LIVERMORE FALLS – Selectmen tabled action on a proposal to change Union Street to a one-way street after residents spoke out against it Monday night.

The First Pentecostal Church Pastor Gary Rioux had initially asked the town to consider a traffic pattern change to one-way all the time or for worship services, which are Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights.

A study was done and Town Manager Martin Puckett proposed making the road one-way from Church Street to Franklin Health Livermore Falls Family Practice, formerly Rockomeka Family Practice and an apartment building at the end of the road, to still allow entrance to those parking lots from Pleasant Street.

The proposal also called for diagonal parking near Union Park and some limited parallel parking along the other portion of the road to create 22 parking spaces including two handicap slots.

Union Street is also heavily used to bypass the railroad tracks when a train is going through town.

Currently there are only nine spaces at the Church Street end of Union Street. Five of those are near Union Park and the other four are opposite those, making it a very narrow space for vehicles to get through.

Selectmen have the authority to change traffic patterns and parking but they wanted public input before making that change.

Kathy and Ashley Langlin, mother and daughter who live on the road, opposed the change.

“In our view, there is plenty of parking in front of the bank and the Chuck Wagon parking lot,” Ashley Langlin said.

It has taken them up to 90 minutes to be able to get into their driveway at times due to a vehicle parked on the road not leaving enough space for them to get in, Kathy Langlin said.

Why should people who live on the road be unconvinced for people who come twice a week?, she asked.

Roger Ouellette, who owns a building on the road, said he is sensitive to the church members but it would inconvenience people seven days a week for those who go to church once or twice a week.

“I would like to reach an accommodation for the church on Sunday,” Ouellette said.

He said the area was always looked at as a business expansion area.

“I don’t think that anyone likes one-way streets,” resident Wayne Knowlton said.

If it’s a safety concern that’s different, he said, but he doesn’t believe it is.

“I’d like to compromise,” he said, and also pointed out that there is a vacant lot on the street that the church might be able to make arrangements for parking.

Union Street has been two-way for more than a century, he said.

Pastor Larry Rioux said the congregation was here to work with the community.

Businesses on the road and the church would welcome more parking, Rioux said.

“I think it would be a plus for us and businesses to have more parking,” he said. It is especially needed in front of the church for those who are handicapped and need to use the ramp, he added.

After more discussion both for and against, with the majority on the latter, and with some willing to compromise on Sundays, selectmen decided to hold off on making a decision until it is further studied.