Raise the Hammer

Take a virtual tour down this street in St. Remy, France.

International Village could look something like that! I don't see one-way streets as being synonymous with fast and dangerous streets. I see one-way streets with synchronized lights that force drivers to go at high speeds to avoid a red light as the problem.

Is the problem with one-way streets really the fact that all cars are moving in the same direction, or is the push for two-way streets based on the observation that two-way streets are less efficient for cars, and therefore speeds are lowered due to gridlock? If it's calmer traffic we want, can't we have efficient, one-way streets with low speed limits? As an occasional driver, I'd rather cruise slowly and avoid red lights altogether than have to deal with stop-and-go, two-way traffic. As an occasional pedestrian, I find it convenient to cross a street mid-block when there's regular breaks in traffic and I don't have to worry about cars coming from two directions.

I had dinner at a restaurant on King St between Caroline and Hess yesterday during rush hour. We had a window seat. The lull in traffic between red lights was a nice, peaceful break from the roar of speeding cars that was there the rest of the time. I'm glad the bus lane added a buffer. If the synchronization of the lights was slowed down to only allow a speed of 30 or 40km/h, the roar would be diminished, there would not be the same frustrating gridlock that you get with two-way traffic (ie James and John near St. Joe's), and there would still be the peaceful lull which is a safe time to Jaywalk. If cars are riding a wave of green lights, they're not idling much which is better for fuel efficiency and air quality too.

Am I missing something here? Maybe someone could write an article (or point me to one already written) that explains how, if at all, the benefit of two-way streets goes beyond just slower traffic (which one-way streets can accomplish along with other benefits that can't be had with two-way streets).

Comment edited by Jeremy_S on 2014-05-30 20:15:56