Raise the Hammer

Listed are some before/after safety studies indicating one-way streets are safer for pedestrians than two-way streets.

PORTLAND, OR (1949): Portland converted most of their downtown two-way streets to one-way streets in the late 1940’s. After conversion, vehicle accidents decreased from 6,127 to 3,361 (-45.1%). The number of pedestrian accidents decreased from 237 to 126 (-46.8%). Volume of traffic in downtown increased from 12,734 to 16,708 vehicles (+31.2%) and average speeds increased from 7.9 mph to 14.2 mph (+79.7%).

CINCINNATI, OH (1975): Cincinatti converted Vine Street between Central Parkway and Mc Micken Ave. from two-way operation to one-way in 1975. After conversion, vehicle accidents decreased from 212 to 128 (-39.6%). The number of pedestrian accidents decreased from 16.6 to 13 (-21.7%). Volume of traffic increased from 24,520 to 28,025 (+14.3%).

NEW YORK CITY, NY (2008): The Park Avenue Tunnel at 33rd Street was one of the top pedestrian crash locations in the city from 1996-2007, averaging 12 pedestrian crashes per year. The city converted the tunnel to one-way operation in 2008 and the intersection saw a dramatic drop in both pedestrian injury crashes (100%) and all injury crashes (74%).

Cities that have converted one-way streets to two-way streets have seen a dramatic rise in pedestrian related crashes:

DENVER, CO (1986): Denver converted several one-way couplets to two-way streets in 1986. After conversion, the vehicle accident rates at intersections increased 37.6% while the mid-block accident rate increased 80.5%.

LUBBOCK, TX (1995): Lubbock converted a couple of downtown one-way streets to two-way in 1995. After conversion, total accidents increased by 41.6%

CINCINNATI, OH (1999): Cincinatti converted Vine Street to two-way operation in 1999. After conversion, vehicle accidents increased from 75.9 to 164 (+116%). Pedestrian accidents increased from 5.9 to 12 (+103%). Volume of traffic increased from 30,900 to 35,600 (+15.2%) and the average speed decreased from 18.0 to 12.4 (-31.1%).

ALBEQUERQUE, NM (1999-2003): Albequerque converted most of their downtown one-way streets to two-way streets between 1999-2003 (62 blocks total). After conversion, vehicle accidents increased from 778 to 824 (+5.9%). Pedestrian accidents increased from 14 to 26 (+85.7%). Bicycle accidents increased from 5 to 12 (+148%). Volume of traffic decreased from 359,430 to 284,180 (-20.9%).

Sources: City of Denver, One-Way Street Monitoring Study, Phase 1 Conversion Report, January 1990.

City of Lubbock, Main and 10th Street Accident Analysis, Before/After Study, 1998

City of Cincinnati, Over-the-Rhine/Vine Street Circulation Study, February 2003.

NYC DOT, The New York City Pedestrian Safety Study and Action Plan, August 2010.