Last week it came to light that a handful of community leaders were coming up with a proposal that could significantly alter traffic in midtown and downtown Atlanta.
The proposal includes changing Spring Street, West Peachtree Street, Juniper Street, and Piedmont Avenue from one-way streets to two-way streets. The thought from business leaders is that traffic will be forced to slow down and the slower traffic would be a boon for businesses along the four thoroughfares. I'm all for helping small businesses in Atlanta, but I really don't like this idea.
Look at The Varsity. It's located on Spring Street, a one-way street. Their business doesn't seem to be hurt by this. If your business is good enough, people will find you no matter what street you are on.
Plus, the business along Spring, West Peachtree, Piedmont and Juniper all knew that they were one-way streets when they decided to open their establishments. This wasn't a surprise to them.
As always, my main goal is to eliminate traffic congestion. That's why I really don't like the proposal.
The main north/south road between midtown and downtown in Peachtree Street. It's a two-way street and traffic on Peachtree is much worse than it is on Spring, West Peachtree, Juniper and West Peachtree. I'm afraid that if we change those from one-way streets to two-way streets we are going to see traffic get worse on all four streets.
When you drive on Peachtree Street you basically have to stay out of the left lane because you will quite often get stuck behind vehicles trying to make left-hand turns. That left lane becomes a no-man's land. The same thing would happen on Spring Street and West Peachtree if they changed to two-way streets. We'd basically lose a travel lane. Not good.
I'll admit, I'm biased. I use Spring, West Peachtree, etc. quite often. I enjoy having the option of not getting on the interstate heading between midtown and downtown. I consider it a home field advantage for Atlanta drivers. Instead of getting on the freeway with out-of-state drivers heading through the city we are able to use these one-way roads to get to where we need to go. If those streets become two-way, I think traffic will get bad enough that I'd consider using I-75/85 instead. Pushing commuters to the interstate would definitely be bad for businesses along those four one-way streets.
The other concern cited by the community leaders as pedestrian safety. While this should certainly always be a concern I don't see how making a one-way street into a two-way street will improve pedestrian safety. I might be taking an overly simplistic view of the situation, but when you cross a one-way street you really only have to worry about traffic coming in one direction. On a two-way street you truly have to ook "both ways."
I asked the dean of Atlanta traffic reporters Captain Herb Emory what he thought about the proposal.
"It is going to be confusing for folks like me that have been driving those streets as one way for as long as I can remember." Emory said. "I'm not sure if traffic flow will improve as a result. Improving and synchronizing the traffic signals would probably do more to reduce commuter delays and stress on the streets downtown."
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