Cities designed 1-way streets to speed up traffic. Now they're being scrapped

Key Highlights

• But after the RCA plant closed in 1995, the suddenly barren roads grew even more enticing for lead-footed drivers — until last year, when city officials finally converted them back to two-way streets.“The opening and conversion of those streets has just been transformative for how people think about that corridor,” said James Taylor, who runs a nearby community center. Embracing the oft-repeated slogan that “paint is cheap,” transportation planners across the U. S.
• — particularly in midsize cities — have been turning their unidirectional streets back to multidirectional ones.
• They view the step as one of the easiest ways to improve safety and make downtowns more alluring to shoppers, restaurant patrons and would-be residents. Dave Amos, an assistant professor of city and regional planning at California Polytechnic State University, said almost no major streets in the U. S.
• originated as one-way routes.
• Two-way streets were the standard, before mass migration to the suburbs prioritized faster commutes over downtown walkability.“One-way streets are designed for moving cars quickly and efficiently,” Amos said.