Two-way streets, and whether at long last we might finally get them back.

These administration responses to Daniel Suddeath's questions admittedly push most of the right buttons, and that's promising.

Two-way streets still a topic in New Albany; Gahan: Council may soon be asked for input about converting one-way streets.

At the same time, color me wary. Can you imagine the number of senior Democrats alone who are likely to resist?

There's also a well documented and long-standing tendency in this town to make small gestures, refer to them as major moves, strike the things-to-do tent, issue a "mission accomplished" statement, and then fail to finish much of anything at all.

Witness Mayor England's ballyhooed dual bicycle stripes on Spring Street. Three years later, sans any effort at maintenance, and as the paint inexorably fades, we await the reversion to two-way traffic that just might make sense of them. As it stands, they're connected to nothing, part of no network, and ignored by distracted drivers as they roar past on an uncalmed street designed for misuse.

Starting?

Very important, but finishing is even more important.

The newspaper's sidebar makes the case, and quite well, just as we've been doing here for so very long.

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According to a research report by Vikash V. Gayah, an assistant professor at Penn State University, the current literature on urban street network design stresses that two-way streets create higher levels of economic activity and improve the livability of downtown areas. For example, two-way streets are better for local businesses that depend heavily on pass-by traffic, Gayah wrote in his report. 

Additionally, traffic signal timing on two-way streets forces vehicles to stop more frequently than on one-way streets, giving drivers more exposure to local businesses. Two-way streets have also been found to be safer than one-way streets, for several reasons. 

Although intersections of two-way streets have more conflicting maneuvers, one-way streets correlate with decreased levels of driver attention. One-way streets also allow higher travel speeds since signal timing results in less frequent stops for vehicles. Gayah received his Pd.D. in transportation engineering from University of California Berkley. The report is available at http://uctc.net/access/41/access41-2way.pdf