Are Two-Way Streets Really Always Better?
To be for or against one way streets has turned into a matter of credo with Robert Moses and Jane Jacobs as the opposing prophets. Once an issue resides in the pantheon of those belief systems, rational deliberation becomes difficult. Curiously, the one way street question has become part of the litmus test in the catechism of "good" traffic engineering.
As such, this issue has joined a whole set of other transportation belief items such as bike lanes versus cars or cars versus transit. Exhibits are Toronto's mayor and his fight against bike-lanes, the current debates about streetcars, the acrimony in the congressional debates about Amtrak budgeting or the refusal of Florida's governor to accept federal high speed rail funding. A current example is Maryland's gubernatorial campaign where the Republican contender announced he will scrap two multi-billion dollar transit projects after over ten years of planning and design. However, the topic of one-way versus two-way streets is hardly suited for ideological positions even if one approaches the question with "complete streets" in mind continue reading -------------------------------------------
Klaus Philipsen FAIA
Archplan Inc. Philipsen Architects
Baltimore MD
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