Main Street Traffic Test Starts Monday

On Monday, the City of Sheridan will begin a month-long test drive of the new proposed lane reconfiguration on Main Street.

Main Street will be closed beginning at 9 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 10 to install temporary striping but will be open to traffic by Sunday afternoon.

The Wyoming Department of Transportation is scheduled to resurface the downtown section of the road in 2023. Last year’s Downtown Sheridan Streetscape Action Plan indicated that reconfiguring Main Street to three lanes would be more inviting to foot traffic at downtown businesses.

“WYDOT is in full support of the test the City of Sheridan is performing on Main Street, which is also U.S. Highway 87,” said District Engineer Scott Taylor in a press release. “The Department is looking forward to the results of the traffic data, feedback from both the vehicle and pedestrian traffic, and the feedback from the downtown businesses.  Once all the data is gathered and evaluated, we will then be able to determine if the proposed configuration of Main Street will successfully function operationally in 2023 and beyond.”

The study area will begin at Burkitt Street/Coffeen Avenue and end at First Street, which is currently four lanes with parallel parking. The new configuration will test the feasibility of two single travel lanes, a center turn lane, and wider parallel parking spaces with a buffer zone.

The speed limit will remain at 20 mph, and the No Left Turn signal will be shut off during the test period, which runs through Sept. 8. A public meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 17 to discuss the results of the test.

For those who drive Main Street during the test period and who care to comment, there is a short survey that can be found at www.sheridanmainstreet.com