In Oak Bluffs, changes in a traffic pattern have a neighborhood physically divided, and some up in arms.

Last November, motivated by concerns about safety and lack of parking, the selectmen approved redirecting traffic on part of Dukes County avenue to flow one-way toward the harbor between Masonic avenue and Wing Road. Before, the narrow street had a two-way traffic flow as well as parking on one side of the street.

Starting last December, traffic going south on Dukes County avenue — away from the waterfront — has been confronted with a white barrier directing traffic to turn left on Masonic avenue. The reconfiguration has triggered a growing debate over the effect of the new traffic patterns on town residents and businesses.

Some business owners and safety officials point out that the changes, which were instituted on a trial basis, are intended to ameliorate earlier unsafe conditions on Dukes County avenue, where two lanes of traffic plus parallel parking on the narrow road created hazards for drivers and pedestrians.

But other businesses that are part of the Oak Bluffs Arts District, which runs along Dukes County avenue, say the one-way cutoff creates a barrier between some collection of shops and galleries, while residents of nearby streets say an unsafe amount of traffic is flowing into their neighborhood

“It’s really increased the traffic flow on Winthrop avenue to a dangerous degree,” said Deirdre Bohan, a resident of the street that she described as a “classic old-time neighborhood” with 14 children under age 12, where people socialize in the street and kids ride their bikes.

The two-block street runs parallel to Dukes County avenue, and is now used by motorists trying to reach the upper part of Dukes County avenue.

“We know we live in town, but it doesn’t have to be like this,” said Ms. Bohan, the mother of a two-year-old. “There are children just learning to walk, just learning to ride their bikes,” she said. “It’s a quality of life issue, as well as a safety issue.”

Ms. Bohan said she sees a chance for someone to seize leadership in finding a solution to the problem. “It needs a clear planning process and leadership in the town that the whole neighborhood has never gotten in the past,” she said.

But David Richardson, the owner of Tony’s Market, an Oak Bluffs institution near the corner of Dukes County avenue and Wing Road, said he and his customers have welcomed the change. “It’s amazing how much simpler and safer it seems,” he said. “I think this seems a very good thing and I hope it can continue,” he said.

Before, he said, cars pulling out from parallel parking spots had to cross the flow of traffic, he said, and street parking — which customers prefer to the store’s cramped parking lot--clogged the street. Now, he said, the travel path is wider, and there is room for a sidewalk as well as street parking.

“It seems to be working very well—we like it because the customers seem to like it,” Mr. Richardson said.

The Martha’s Vineyard Commission is working with the town to collect traffic data for the area.

“Oh, it’s terrible, it’s drastic,” said Mary Ellen Rogers, 70, who said she’s lived on Winthrop avenue for three-quarters of her life. “I hear the screech of brakes, and I don’t want to look outside . . . it’s happening day and night, and [the cars] are fast.”

“We want our quality of life back,” she said. “We are residential.”

Ms. Rogers said she found it unjust that commercial traffic is flowing to the residential streets, and said the traffic problems might get worse over the summer when the kids are out of school. “They’re in the streets with their balls, their bikes,” she said.

“We’re very unhappy with it.”

Beyond safety concerns, the positioning of the one-way street “feels awkward to the neighborhood,” said Stefanie Wolf, whose jewelry studio, Stefanie Wolf Designs, is located at 90 Dukes County avenue. “Accessibility is what I’m worried about, because customers like to come in here and enjoy all the galleries,” she said. The new traffic is “confusing and a little bit awkward and it’s unclear how to get to us.”

“I’m worried about what’s going to happen when the summer starts because I can already see some confusion there with the traffic patterns,” she said.

“Having to deal with confused traffic and the one-way barrier . . . it detracts from the beauty and allure of the neighborhood,” she added. “This vibrant district has a tourniquet in the middle of it now.”

Ms. Wolf said parking has always been an issue in the neighborhood, though most stores and galleries have their own parking lots. “What is really missing now, and before, is nice treatment for pedestrians in the area,” she said. “I’m nervous about crossing that street and I’m a grown woman.”

The one-way part of Dukes County avenue has room for a sidewalk, though one has not yet been installed.

Yet Ms. Wolf said that if the one-way situation turns out to be the safest option, she will be in favor. “My primary concern is safety, and then accessibility. And right now, there’s neither,” she said.

Michael Hunter, the owner of Piknik gallery, which is located just after the street becomes one-way, said the change prompted him to look for a second location in Edgartown. Though his Oak Bluffs store isn’t open for the season, he is concerned about how people will reach him when they are confronted with the “do not enter” barrier.

“It’s terrible for me. You can’t get to me,” he said. “The Arts District is just cut in half . . . it’s ridiculous.”

Traffic and parking problems on the street are not new. Mr. Richardson recalled that for a time last summer, the town eliminated all street parking with the exception of three spots right in front of the store, a change he said was not good for business. “Customers were circling for blocks, hoping to find something,” he said.

“People like to be able to just come up, stop, have a quick shopping experience, and then go on their way,” he said.

The market circulated a petition against the change that had almost 800 signatures, mostly from Oak Bluffs, Mr. Richardson said. In the fall, the town took the one-way route, though town officials stressed that it was not for the sake of one business, but the neighborhood as a whole.

“I know that the principal point that the town has made is this isn’t a good place for people to drive and park and walk,” Mr. Richardson said. “Everything else comes in behind safety,” he said. Cars were constantly crossing over the double lane to negotiate the cramped street, he said, and “now that problem is gone.”

“The town took a very important step to improve things,” he said, and once they get more information, “I’m sure there can be further improvements.”

Oak Bluffs police chief Erik Blake said the police department is aware of neighborhood concerns and is keeping an eye on the traffic, but that the change was made in the first place to address safety concerns.

“We haven’t had any accidents,” he said,

Before, like a lot of roads in town, he said, people were parking on one side of the road, forcing vehicles to go into the oncoming traffic lane. “There’s always been a complaint that there isn’t enough parking for that business district,” he said. Furthermore, people leaving Dukes County avenue were having “near misses” with cars coming quickly around the corner on Wing Road.

To address some safety concerns, the selectmen last week approved a new stop sign at the corner of Everett avenue and Dukes County avenue in an attempt to slow down traffic coming through the neighborhood. This was “exactly what needed to be done,” Mr. Blake said, to keep cars from speeding around the corner onto Winthrop avenue. “This will definitely be revisited at the end of the summer,” he said, adding that one idea might be to have traffic change to one-way a block further down, around Warwick avenue.

The town is “just trying to come up with the best plan and make that the safest area possible,” he said, stressing that the changes are not permanent.

Selectman and board chairman Kathy Burton said the board of selectmen has been addressing the issues for many months. “So many meetings on this subject, it’s unbelievable,” she said, adding that she’s received letters and e-mails about the subject, and understands the concerns.

She stressed that the current traffic pattern was installed on a trial basis, and the roads and byways committee has been continuing to address the issue, and will do so at a meeting next Wednesday.

“It seems like a domino effect . . . change impacts something else negatively,” Ms. Burton said, adding that the town may turn to a traffic consultant to look at the area, and will work towards a compromise. “Of course, we’re all trying to do the right thing here.”