One-way. Two-way. Which way are we going? Residents of Sidney will have to ponder the question as town council has been asked to convert Beacon Avenue to two-way traffic again.
The three blocks of Beacon Avenue between Fifth and Second Street feature two lanes of one-way traffic. It’s the section of town dominated by inviting sidewalks, bookstores and cafés, perhaps the only classic, small-town main street in the region.
Steve Duck and some other local business people think those two lanes should once again be two-way. They think one-way streets are designed to move people through an area quickly and get them out. Instead, he says, the goal should be to encourage them to linger and shop, which he thinks a two-way street would accomplish better.
Council will discuss the question on Oct. 24. Engineers estimate it would cost $50,000 to $70,000 to make the change.
Cities and towns of all sizes have wrestled with the one-way/two-way question. Sidney had its debate in 1997 when those blocks of Beacon were converted to one-way. The purpose was the same as Duck’s: to revitalize business along the street. However, many disagreed with the move.
Within a few months, council was presented with a 217-name signature demanding the changes be reversed.
“The flow of traffic is just terrible,” said barber Rick Brintnell, who presented the petition. “Most of my customers find the one-way street frustrating and confusing.”
One-way streets emerged in big cities after the Second World War, when the goal was to move people quickly between the downtown cores where they worked and the growing suburbs where they lived. The theory was that one-way streets moved cars faster, in part because they didn’t have to stop for drivers making left turns. Speeds could be higher because there was less chance of collisions when all the cars were travelling in the same direction.
Studies suggest, however, that on one-way networks, people have to drive farther to get where they are going within the city. One found that the most efficient method is two-way streets that ban left turns.
Duck has tapped into a growing trend. Vancouver and Regina have converted some one-ways to two-ways. In the U.S., Dallas, Denver, Sacramento and Tampa have switched. The goal is to slow traffic and bring shopping streets back to life.
All those, however, are bigger cities and longer streets than Sidney’s Beacon Avenue.
Would it make a difference on the three blocks of Beacon Avenue? The town has studied some possibilities, including making it two-way, leaving it alone and making the avenue more bicycle-friendly. It could also take a leaf out of Victoria’s book and make it like Government Street, with pedestrian priority.
Some have suggested turning it into a pedestrian-only street, a proposition that is sure to be more controversial than any of the others.
Under Duck’s proposal, the wide sidewalks and parking would remain. That would mean too little room to add left-turn lanes, so traffic would back up behind any car making a left.
Businesspeople can measure the state of Beacon Avenue by looking at their sales receipts and the number of empty storefronts. To the shopper, however, the town’s main thoroughfare seems busy and attractive.
Other than Beacon, Sidney’s streets are two-way, so it’s not hard to get where you’re going. And finding parking on Beacon or one of the side streets is rarely difficult.
One-way was supposed to revive business. Now two-way is supposed to revive business. Council needs some expert advice to decide one way or the other.
