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TNT on St. Helens One-Way Plan

· Posted Monday May 14, 2007 by jamie

The News Tribune finally gave some print to the St. Helens one-way issue this morning, just in time for the hearing before the full City Council tomorrow evening.

I’m intrigued by the idea of including a northbound curbside bike line being integrated into the southbound one-way plan, mentioned as a possibility by City Manager Eric Anderson. (Physically separated bike lanes, anyone?) However, I still have some big concerns about other effects of the change. The great thing about that block of St. Helens is that it is low-traffic and pedestrian-friendly. Mark my words, this change will result in more cars driving faster along that stretch. Not good things for pedestrians or businesses. I’m glad that the merchants got to have a big role in deciding what should happen, because it should be that way, but all things considered I think that they would benefit much more from the street staying two-way.

I’m interested to see how the issue will progress tomorrow night…


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Comments:

  1. Right on, Jamie!

    Traffic speed will substantially increase on this block. I say, switch the direction, make Opera Alley go the other way, too, and it will be a lot more pedestrian friendly and probably safer for drivers too.

    — Erik Hanberg    May 14, 09:53 AM    #

  2. The Broadway Center Board of Trustees and the Merchants opposed the one way north direction because it would have cut off one of the main entrances to downtown.

    Plus, 80 percent of the people currently use the street southbound.

    I would have been happy keeping it two way. However, of the two choices, southbound is certainly better. The last thing we need is a “Do Not Enter” sign at one of the entrances to downtown.

    The challenge for downtown is to encourage people to come into downtown, not to help them exit faster.

    — Erik    May 14, 04:21 PM    #

  3. Woohoo! Comments from 2 different Eriks!

    Erik@2: This is definitely a tough issue, and I understand the arguments for traffic direction heading into downtown. I do really have my worries about fast drivers, and would like to see the two-way option back on the table, though.

    — jamie    May 14, 04:26 PM    #

  4. Nice blog.

    Wasn’t this the first Tacoma blog in town?

    I am sure I have seen you a dozen times at Blackwater but never made the connection.

    “I do really have my worries about fast drivers, and would like to see the two-way option back on the table, though.”

    Certainly a valid concern. However, from what I have seen in the meetings, the configuration is going to stay pretty much what it is today with double angled parking so I don’t anticipate the cars going any faster than they are now. There was a proposal to reduce the on-street parking for a while which would have sped the cars up, but now they are going to nearly max out the angled parking except for the area at the top which will have alot of green.

    — Erik B.    May 14, 07:32 PM    #

  5. I got an email back from Mike Lonergan saying (in part), “I understand the City staff is working on a bike lane solution.” Hopefully this works out.

    Speaking of bike lanes are there any other bike lanes in Tacoma?

    — Annie J    May 14, 09:38 PM    #

  6. Wasn’t this the first Tacoma blog in town?

    Oh, God no…I’ve only been around for just over a year. Derek’s been going for 2 years, Kevin’s been going for a long time (though the T-town focus is sort of newer), Erik@1 has been around for quite a while, and several of the others are up there as well…

    — jamie    May 15, 08:00 AM    #

  7. Annie@5 said:

    I got an email back from Mike Lonergan saying (in part), “I understand the City staff is working on a bike lane solution.” Hopefully this works out.

    Good news, I agree. I’m still skeptical of one-way, but preserving the bike corridor is definitely top priority for me.

    Speaking of bike lanes are there any other bike lanes in Tacoma?

    There are some here and there. A pretty long stretch of South 15th has a bike lane (though it inexplicably ends before reaching downtown), North Stevens has a bike lane, and I’m sure there are several others that just aren’t popping into my head. Somewhere out there in web-land there used to be a Pierce County bike map that has bike lanes, bike paths, recommended bike routes, etc., marked…it appears to be no longer available while they work on an updated version.

    — jamie    May 15, 08:09 AM    #