Would two-way traffic on Main, Cary be a boon to downtown business?
Two local writers cite studies that suggest ending one-way traffic on two of the city’s major arteries might bolster local business, make the city more walkable.
Is the one-way street an antiquated urban planning tactic that should be revisited? Would transitioning West Main and West Cary Streets–two of the main arteries piercing Carytown, The Fan, and the Museum District–to two-way traffic be a boon to business?
These are the questions posed by editorials in both the Richmond Times-Dispatch and RVANews today.
The RTD’s Michael Paul Williams cites studies that say it may be quite beneficial:
Studies have shown that two-way streets slow traffic, boost the visibility and vitality of urban retailers, and move motorists more efficiently to their destination — all while improving neighborhood ambiance. And a neighborhood is what downtown Richmond has become, as its renovated buildings fill with students, hipsters, young professionals and empty-nesters.
Not coincidentally, a return to two-way streets in Richmond has been a stated goal of various city plans dating back to 1998. Such a conversion will not be cheap. But it has been maddeningly slow to come to fruition, even as the city has found money for other pet projects that popped up in the interim.
RVANews’ Aaron Williams opines that this stretch of roadway has the most potential to become a walkable neighborhood of any area in the city:
Outside of the VCU Monroe Park Campus, what area in Richmond has more potential as a walkable neighborhood than Carytown and the restaurants and bars on Main Street? What obligation does Cary Street have to commuters? Two-way reversion is already part of the Richmond master plan downtown, and now it’s time to move this strategy west to the retail district with the most character and potential in the entire metro-region.
Two-way reversion isn’t a magic bullet that will fix an entire neighborhood’s struggles, but the return on investment is too good to ignore.
The city’s Master Plan calls for conversion of some streets to two-way traffic, starting with a stretch of East Grace Street between 4th and 9th Streets.
Read Michael Paul Williams and Aaron Williams’ articles, and then let us know where you stand on the issue.
Photo: Olivia Ruffin
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Trevor Dickerson
Trevor Dickerson loves all things Richmond and manages RVANews’ West of the Boulevard and West End community sites.
Notice: Comments that are not conducive to an interesting and thoughtful conversation may be removed at the editor’s discretion.
Sounds like a traffic nightmare. Getting on or across Main now is difficult since most of the time you are guessing and blindly crossing because cars are parked all the way to end of the street. In addition, people just randomly stop instead of park when loading/unloading people. At least now you can go around them. Would they then install stop lights? I don’t see how else anyone could cross Main. Carey would be even worse.
@fan living – I wasn’t recently told that it is actually illegal to park within 10 (15?) feet of a corner, but the law is almost never enforced. Not sure this is true, but if it is, and the law were actually enforced, that would address some of your concerns.
Lee, it is illegal to park within 20’ of a crosswalk, within 30’ of a stop sign or traffic signal, and if no marked crosswalk, within 20’ of the intersecting curb line. Enforce that in the Fan and there is an uproar.
I think the confusion comes from the no parking signs put up all around. Sometimes it clearly marked that you cant park past the no parking sign, and other places simply dont have the signs. Essentially there is no way to know that parking near a corner is illegal if the sign isnt there.