BATH — The City Council is expected May 1 to vote a second and final time on ordinance changes that would make two streets one-way, with new parking spaces created from the closed travel lanes.

The panel granted unanimous first passage to the measures April 3. The city’s Transportation Committee had previously endorsed the changes, Police Chief Mike Field told the council.

Linden Street would become one way westbound, with parking moving from the north side of the street to the south, and capped at four hours. Nearby Summer Street, in turn, would become one way eastbound, with four-hour parking added to the north side from Patten Free Library up to Washington Street.

Summer Street at its eastern point meets Washington in a Y-shape, with two access points. The northern right arm would be blocked off to create a single access point, and two-hour spots along the west side of Washington would be created.

“It’s already one-way east from the library down to Front Street; we would just make the entire street from Washington all the way down one way east,” Field explained. “… It seemed to be a natural flow.”

The reconfigurations would add 24 parking spots to the area, he said. The additions address a long-expressed need in the city for added spaces.

“I read a lot about parking, and people really want to jump straight to ‘we need a garage, we need a garage,'” Council Chairwoman Mari Eosco said. “And that’s really the last thing you should do. And what we’re doing is getting that low-hanging fruit, and squeezing out every possible space that we can.”

“This is exactly what is recommended for good practices in small downtown parking,” she added.

Administrators at the 33 Summer St. library, where parking has been particularly tight, are in favor of the conversion, Councilor Phyllis Bailey noted. A public hearing that night drew no comment.

Alex Lear can be reached at 780-9085 or alear@theforecaster.net. Follow him on Twitter: @learics.

This map shows two streets due to change from two- to one-way traffic configurations. Linden Street would become one way westbound, with parking moving from the north side of the street to the south, and capped at four hours. Summer Street would become one way eastbound, with four-hour parking added to the north side from Patten Free Library up to Washington Street.