After decades of study and research, there is finally money to improve the streetscape on Pioneer Way. One might think that the downtown merchants would be celebrating in the streets and throwing a ticker-tape parade for the mayor. Instead, many longtime merchants are angry over the controversial eastbound, one-way street decision voted on by City Council last Tuesday. They can’t be blamed for being anxious, especially at a time when the recession is biting into bottom lines with a vengeance. But the changes are meant to improve business, lure more shoppers downtown and make downtown Oak Harbor the place to be for those who want an authentic urban experience away from the big shopping centers and vast parking lots.

Workers heading toward the college or Seaplane Base can breeze through Pioneer Way in the morning. But the evening commute will send them down Bayshore or up Midway before rejoining Highway 20, bypassing the downtown Pioneer Way businesses.

On the positive side for businesses, most people enter the downtown area during business hours from the west, and the one-way street will provide more parking and space for a friendlier environment to be created. Most people in the community probably won’t mind the one-way design. After all, many drivers use Pioneer Way as a one-way street now. One way or another, we’ll all still shop downtown and we can’t wait to have a more pleasant environment to do so.

No more tripping over cracked sidewalks and no more dinging car door on the curb when drivers parallel park on the south side of the street.

Bottom line, we don’t care how you do it, just do it already.