29th August 2008

We Need More One-Way Streets

posted in Life |

The title says it all.  I think we need more one-way streets.  Downtown is full of them and traffic seems to flow just a bit better when you can have at least 2 lanes in motion with both outside lanes used for parking.  We need to do the same thing for other parts of Vancouver particularly in neighbourhoods.

mountaingoats puzzleHere’s the problem.  Take an Avenue like 3rd in Kitsilano.  We have both East and West traffic.  We also have parking on both sides of the street.  This is not a wide street so what we end up with is akin to the Mountain Goats Puzzle with cars taking turns navigating through the now  single lane of traffic.  Then you always have the Bully who does not let you through and wants to make sure they get through first and foremost, pushing your little car to the side in whatever minor gap between parked cars there may be.

one wayHere’s my solution.  Understanding that we need parking to accommodate all the local residents with no parking and all the shoppers/visitors to the neighbourhood we continue to allow parking on both sides of the street (all of the spaces on one side for residential permits and all the spaces on the other side limited to 2 hours unless with a resident permit or between 8pm and 7am).   Then we turn all the odd numbered avenues into one way West and all the even numbered Avenues into one way East.  North/South corridors are traveling streets with some parking but do not nearly pose the same issues as East/West corridors.  Now traffic flows smoother, you only have to worry about traffic coming from one direction when crossing the street or riding a bike, and we will have even more parking spaces for all!  Win, win, win!

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2 Responses to “We Need More One-Way Streets”

  1. Tony C says:

    This is a great idea but I think it can only be done selectively. The original idea behind streets like the one you described is that it’s meant to be a local residential street used only by local traffic. When it was originally built, it was never intended to have heavy traffic going through it as it seems to have now. Therefore, for many streets like this where traffic is still light, there is no need to convert to a one way street.

    The bad thing about having too many one way streets is that visitors or those who don’t frequent the area much can easily get lost or frustrated. I’m sure we’ve all had a case where we were looking for an address, only to drive by it at the last moment on a one way street and then having to loop around to get back.

    However, one way streets works great in areas where traffic volume is consistently high. As you noted, there is a significant increase in traffic efficiency with one way streets. In areas where volume is high, the cons noted above are balanced by the increase in efficiency.

    In summary, for some of the small streets in Kitsilano, converting to one way streets is a great idea. However doing it city-wide is probably overkill and should only be done on a case by case basis.

  2. Will says:

    Your absolutely right about the selective one-way approach. Larger streets such as 4th, 10th, 16th, 33rd, 41st, or those which end in cul-de-sacs or traffic calmed turns as seen in the West End clearly would not benefit from any one-way street applications. I also think you need to be consistent with the application so if 3rd is to become one way it must be for the entire length of 3rd ave. Even on less trafficked avenues a one way approach is beneficial to the residents who live there as it would calm their streets even more while increasing parking and improving flow.
    Missing an address and having to around the block is really not a very good argument. The blocks are so well laid out here that if you just missed your address and have to walk a at most a block really is no big deal, is it?

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  • Will Wertheim
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