STUDY OF THE OPERATIONAL ASPECTS OF ONE-WAY AND TWO-WAY STREETS

A RESEARCH STUDY WAS SET UP TO DETERMINE IN A QUANTITATIVE WAY THE IMPROVEMENTS IN TRAFFIC OPERATIONS BY CONVERTING SOME STATE TRUNK LINES THROUGH CITIES FROM TWO-WAY TO ONE-WAY TRAFFIC OPERATIONS. PARAMETERS OF TIME, CONVENIENCE AND SAFETY WERE USED TO EVALUATE THE QUALITY OF THE TRAFFIC SERVICE. ANALYSIS OF SPEED SURVEYS INDICATED THAT SPEED ON THE TRUNK LINE INCREASED AN OVER-ALL AVERAGE OF 18.1 TO 23.5 MPH IN KALAMAZOO AND 25.3 TO 28.2 MPH IN LANSING. IN BOTH CITIES ONE-WAY ARTERIALS ATTRACTED ADDITIONAL TRAFFIC, ESPECIALLY DURING RUSH HOURS, THUS HELPING TO ALLEVIATE CONGESTION ON LOCAL STREETS. ANALYSIS OF VOLUMES AND TRAVEL INDICATED THAT TRAVEL DISTANCES WITHIN THE STUDY CORRIDORS HAVE NOT INCREASED TO ANY APPRECIABLE DEGREE, CONTRARY TO THE GENERAL BELIEF THAT ONE-WAY STREET OPERATION CAUSES EXCESSIVE TRIP LENGTHS. THE TWO CITIES SO FAR STUDIED HAVE NO INDICATED SIMILAR CONCLUSIVE TRENDS IN THE SAFETY ASPECTS OF THE ONE-WAY SYSTEMS. IN GENERAL, THE ACCIDENT SITUATION IN KALAMAZOO HAS IMPROVED, BUT IN LANSING, IT HAS NOT. SOME OBSERVATIONS OF ACCIDENT ANALYSIS COMMON TO BOTH CITIES WERE THAT ON THE TRUNKLINE SECTION WHICH CHANGED FROM TWO-WAY TO ONE-WAY OPERATION THERE WAS CONSIDERABLE REDUCTION IN REAR-END COLLISIONS, SUBSTANTIAL DECREASE IN ALL TYPES OF MIDBLOCK ACCIDENTS, BUT SOME INDICATION OF RISE IN PEDESTRIAN ACCIDENTS. /SRIS/

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Rept No Tsd-TR-101 (I)-69, 157 PP, 33 TAB
• Corporate Authors:

  Michigan Department of State Highways

  State Highways Building, PO Drawer K
  Lansing, MI  United States  48904
• Authors:
  • Enustun, N
• Publication Date: 1969-1

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Highway operations; One way traffic; Pedestrian vehicle crashes; Prevention; Safety; Traffic; Traffic congestion; Traffic crashes; Traffic speed; Traffic volume; Two lane highways
• Uncontrolled Terms: Motor vehicle accidents; Two way traffic
• Subject Areas: Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Safety and Human Factors; Security and Emergencies;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00225716
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Nat Safety Council Safety Res Info Serv
• Files: TRIS, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Sep 9 1970 12:00AM