Former one-way couplets, of which one or both of the streets are now two-way

[KCRoadFan]

At some point in the past couple weeks, when I was in the Crossroads neighborhood of my hometown of Kansas City, I was thinking about how Main Street, after crossing the tracks just north of Union Station, used to split into a one-way couplet, with Main Street running one-way southbound while Walnut Street, a block east, carried northbound traffic. At some point in the mid-to-late aughts - as part of a broader overhaul of traffic flow on downtown streets - both Main and Walnut were changed to two-way streets, and in addition to that, the roadway that used to shunt northbound traffic onto Walnut does not even exist anymore - it was eliminated when a Home2 hotel was built on the southeast corner of 20th and Main (the first intersection north of the tracks).

That made me wonder: throughout the country, where else have you seen pairs of parallel streets that used to form one-way couplets, but one or both of those streets has since become two-way? I know that Main and Market Streets, at one point, carried US 60 through downtown Louisville (Main westbound, Market eastbound), and I'm pretty sure they still do - however, going by the yellow lines I saw in the satellite photos, Market is now two-way for some of its route. In addition, I believe that Town and Rich Streets in downtown and westside Columbus, Ohio, used to be a one-way couplet, and became two-way after a big construction project was done along the riverfront about a decade ago.

Those are the examples I can think of - in what other cities have you seen that phenomenon?

[ilpt4u]

Aurora, IL/east side of town: New York St/WB and Galena Blvd/EB between Smith St and Lincoln Ave. Both are now 2-way on this segment. GSV from 2012 and earlier shows the one way configuration

They still are one way pairs in Downtown Aurora

[JREwing78]

Very common, as cities have transitioned from prioritizing car throughput to more pedestrian friendly, easier-to-navigate cities. My city, for example, used to have 3-lane one-way couplets for the main E-W movement through downtown; they were subsequently replaced with 2-lane streets with bike lanes and, where appropriate, angled parking. There's one remaining one-way street because it's too narrow to accommodate parking on both sides and two-way traffic.

All the folks who freaked out about the traffic snarls the two-way streets would cause have been proven wrong; the city was also able to remove stoplights at multiple intersections (some replaced with 4-way stops, some 2-way), and that saved them considerable amounts of money.

A few other examples off the top of my head:
- Kalamazoo, MI  reclaimed jurisdiction over its downtown streets from MDOT to facilitate conversion to two-way streets, provide bike lanes, and make them more pedestrian-friendly. This is a work in progress;
- Lansing, MI has removed most of its one-way couplets downtown; the only remaining pair are Ottawa St (WBD) and Allegan St (EBD); they are part of the "Capitol Loop" and are maintained by MDOT. There's a one-way couplet serving as frontage roads for I-496 on the southern edge of downtown, and a one-way couplet at the north edge for Bus I-69/M-43 - those are unlikely to go away
- Jackson, MI removed the "racetrack" one-way loop around its downtown and replaced it with two-way streets, keeping the Bus I-94/Bus US-127/M-50 designation along Louis Glick Hwy (north side of downtown) and reverting Washington Ave to a local street.

[pderocco]

A long time ago, US-99 in southern Seattle ran along 1st Ave and 4th Ave. I'm assuming they were both one-way, otherwise why? In 1953, the Alaskan Way Viaduct was built, and at some point those reverted to two-way streets.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

Duluth, MN: US 61, and for a brief time subsequently MN 61 used one-way couplets on 12th Ave East (southbound) and 14th Ave East (northbound) as connectors between its London Road route and the (still extant) East 2nd/3rd St one-way couplets that formerly carried TH 23. 12th and 14th were made two-way in the early 2010s with most stoplights converted to stop signs.

[DandyDan]

In Omaha, Harney and Farnam Streets were a one-way couplet for many years going east from 42nd Street, but sometime around 2010 (I don't remember the precise date, but probably related to the opening of Midtown Crossing), Farnam became a two-way street going east to Turner Blvd. Harney remains one way eastbound.

[bwana39]

In Texarkana 3rd and 4th streets were  one way couplets across downtown of both sides between the KCS tracks (west) to Hickory Street (east) having traffic signals across most of it.

Now there are no traffic signals south of 7th Street and all of the streets are 2-way. IMO, they should have left the portion from the KCS tracks to Texas Boulevard one way as what is there is fairly awkward due to the overpass that leads to the Texas side viaduct.

[Rothman]

As part of the I-81 Viaduct Project in Syracuse, Adams and Harrison Streets, currently one-ways, will both become two-way streets.  We'll see how that goes...the recent conversion of Clinton Street to two-way worked out okay...

[ibagli]

In Newark, Ohio, Mount Vernon Road and Hudson Avenue between St. Clair Avenue and Locust Street were converted back to two-way traffic about seven years ago, along with the one-block section of Church Street that was one-way eastbound (for northbound traffic on OH-13). I don't know that the downtown traffic levels ever justified the one-way setup, but it was certainly overkill in recent decades.

[mgk920]

Here in Appleton, WI, in the late 1950s,the city converted Appleton and Oneida (later Morrison) Streets in a north-south pair and Lawrence and Washington street (they straddle College Ave, the city's downtown main street, one block away) into an east-west one way pair.  Over the past decade or two, they were all converted back into two-way streets. A couple of years ago the north approach to the four lane Oneida Skyline bridge over the Fox River valley (opened in 1981) was converted from a split feed into Appleton and Oneida Streets as the one-way N-S couplet through downtown area to feeding entirely into Appleton St (building a new street bridge over a ravine park in the process), including the two lane offset crossover at the north end of the downtown area for the southbound traffic into a two-way street.  So far things are working well for everything in its new configuration.

Mike

[vdeane]

Over in Amsterdam, the streets carrying the westbound direction of NY 5 were recently reconfigured to be two-way.  I believe there are even plans to remove the EB lanes of NY 5.

In Rochester, parts of Clinton and St. Paul were converted to two-way a while back.  There were plans to convert South and the remainder of Clinton, but I think those might have been put on hold or scrapped since they would require reconfiguring the I-490 interchange.

[1995hoo]

Fairfax, Virginia: VA-236 used to use North Street westbound and Main Street eastbound. Both are now two-way. Thru traffic is directed to use North Street in both directions and it does indeed seem to require less time waiting at red lights when you go that way.

Charlottesville, Virginia: Market Street used to be one-way eastbound and Water Street used to be one-way westbound and you couldn't easily connect between them. They're both now two-way with a few connections across the Downtown Mall pedestrian zone (connections that became infamous a few years ago when a white supremacist plowed his car into a crowd on one of those streets). I remember Market Street being one-way because there were opportunities to go left on red along there, but nobody seemed to know you were allowed to do that.

[Dirt Roads]

Late last year, Winston-Salem reverted First Street/Second Street from a one-way pair west of downtown back to two-way streets.  Curiously, these streets were originally in the opposite pattern (similar to left-hand running) but really didn't function as a through route.  In downtown Winston and east of there, these streets remain one-way.

[Dirt Roads]

And earlier this year, Raleigh has approved the conversion of the Blount Street/Person Street one-way pair back to two-way streets north of the State Capitol.  As of last posting (early October), this project still hadn't occurred.  This is parallel to (and east of) the US-70/US-401/NC-50 (Dawson Street/McDowell Street) one-way pair downtown (and there are no plans or rumors to reverting those streets).

Will provide an update whenever this one gets completed.

[Great Lakes Roads]

South Bend, IN: Michigan Street (NB) and Main Street (SB), now both streets are two-way with roundabouts at both ends

Michigan City, IN: Pine Street (NB) and Washington Street (SB), now both streets are two-way with stop signs at every block

[Big John]

Green Bay, Washington and Adams Streets (N/S) were converted to 2-way from 1981-83 for redevelopment.  Pine and Cherry Streets (E/W) were gradually converted from 1981 to about 10 years ago.

[davewiecking]

Crystal City, VA: Crystal Drive was built as a 1 way northbound, coupled more or less with Clark St. It was converted to 2 way, um, sometime after I stopped working there in 1997....

[-- US 175 --]

In the last year or 2 in the east part of downtown Dallas, a few blocks of Pearl and Cesar Chavez (previously the surface street part of Central Expwy.) were converted from one-way couplet to each being 2-way.  The city is planning other conversions, but I haven't heard exact timeframes.

[Dirt Roads]

In Richmond, Virginia, a one-block section of one-way pair 17th Street/18th Street in Shockhoe Bottom was reverted back to two-way streets back in 2015.  I recall that 17th/18th originally ran as a one-way pair between Main Street -and- Broad Street, and now all of that appears to be two-way.  The section that reverted in 2015 was only between Grace Street -and- Broad Street, so I'm not sure whether the remaining blocks had reverted before then or more recently.

By the way, this is another project where bicycle safety was listed a key reason for reverting back to two-way streets.

[TheStranger]

In Sacramento, L and N streets served as a one-way couplet beween Capitol Park and Alhambra Boulevard for years, with portions of both carrying US 40 and US 99W and Route 16 at times.

The segment of N Street east of 16th was made two-way ca. 2009.

[kurumi]

Very common, as cities have transitioned from prioritizing car throughput to more pedestrian friendly, easier-to-navigate cities.

In San Jose, CA, 3rd and 4th Streets were converted to two-way outside the downtown core (north of St. James or so), for that reason.

Some couplets remain: 1st and 2nd; 3rd and 4th to the south; 10th and 11th is the longest pair, from Hedding to Keyes.

[SectorZ]

My former city of Fitchburg MA had one-way couplets in its downtown of Main St and Boulder Dr. Last year they were each changed to two-way streets.

[tradephoric]

Manhattan is one of the most dense areas in the country and is full of one-way streets.  Are we to think Manhattan is car-centric because it has a lot of one-way streets? 

[Bitmapped]

In Huntington, WV, Hal Greer Blvd and 15th St former a one-way couplet for WV 10 from the 70s until about 2005. This was the beginning of a plan to build a one-way couplet the entire way into downtown Huntington that was aborted after a couple blocks. Hal Greer was widened (?) and converted back to two-way operation, with the massively overbuilt 15th St just becoming a neighborhood road. https://maps.app.goo.gl/4FHWNZmNKir6wtar7

In Charleston, the block of Washington St E (US 60 westbound) between Leon Sullivan Way and Brooks St was converted to two-way about 15 years ago. This eliminated the need for traffic to run around the block to get to the Charleston Area Medical Center when coming from I-64/I-77. US 60 eastbound still takes the long way around because Leon Sullivan Way on the western end of the block remains one-way. https://maps.app.goo.gl/2asMRQCDY4mt3oJP6

Several streets just east of downtown Canton, OH have reverted to two-way operation over the past 20 years. These include 2nd St NE, which was once part of a one-way couplet for US 30 and then OH 172. 2nd St SE, 3rd St NE, and 6th St NE have also been reverted to two-way operation east of Cherry Ave as there is no longer sufficient traffic to justify two-way operation. There's been talk for a long time about restoring Walnut Ave and Cherry Ave, which carry a one-way couplet for OH 43, back to two-way operation. They did that a couple years ago for bikes on Walnut Ave, where Canton added a bike lane that opposes the flow of cars.

[7/8]

Manhattan is one of the most dense areas in the country and is full of one-way streets.  Are we to think Manhattan is car-centric because it has a lot of one-way streets?

For a city of its size and density, Manhattan is surprisingly car-centric. There's a lot of wide one-ways in the upper half of Manhattan for example. I was also just reading a Reddit post yesterday about how few pedestrianized streets there are in Manhattan. There's certainly room for improvement.