Since I am a roadway engineer and someone that lives on Spring St., I have great interest in the possibility of changing the Spring St. corridor to two-way traffic. Just by experience, I think that the traffic on Market St. and Elm St. could function in a two way system; however, I think Spring St. could not function with only one lane of traffic in each direction.
While I think the idea of having one lane in each direction, parking lanes, bike lanes and an island median would make the area look nicer, I think that the traffic will become a nightmare. The traffic on the existing road is heavy during rush hour and would become unbearable if the traffic was one lane in each direction. Also, I think the amount of traffic going eastbound on Spring St. would also be significant considering the number of people wanting to cut over to Clarksville and Jeffersonville.
I asked the traffic engineer in our office for his opinion. He has been doing traffic design work for 40+ years and he can look at something and know how it will function without calculations and tell you how a road or intersection will function. He told me what I thought to be true. Elm St. and Market St. would work with two way traffic; however, Spring St. would become a disaster. If I can get some traffic counts from whatever study the mayor used for his proposal, I could give you a better idea.
Another unfortunate side effect of putting an island in Spring St. would be removing a wide corridor that works very well for parades. That means that the Harvest Homecoming Parade route would change. I would be very upset if the parade route changes because that is one of my favorite perks of living on Spring St.--the parade route.
I would suggest any people that are supporting this proposal to think beyond the looks. Spring St. would become a nightmare to navigate, and I am sure any self-respecting mayor, city council or citizen would not want to create a problem rather than solving one.
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6 comments:
Larry,
Not to question your craft but from what's been presented by others it seems even with street front parking and a bike lane, Spring Street is still wide enough for two lanes of traffic in either direction.
As one who would never have beleived it when the conversation began about making the Kennedy Bridge three lanes wide, I remain amazed at the results. It works just fine thank you.
As a homeowner I support the project as a better way to control traffic. Some folks seem to think that Silver Street to the I64 on ramps is a dragstrip. Motorcycles, cars, & trucks all inclusive race to the finish line.
As a shopper making it two is much more condusive to being consumer friendly. If I am in the far right lane and the establishment is on the left curb, more often than not I've passed it before I've seen it. that leaves me with no alternative than to try to find my way back around the block to try again.
If I'm not from here, I more than likely will keep driving.
As to the Island, if designed properly it will restrict neither the view nor the parade route width for such eveents. Remember ther is no street parking on those days anyway.
On another note if you will, send me your email address and cell number so I can contact you. I'll keep it confidential if you wish.
You can get my email address from my blogspot.
Larry,
You've inadvertently hit the bullseye by aiming at the wrong target. The urban grid was designed to function as a way to move people using modes of transportation other than automobiles.
Your reference to it as an auto cut-through to other cities is indicative of Spring Street's bastardization over time. It's meant to be a residential, local access street, not a thruway as it functions now.
The goal is to make it less attractive for use for any purpose other than local access, i.e., not a cut-through or major thoroughfare.
Traffic congestion may increase immediately after the change, but only temporarily until drivers decide that Spring Street is no longer a convenient short cut and choose another route more appropriate for their intercity travel.
Making that happen is the crux of the two-way conversion in residential areas. Islands and narrower lanes are traffic calming devices. The aesthetic improvement is a secondary goal, not the primary one. Thanks for confirming that it will work.
There is a term for designing a road not to function like an engineer thinks it should function--context sensitive design. That is exactly what this project would be and the results of said projects normally function well even though they are not what engineers design for.
As engineers, we are given standards to which we are supposed to design our projects. These standards are not normally visually pleasing nor do they work well in an urban environment. The post discussed the functionality of the road using these standards.
How many bike lanes will there be? One on each side or just one? If there is one on each side, there is only enough room for a 2 foot wide island median which would not be able to accomodate landscaping. I would like to see a island median similar to the one used on Market Street near the intersection with State St.
I did want to note that I still am a little worried about a change in parade route. It would be difficult to have a parade with an island median. You could have a float on either side but that does not seem as parade like as having floats going down the middle of the road.
I am not too proud to take in the opinions of those that tell me their opinion and shift my thought process accordingly. If you have reason to believe it will work well, please let me know why you think it will work well so that I can adjust my perspective.
Larry,
The traffic count numbers do not support your conclusions. 15 months ago, city-hired engineers demonstrated the feasibility and functionality of restoring two-way traffic on Spring Street.
Without those numbers, your declaration that it would be a "nightmare" is premature. Engineers who have studied it (ACE, I believe) saw only positive impacts.
Remember, Spring Street was never designed for one-way traffic, nor for being an express route. There's a reason the state chose to continue with Main Street as the state highway.
A parade one day a year is hardly a reason to slag on the idea. And I'm guessing you haven't seen the parade in quite a while. I haven't seen ANYTHING in the parade over the past four years that required more than ONE lane.
I would love to see their analysis. The traffic that currently exists on Spring St. would have a difficult time being bottlenecked down to one lane. The wild card in this entire traffic analysis is the likelihood of traffic actually following the State Road over to Main St.
Another item on engineers with traffic studies is the result that the client wants is normally the result that the client gets, unless it is impossible to finagle the numbers. If the person that hired the traffic study wanted to show that it could work, they could easily shift traffic and assume that it would move to Main St.; however, if someone did not want the two-way option, they could pay the consultant to come up with a solution that says it would not work. Consultants can be bought. Were they? We may never know for sure.
I am well aware of the parade and the floats that have been in it; as I said previously, it runs in front of my home. I just have a hard time seeing the parade going on a two-way Spring St. The floats may fit on one side or another; however, I would think that having floats on one side of the street is not as parade like as going right down the middle. This one is based solely on personal preference.
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