Third Street draws good response from people, businesses

Positive feedback from people and businesses has been the result of the improved roadway on Third Street after three weeks of use.

According to Douglas’ City Manager Curtis Shook, the City has received some very good comments on the new use of Third Street which allows traffic to flow smoother into Mexico.

“As far as I can tell everybody is pleased,” Shook said. “I did get a call from a couple of the retailers over on Fifth Street thanking the city for the quality of the road and how well we were handling the traffic.”

Shook said that this is still a work in progress, which includes the curbing, light poles for lightning, permanent stripes and a retaining wall on the south side of the Wal-Mart parking lot.

“It seems to be working the way it was meant to work and I think everybody is pleased with it,” Shook said.

Wal-Mart’s Store Manager Sergio Gonzalez said Wal-Mart’s customers are much happier now that all the entrances to the parking lot are free.

“Our customers used to enter to the store upset because people on line outside on Fifth Street would not allow them to enter,” he said. “But now everything is running smooth.”

Gonzalez added the only concern they have now is to find a way to let their delivery trucks enter to its unloading zone in the back of the store, since sometimes the line to cross to Agua Prieta is long enough to get to Chino Road even behind Fallas Store.

“We usually get four of five trucks a day and sometimes they have to wait on line to get to the unloading zone,” Gonzalez said.

Another store who is enjoying now the benefits of having the Third Street open is UETA. According to Assistant Manager Juan Duarte, people were sometimes really upset because they could not find a way to get to the store.

“We were blocked on every rush hour because of the big lines,” said Duarte. “Now everything is going back to normal.”

In previous days the Douglas Police Department said they would be aggressively enforcing the 25 mph speed limit along Third Street. DPD Sgt. Carlos Trujillo said DPD officers have issued several tickets and citations for speeding in that area. He explained that when drivers see little or no line at all on Third they try to exceed the speed limit, but he recommends the public to be very patient in every time they drive around that area.

“Since there are still people working on the curbing and other things at Third Street we encourage all drivers to be respectful of the speed limits,” Trujillo said. “The other issue we are having is people are not respecting the intersection on Chino Road and Fifth Street and like I said, we need people to be patient; they are not stopping at the stop sign and we have been issuing citations for that. People need to understand that they will get to Mexico but it is going to take a little bit longer.”