on Main St. would possibly have to be relocated, which costs $5,000 each, although the representatives from the DOT were unsure if they would need to be relocated.

One problem identified in Ellsworth is the traffic speed, specifically on Main St. The purpose is that drivers would see them and hopefully slow down.

The downside of the proposed bump outs, on top of the cost to the Village, is that 22 of just 74 parking spots and one business’s driveway on Main St. would be no more. The DOT representatives pointed out that some of the parking spots would have had to be removed due to large trucks that make deliveries to some local businesses.

“Is there something that could be done to those intersections that would make it safer to cross the street?” Asked Village Board member Neil Gulbranson to the DOT representatives.

“Well, I mean, without having to do a total reconstruct, it would be hard to do anything else,” one of the DOT representatives responded. “Is your concern parking?”

Gulbranson responded that parking is a large concern, but so is safety, and pushed the DOT representatives to provide a solution that could fit for Ellsworth.

The DOT representative offered the idea of installing a median, but that would decrease the size of the driving lane and also remove some parking spots.

Village Board President Gerald DeWolfe asked the DOT representatives if they have considered installing pedestrian crossing signs that light up when a button is pressed.

“That’s one thing to be considered. I can look into the cost of that,” the DOT representative replied.

In the public comment portion of the meeting, most speakers were not in favor of the bump outs.

“I strongly, strongly ask you guys not to vote in favor of this,” said Randy Brickner, owner of Brickner Oil on Main St. “I understand the safety and drawing people to downtown, but losing those 22 spots? Where are you going to put them?”

“Another thing that I see, they’re talking about using UPS trucks (in the DOT plan). What about our school buses? I think these bump outs would be amazing for tire sales,” Brickner continued.

“My suggestion for this whole thing is, this plan looks great. But we’ve got to look at eight years down the road to make it a real plan to happen then. We are doing a band-aid right now for eight years,” DeWolfe stated, pointing out that the DOT project isn’t a complete overhaul of the streets that will get worked on.

The Village Board voted to not install bump outs with this construction project, but that doesn’t mean they can’t happen in the future.

One idea the Village Board proposed were new pedestrian crossing signs with solar-powered flashing lights that would make it safer for citizens to cross Main St. Another idea they are looking into more are crosswalks with a different texture and more color so that drivers notice them before they get to them and get used to driving over the small bumps, which ideally will get people in the habit of driving safer through downtown.