It looks like downtown Brookhaven will see some big changes in the near future. The Board of Aldermen this week approved a proposal to reroute and repave the city’s downtown streets and add parking.

“What we talked about was turning Whitworth and Railroad into one-way streets,” engineer Ryan Holmes said. “Whitworth Avenue would run south and Railroad Avenue would run north. We would also change the two intersections on Cherokee Street to four-way stops instead of signals to address the traffic flow there.”

The $300,000 project would include repaving downtown streets, and restriping streets and parking spaces to match the new pattern.

About 40 additional, much-needed parking spaces will be created.

The project likely won’t get started until early next year due to festival and event traffic concerns, but this decision is good news for the downtown area.

Parking is always an issue in a vibrant downtown, and Brookhaven is no different. Changing streets to one-way will hopefully create better traffic flow and reduce congestion.

Some might argue that one-way streets force motorists to drive a bit further to get to a particular business, but the additional parking that will be made available should offset that.

We’re certainly not urban planners, but the plan seems logical. We’re grateful that city officials are exploring ways to make the downtown area better for motorists, pedestrians, residents and businesses.