A straw poll taken at the Oak Bluffs special town meeting proved fruitless for opponents of parallel parking, when the select board voted to award a construction bid for the downtown streetscape project Tuesday.

The board awarded the $1.65 million bid to Lawrence-Lynch Corp. of Falmouth for the Circuit avenue portion of the streetscape project, setting the construction phase into motion.

At special town meeting on Nov. 9, voters indicated by slim majority in a nonbinding vote that they would like to see diagonal parking remain, despite plans to switch to parallel parking on the lower part of the avenue.

The $2.7 million streetscape project won voter approval in 2020, and will also include a new sidewalk on the west side of Kennebec avenue and minor improvements to Healey Square.

At the select board meeting Tuesday, residents unhappy over the parking change continued to press for putting the project on the annual town ballot next spring.

“A project of this magnitude has not come before the town,” Rebecca Everett told the board. “People are shocked, and I think you’ve got the cart before the horse.”

Despite the ongoing conflicting opinions, town officials maintained that the streetscape planning process has been long, dating to 2014, with plenty of opportunity to participate.

“I think that if nothing else, this will encourage people to get on committees if they end up feeling that they haven’t been represented,” said streetscape committee member and Oak Bluffs Association executive director Christine Todd.

The $1.65 million Lawrence-Lynch bid was approved 3-2, but not before the select board debated pushing the vote off to its next meeting.

“I don’t know what putting this off any further is going to do other than hurt the project itself,” board member Jason Balboni said.

Select board member Gail Barmakian spoke in favor of postponing the bid award in order to continue hearing opinions from residents on the project.

“I think, you know, it’s at least out of respect for the people that have made all this effort to show up and keep speaking,” she said.

The board eventually moved to vote to accept the bid, with a provision that will see the board add discussion about a potential committee to oversee construction of the project at its next meeting.

Board members Brian Packish, Ryan Ruley, and Jason Balboni voted to accept the bid, while Gail Barmakian and Emma Green-Beach opposed the measure.

Lawrence-Lynch Corp. was the sole bidder for the project, though over a dozen potential contractors requested packages, which were never returned with a final bid.