LOCALIZE IT: Cities cite safety over speed in reverting their 1-way streets back to 2-way
EDITORS/NEWS DIRECTORS:
Midsized cities across the U.S. are increasingly converting one-way streets to two-way routes. Transportation planners 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. Almost all streets initially started as two-way, before a mass exodus to the suburbs prioritized speedy commutes over walkability.
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READ AP’S STORY
Why US cities are reverting 1-way streets back to their original 2-way design
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SOME MIDSIZED CITIES THAT HAVE CONVERTED ONE-WAY STREETS TO TWO-WAY:
CALIFORNIA
Sacramento announced plans in 2021 to convert some of its one-way streets to two-way downtown.
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FLORIDA
Jacksonville has planned for decades to restore some downtown one-way streets back to two-way. Last July, it completed the first phase of the conversions of Forsyth and Adams streets in targeted dining districts.
Lakeland converted a one-way street to two-way more than 20 years ago. A recent review by Wade Walker, a Kittelson & Associates engineer who worked on the project, found a stretch that was once 50% vacant is now a vibrant shopping area.
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INDIANA
Indianapolis last year restored stretches of Michigan and New York streets that had passed a long-vacant RCA plant from one-way back to two-way. There are 10 other conversions on tap next, with a $25 million federal grant accounted for a large part of its estimated $60 million cost, according to the city’s Department of Public Works.
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IOWA
Davenport started converting 3rd Street from one-way to two-way in November 2025 with hopes to improve walkability and downtown businesses.
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KENTUCKY
Louisville: The city has been working on an ambitious plan to convert numerous one-way streets back to two-way, starting in 2018. It is partway through a major conversion passing major landmarks along Main Street. This year, it’s also working on converting streets back in the predominantly Black western part of the city, where neighborhoods and businesses declined after streets changed to one-way.
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MICHIGAN
Kalamazoo is converting several downtown one-way streets to make them more friendly to walkers and bicyclists, including Kalamazoo Ave. over the next two years.
Lansing in recent years has converted most of its one-way streets downtown to two-way.
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MONTANA
Billings converted several downtown one-way streets back to two-way, with construction wrapping up in fall 2025.
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NORTH CAROLINA
Durham concluded in a 2020 study that Roxboro and Mangum streets should be converted to two-way traffic. Construction is expected in 2027 and 2028.
Winston-Salem competed a conversion for portions of First and Second streets to two-way in 2022, with other projects on tap.
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OHIO
Columbus has spent more than a decade converting portions of a corridor around I-70 and I-71 downtown, including some one-way streets changing to two-way. Parts of the project are expected to take years to complete.
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TENNESSEE
Chattanooga converted a major street near the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga campus more than 20 years ago. Kittelson & Associates engineer Wade Walker who worked on it returned in 2022 to find the college campus was able to expand across and business construction had surged.
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TEXAS
Austin ‘s recently adopted Vision Zero plan includes some conversions of its one-way streets. Road safety advocates are pushing for the Texas capital city to go even further and convert all of them to two-way.
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VIRGINIA
Lynchburg completed the change of it’s downtown Main Street back to two ways in 2021. The city’s latest downtown master plan doubles down on that commitment: “Two-way is the way forward! Downtown is the place where people go to, not drive-through. Two-way streets slow traffic, provide for pedestrian safety, improve circulation, and provide every business the equal ability to be seen.”
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CONSIDER THESE REPORTING THREADS
— Are there one way streets with heavy traffic in your community? Were they always one-way or were they originally two-way? (Experts told the AP that virtually no major streets in the U.S. were born as one-way routes). What led to the change? Do residents, officials or police departments have concerns about speeding on those streets? Have there been discussions about changing them?
— City officials, planners, engineers, concerned residents and business owners all can be valuable sources. Many of the street redesigns have been under consideration for years, with numerous studies available in public records.
— Where is the funding coming from? Transportation planners like to say that “paint is cheap,” which is why they tout these projects, but the cost can be expansive based on how big the conversion. Some federal grants awarded under the 2021 infrastructure law signed by President Joe Biden have contributed to the efforts.
— Has your city made changes from unidirectional streets in recent years and have residents or business owners noticed any positive or negative shifts? Sources told AP that unidirectional streets hurt businesses over the years and in some cases a return to two-way roadways helped retailers and new construction.
— Are there any disadvantages to changing streets back to two-way? They were changed to one-way in the first place to speed up commutes, so will changing them back slow traffic down? Is there now any purpose to having one-way streets at all, or is the push in some cities such as Austin to do away with them entirely a sound one?
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