SOUTH PORTLAND — The city will go ahead next week with restriping a disputed one-way section of downtown Ocean Street, converting it to two-way travel as opponents circulate a petition that could result in a November referendum to restore the one-way traffic pattern.

A public works crew will paint new stripes on Ocean Street in the block between E and D streets during the night of May 31, weather permitting, according to a notice on the city’s website. The new stripes will restore two-way traffic flow between E and D streets and change 15 angled parking spaces on the west side of Ocean Street to nine regular parallel spaces.

In March, the City Council voted 4-2 to approve the change in an attempt to address a controversy that has gripped the Knightville neighborhood for more than two years. The council acted after hearing a wide variety of testimony from residents and business owners both for and against restoring two-way traffic to the block.

Supporters of the change said the one-way travel pattern with angled parking is unsafe and confusing, increases traffic and speeding on residential side streets and deters some would-be downtown shoppers. Opponents disputed those claims and worried that the loss of six parking spaces on Ocean Street would hurt businesses.

Downtown Ocean Street carried two-way traffic until sometime after World War II, said Assistant City Manager Joshua Reny. Through the 1950s until the mid-1990s, it carried one-way traffic northbound from the Cottage Street intersection to the former bridge that crossed the Fore River to Portland; southbound traffic from Portland traveled onto Waterman Drive, which also was one-way at the time.

When the Casco Bay Bridge opened in 1997, diverting traffic from Portland directly onto Broadway, downtown Ocean Street became two-way again and angled parking was added along the southbound lane.

When a 2012 road and sewerage improvement project threatened to narrow the streetscape, engineers recommended replacing angled parking with parallel spaces to maintain two travel lanes.

At the urging of business owners who wanted to keep convenient parking, the city adopted the one-way traffic pattern between E and D streets that preserved 15 angled spaces.

In the wake of the council’s latest action, Alan Cardinal, a Scarborough resident who owns Smaha’s Legion Square Market at 101 Ocean St., has launched a petition drive calling for councilors to reverse their action, said City Clerk Emily Carrington. If the drive gathers enough signatures and the council declines to restore the one-way section, the question would be placed on the Nov. 7 ballot so voters can decide the issue.

The petition must be circulated by registered city voters and returned by July 15, Carrington said. The petition needs 944 signatures of registered city voters, which is 5 percent of the total number of registered voters during last November’s election.

Carrington said she asked that the petition be returned in time for her office to validate signatures and for the council to consider approving the one-way section or send the question to voters.

When the council voted in March, Patti Smith, Claude Morgan, Eben Rose and Maxine Beecher supported the shift to two-way traffic, while Linda Cohen and Mayor Tom Blake voted against the change. Councilor Brad Fox left the meeting before the one-way issue came up.

Painting new stripes for two-way travel lanes and parallel parking spaces will cost $2,000, said City Manager Jim Gailey.

CORRECTION: This story was updated at 2:53 p.m. on May 23 to clarify when Ocean Street was a one- or two-way street.