annual Great Lakeside Bed Race.

Davis proposed to close the road between Water and State Streets, leaving the Main Street bridge accessible, if necessary, for emergency vehicles. His plan also included leaving space in the middle of the street for emergency vehicle traffic. "We don't want to shut down the roads and impede access to the bridges," he said. His discussion came after he had spoken with Mayor Mort Wexler about the possibility of moving the event off the college campus and into the village. "We wanted to move the event down to the Main Street area as a way to get the community and the college together and boost business for the merchants."

The event, planned for Friday, May 4, would be open to the community and would offer activities for all ages.

Trustee David Wagnenhauser expressed concern with closing down a portion of the road during a rush hour. "It's different closing the road on a Friday night, compared to a Sunday morning," he said.

Lakeside was looking for permission to close Main Street from the bridge to State Street, as it did in 2006. The race is planned for Sunday, July 22 beginning at 9 a.m.

"Closing Main Street is a concern for us," Wexler said. "If we can do it, we would but we'd like to come up with some alternatives. Our primary concern is for the safety of the community."

Wexler told the individuals he would bring up the issue at the department head meeting within the next week.

Anne Klein, a representative from the American Cancer Society and the Brockport Breast Cancer Coalition, asked the board for permission to approach downtown merchants to ask them to participate in a Paint the Town Purple event on May 1. "The event would raise awareness for cancer and would lead into the Spencerport Relay for Life in June."

Board members indicated she was welcome to approach downtown merchants.

Joe Richards, one of the coordinators of Max's Mardi Gras parade, which will celebrate its 10th anniversary in 2007, came before the board to request permission to hold the parade and festival. The parade will be April 28 and the proposal received unanimous support.