DT roads going to two-way

[thelakelander]

Its nice to see these projects move foward.



http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2009-11-03/story/bay_street_will_become_two_way_road_between_ocean_and_newnan_streets

[reednavy]

Get ready for people complaining that it'll be harder to get around now. Sorry, buy the downtown area is not meant to be a speed bump on your way to get somewhere else. If you want to get somewhere faster, avoid downtown. If not, park your car, walk around, and enjoy the riverfront.

Even though I live out here in Mandarin, I like driving downtown, parking my truck, and walking around the core. The sounds of the city center and riverfront never get old.

[Keith-N-Jax]

I agree I like being downtown. People here will always complain, remember there's not enough parking downtown either. Should be interesting to see how it goes.

[Jason]

Anyone townie with a "Salt Life" sticker on their SUV that works DT is going to absolutely hate this.

I think its great though!  IMO, the only streets that should be one way are State and Union.

[Joe]

Good news indeed.

I'll go a step further than Jason and say that I can at least understand the need for 1) State & Union, 2) Ocean & Main, and 3) Broad and Jefferson to remain as sets of one-way streets.

Frankly, everything else needs to be converted back to two-way. Forsyth, Adams, Monroe, Church, Julia, Pearl, etc.

[Ocklawaha]

LOVE IT, let's do em all... Just set's us up for STREETCARS! hee hee!

OCKLAWAHA

[JeffreyS]

A good step.

[reednavy]

I'm going to disagree Joe and agree with Jason. All streets except State and Union should be two-way, as S and U serve a purpose until something can be done about the Arlington Expy and Mathews Bridge.

Main Street in the long run is proposed to become a two-way street in the future, and it should be, returning the Main Street Bridge back to actually serving all of Main St, and not just the southbound speedway lanes. At the same time they do that, drop the speedway section and bring it back down to level and make the Southbank more walkable.

[heights unknown]

They should never have changed any downtown streets to one way in the first place.  These streets have been one way for as long as I can remember. Yea for the City of Jax!  Let's change them all back to two way streets!

Heights Unknown

[Steve]

One thing to consider:  A lot of people have been saying they should "change them back to two way".  More streets than people think were one way streets.  Some that I know of for a fact are Forsyth, Adams, and Laura.  Some were converted, like Ocean, Main, Bridge (now broad street), and Jefferson, but not every one way street is from the 1970's.

Just food for thought.

[Overstreet]

This will make it easier to cruise around the block looking for that metered parking spot.

[ChriswUfGator]

One thing to consider:  A lot of people have been saying they should "change them back to two way".  More streets than people think were one way streets.  Some that I know of for a fact are Forsyth, Adams, and Laura.  Some were converted, like Ocean, Main, Bridge (now broad street), and Jefferson, but not every one way street is from the 1970's.

Just food for thought.

There are quite a few historical photos floating around, and just judging from that it appears that most of the main thoroughfares downtown were 2-way, at least up through the 50s/60s.

But regardless of when they were originally implemented, I really think this is a very positive step. The mess of unnecessary one-way streets does nothing but force people to drive in huge circles to get where they're going. Each one of these impediments that COJ manages to remove will slowly have an affect on peoples' subconscious decision about where to go and what to do. It's like a supply/demand curve really, if you make something fun and easy people will go. Make it enough of a hassle, and they won't. I think this is a VERY positive step.

And I also agree with the other posters, that Union and State are the only two streets that have anything close to enough traffic to justify being one-way. Everything else should be two-way. The point of the one-way grid was to carry an amount of traffic downtown hasn't seen in at least two decades, and probably won't again in our lifetime. In the meantime, growth isn't helped by inconveniencing those who do want to go there.

[stjr]

I agree with Ock, make 'em three- or four-way streets with one way or two way streetcars added. 

[ChriswUfGator]

I was in Brookline, MA the other day, and saw how they have streetcars that mix in just fine with the regular roadways and pedestrians. It's seamlessly integrated commuter rail, and you didn't even notice it was there. But the convenience factor is huge, you can hop right on and be anywhere in 20 minutes with no traffic. I'm sold. I hope someone may actually consider that idea.

[Ocklawaha]

One thing to consider:  A lot of people have been saying they should "change them back to two way".  More streets than people think were one way streets.  Some that I know of for a fact are Forsyth, Adams, and Laura.  Some were converted, like Ocean, Main, Bridge (now broad street), and Jefferson, but not every one way street is from the 1970's.

Just food for thought.

There are quite a few historical photos floating around, and just judging from that it appears that most of the main thoroughfares downtown were 2-way, at least up through the 50s/60s.

We used to have a lot of problems with horses running headlong into eachother. To make matters even worse, it was hard to cross the Cow Ford, when your horse had a concussion.

And I also agree with the other posters, that Union and State are the only two streets that have anything close to enough traffic to justify being one-way. Everything else should be two-way. The point of the one-way grid was to carry an amount of traffic downtown hasn't seen in at least two decades, and probably won't again in our lifetime. In the meantime, growth isn't helped by inconveniencing those who do want to go there.

I don't, move that traffic to a new and improved version of the MLK, take both of these streets down to ground level to the Stadium area, THEN ramp them over the bridge or MLK, with street level access to the Hart. Remade into big wide Argentina style boulevards or parkways, they could be both beautiful and useful.

I agree with Ock, make 'em three- or four-way streets with one way or two way streetcars added. 

RIGHT ON BROTHER!

OCKLAWAHA