No Light Rail in Vancouver!
Light rail costs too much, does too little
The Disappearing One-Way Streets
Both one-way and two-way streets are visible in this view of downtown Montgomery.
Click to see a larger view.
Flickr photo by Brian Esquire.
One-way streets were a huge success in reducing traffic accidents when cities installed
them in the 1950s. Those cities that have restored two-way operation that have bothered
to check found that the number of accidents increased on two-way streets. So why
are cities changing them back?
As the Montomery city engineer says, “The city hired some planners, some urban planners…”
Two-way streets are part of the latest planning fad, which is really an anti-auto
agenda. “Cities should be for people, not cars,” planners will say, ignoring the
fact that every car on the road has one or more people in it.
The Montgomery planners say that two-way streets will be better for business because
they will provide “traffic facing each of the four corners on a daily basis.” Maybe,
if downtown streets are not congested. But if they are congested, converting to two
way will only increase the congestion and discourage shoppers and others from going
downtown in the first place.
Montgomery expects to spend a lot of money on each street. If it follows the practice
of other cities, it won’t bother to evaluate the results after installing the first
street to see if it should do more. Instead, it will just keep converting one-way
to two-way streets regardless of the effects on pedestrian safety, businesses, and
other concerns. That’s the planning way.
Reprinted from The Antiplanner
