One-way streets are bad for everyone but speeding cars

[finehoe]

Some of these findings are more obvious: Traffic tends to move faster on a wide one-way road than on a comparable two-way city street, and slower traffic means fewer accidents. The rest of these results are theoretically connected to each other in complex ways.

To the extent that vice flourishes on neglected high-speed, one-way, getaway roads, two-way streets may be less conducive to certain crimes. If they bring slower traffic and, as a result, more cyclists and pedestrians, that also creates more "eyes on the street" — which, again, deters crime. A decline in crime and calmer traffic in turn may raise property values — which may also increase the demand of residents to police and care for their neighborhood.

The point is that many cities decided to change these roads in the post-World War II era when we broadly re-engineered cities around the car — and that change over time came at a cost to the neighborhoods that we enabled cars to speed through.

"What we're doing when we put one-way streets there is we're over-engineering automobility," Riggs says, "at the expense of people who want a more livable environment."

By making these roads work more efficiently for cars, we made them more dangerous for people, we depressed the value of property around them, and we created places that also became a magnet for crime.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2015/04/17/why-one-way-streets-really-are-the-worst/

[menace1069]

Interesting.

[thelakelander]

There are situations where one way streets make sense. For example, perhaps going one way allows extra road width to be switched to dedicated bike, ped or transit use. You'll find this context sensitive solution being used a lot in denser urban cities.

[mtraininjax]

There are situations where one way streets make sense. For example, perhaps going one way allows extra road width to be switched to dedicated bike, ped or transit use. You'll find this context sensitive solution being used a lot in denser urban cities.

I don't agree often with you Lake, but here I do, I saw this solution extensively used in Paris, FR when I visited earlier this month. If Riverside wants to become more ped/bike/bus friendly, they need to look at this as a solution.

[thelakelander]

A few decent examples of one-way streets I noticed in Seattle this past week:









At the end of the day, it's all about the surrounding urban context, so you have to take each street and evaluate it on its own merit. With that said, Jacksonville's downtown one-way street network really blows!

[thelakelander]

I got back to town last night. Wish I could have spent more time. But will be going back out west for another trip in two weeks.



Great city, food, neighborhoods. Economically, it shares a lot in common with Jax (ex. port, shipyards, etc.). Met several former Floridians who recently gave up on the east coast and relocated to Seattle. It's definitely a different type of vibe....as shown in the park image above. Homeless, tourist, residents, etc. from all walks of life hanging out in the same space smoking recreational cannabis, drinking fermented beverages, etc. in total bliss. I could never imagine such a scene taking place locally.

[simms3]

^^^I wouldn't call Seattle a little city...in fact I'd call it "very big" for an American city.  Probably a top 5 or 6 downtown in the country in terms of vibrancy and size.  Of course much of that growth has been within the past 10-15 years so a new visit might be warranted   I'm about to have more reason to get up there fairly often (fingers crossed).

One ways either work ok for pedestrians and other uses at very small scale (like an alley/small thoroughfare setting or a quaint street in a lower density part of town/smaller downtown) or in very big cities with very high density and a super high intensity of everything like lots of cars/buses AND tons of people/bikes (NYC, Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle, DC).

I don't think they work in Jacksonville - super low density/intensity and the roads themselves are large thoroughfares, not small cutesy streets.  Jacksonville has lower pedestrian/car intensity/density than Greenville or Charleston SC and a road network that can accomodate Manhattan's auto traffic.  It's a little backward.

[menace1069]

My biggest complaint about Jacksonville is that there is no charm to the city when it definitely could have it. There are several smaller pocket neighborhoods that have nice character but for the most part, Jacksonville is stale.  Being a romantic at heart, I would love to see the city blossom and have a rebirth. It seems that the leaders of Jax are constantly fighting one another when most constituents want to get the ball rolling.
If there were a few more things that could attract people here, then we would start to blossom. You have a major artery of traffic (95) flowing through DT everyday. The major it of the people continue on to their original destination because all they hear about Jacksonville is that it's bad. Put an aquarium downtown and then you'll have a destination for locals as well as transients. If we can get the tourism dollars started then the momentum should take over. We have a beautiful river in our backyard that travels for miles. River cruises, canoe/kayaking tours of the various creeks and tributaries, etc...
Maybe I'm naive about the development of Jax, but I would sure love to see more things happen.

[Rob68]

Not to be rude but anyone who sees the kings street area and doesnt think thats a fucked up way to have traffic is no in the area at all...i prefer that area when it was one way..IMHO...

[Steve]

It's a little wacky, but the two ways are the best for the residents and property owners over there. The "frogger" that you have to play driving down it can be annoying, but I can't imagine someone not going to Blind Rabbit because Post street is annoying. They might choose to take Park St instead, but that's not a bad thing if a few less people drive down Post and College

[tufsu1]

I've been driving on small one-way streets in Philly all afternoon.  The single one-way lane allows or parking on both sides on some streets....others have parking on side, a track lane, and a buffered bike lane. 

All of the roads have stop controls at almost every intersection which keeps speeds at under 20mph.

[thelakelander]

Examples of one-way streets in Philly:











In general, increased on-street parking and protected bicycle lanes appear to be a higher priority than accommodating multiple one-way travel lanes or bi-directional lanes.

[Steve]

I'd be open to those. I'd like to see them stop signs every block on those streets. Right now, between Margaret and king the only (potential) is Stockton, and you catch the green light, then you don't even have to stop there.

[PeeJayEss]

I don't agree often with you Lake

Was that sarcasm? People that don't agree with Lake are often incorrect.


Was there two-sided parking on Post and College when they were one-way? I was under the impression there were two lanes in each direction.
Given the re-development on King, it certainly seems like single-lane one-way could work on them, with parking on both sides. Is there enough room to squeeze a bike lane in if you had parking on both sides?

I believe there is plenty of right of way there, plenty of people park between the street and the sidewalk (the most redneck thing about Riverside). I realize I'm getting more pie in the sky, but I'd be fine with cutting the road a little wider to incorporate parking on both sides and a bike lane (shouldn't take much if any more width). Definitely not more than a single one-way lane though.

[thelakelander]

This is how Lakeland handled incorporating a designated multimodal corridor into a historic district, just south of downtown: