A proposal to close Welch Avenue to vehicles Friday and Saturday nights is being talked about throughout the city.

Ames Mayor Ted Tedesco said it is still in the planning stages and will be discussed further after Campustown businesses are surveyed. The Ames Chamber of Commerce will conduct the survey.

“If we don’t get consent from the businesses, we probably won’t do it,” Tedesco said. “It is just an idea right now to close Welch to traffic late at night.”

Jessica Taylor, programs manager for the Ames Chamber of Commerce, said the survey is going out by the end of the week and they expect to hear replies by August.

“We’re sending out an informative letter to businesses on campus informing them of a trial in August for three weekends, and they can reply if they are supportive or not,” Taylor said.

For three weekends in August, the 100 block of Welch Avenue is planned to be closed to vehicle traffic from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. Friday and Saturday nights, Taylor said.

“Continuing long term will depend on the businesses,” she said.

“This is a trial solution.”

Tom Goeders, crew member at Fire Station #2, 132 Welch Ave., said their only way out is through Welch, but this should not affect them.

“They will probably make some kind of movable barricade. With standard road closing, we can probably go out either direction,” Goeders said.

Susan Gwiasda, Ames public relations officer, said no application for closing the street has been taken out yet for street closures in August.

“The official process hasn’t been started. It would be a very public process,” Gwiasda said. “An application would have to be taken out, and it would have to go before council, and they would have to vote on it.”

Taylor said her understanding is that this proposal came about from the Veishea Task Force to lessen the mindset of creating disturbances of one weekend.

“If you look at the facts, there really isn’t a place for all ages to congregate, and this might possibly be a venue,” Tedesco said.