For 68 years, drivers on Colorado Street in downtown Austin could go only one way: south.
But as of today, that one-directional road officially goes two ways for cars. It鈥檚 the hip thing to do.
鈥淭his is absolutely a trend,鈥� said Billy Riggs, assistant professor of management at the University of San Francisco. Riggs said more cities have been converting one-way streets to two-way streets over the past two decades, but that more recently the trend has, well, picked up speed.
Drivers Forced To Pay Attention
One reason is that two-way streets tend to be safer 鈥� for everyone.
鈥淚t comes across as counterintuitive, right?" Riggs said. "Well, if pedestrians only have to look one direction that鈥檚 a safer environment for them. But what we鈥檙e finding is that the performance of one-way streets actually facilitates faster-moving traffic.鈥�
In a study published in 2015, Riggs and a colleague . They compared the number of car collisions on four streets 鈥� two one-way, two two-way 鈥� in downtown Louisville. The one-way streets had between four and five car crashes per month, while the two-way streets had closer to three. On the streets that were converted to two-way, the number of monthly crashes fell at a rate as high as 60 percent.
Riggs said the difference is that two-way streets, with the potential threat of oncoming traffic, force drivers to pay more attention.
鈥淐reating an uncertain environment is the best thing we can do for you as a driver to get you to drive safer,鈥� Riggs said.
Lee Austin, a traffic engineer with the city, agreed.
鈥淲hen you have ongoing traffic and you鈥檙e a little nervous about what they鈥檙e doing, you鈥檒l go much slower than if you have a one-way street and you have no possible conflicts, people tend to go a lot faster,鈥� she said.
Two-Way Streets Are Retro
By going two-way, Colorado Street is getting back to its roots 鈥� albeit,
According to the Austin Statesman, Colorado used to be a two-way street. But in 1950, it became one-directional 鈥� along with Brazos, Seventh and Eighth Streets.
It created, at first, some issues.
鈥淭raffic went north on streets marked one-way south,鈥� a Statesman reporter wrote in an article with the headline, 鈥淥ne-Way Streets Result in Carnival of Confusion.鈥�
鈥淭here was a crazy-quilt pattern of parking and lots of stopping, backing and looking for directional signs,鈥� the article said.
In 1972, there was another wave of one-way conversion when Fifth, Second and what is now Cesar Chavez Streets went down to one direction.
Austin said these conversions chart a change in thinking.
鈥淵ou can look at developments from the '70s and we totally prioritized the car, and we didn鈥檛 prioritize pedestrians and we didn鈥檛 prioritize bicycles,鈥� she said. 鈥淭here definitely has been a change in thinking that we want downtown to be a livable environment where you feel safe and comfortable to walk and bike.鈥�
A plan approved by the City Council in 2011 called for converting more one-way downtown streets to two-way roads, including Seventh, Eighth, Ninth Streets and San Jacinto Boulevard.
鈥淸But] we don鈥檛 have any specific next targets yet,鈥� Austin said.
