Letter to the Editor
Parked Carriages Are Main Cause of Traffic Congestions
To the Editor:

I am writing to express my agreement to a Letter to the Editor in the August 13 edition of the Town Crier. I have been a frequent visitor to the Island since 1994.

On our most recent visit to the Island in June 2005, I made note of a street congestion problem, which is the same concern that the writer had. As I watched Main Street from my hotel balcony, the main cause of congestion on the street was the Carriage Tours carriages parked and waiting for their turn to pick up visitors. It is very hard for any other horsedrawn dray or carriage to pass on either side of these waiting carriages. Someone (a visitor riding a bike) is going to get hurt.

The previous writer is correct: visitors do not want to see

these carriages just standing in the street. To me, congestion caused from pedestrian traffic, horse-drawn drays delivering goods, and hotel taxis is good congestion because that is what Mackinac Island is made up of and they are always moving. Parked tour carriages blocking the street are not.

I realize Carriage Tours is a business and they want (and need) to pick up paying passengers as soon as possible, but there has to be a better way to do this other than being parked in the middle of the street. Mackinac Island Carriage Tours is a great service for the visitors, we have taken the tour several times, but they need to be more conscious of what they are doing to the main street in town.

Pamela Day

Livonia