March 28, 2024

Taking a u-turn on the one-way street

While one-ways have wreaked havoc in North American suburbs, “in high-density, urban locations, there’s no other way of configuring streets,” he said.

Mr. Calthorpe calls up a picture of San Elijo Hills Village Center, a shopping district in the suburbs of San Diego. Originally planned as a traditional shopping complex bisected by a gargantuan highway intersection, Mr. Calthorpe’s firm instead split the highways into a pair of tree-lined one-ways winding through a pedestrian-friendly, European-style retail village — all without sacrificing retail space or travel times.

“If you’re trading a six-lane arterial for two three-lane streets, that’s a win,” said Mr. Calthorpe. Nevertheless, he said the concept of one-ways remains “heresy” among modern urban planners.

Read more via Taking a u-turn on the one-way street | News | National Post.