You Gotta Wonder Why!

Let's examine something that makes absolutely no sense. 

Here is a list of 7 downtown ONE WAY streets where parking is allowed on both sides during the day. 

8th Street, Columbia to Warren, 30 feet wide.

7th Street, State to Columbia, 30 feet wide.

6th Street, Union to State, 30 feet wide.

5th Street, State to Union, 30 feet wide.

4th Street, Union to State, 30 feet wide.

Prospect Street and Washington Street -- 30 feet wide.

What about 2nd Street?

S. 2nd Street, Allen to Warren -- also 30 feet wide, parking also allowed on both sides, but with TWO WAY TRAFFIC.  

There are two busy grocery stores on South Second Street, a bodega on Warren at the corner, houses and apartment buildings, as well as no shortage of vehicles parked (and parking and unparking) on both sides of the street.  It is a fairly busy street, and truly busy on weekends. 

The average width of a car is about 6 feet -- add mirrors and it's closer to 7 feet.  SUV's and large pickup trucks approach 8 feet in width with mirrors.  A car that parks 6 inches or a foot away from the curb on 2nd Street will be taking up nearly 8 feet of the width of the street.  A car parked directly across the street might be taking up the same amount, of course, leaving at most 14 - 16 feet of street width for two lanes of traffic.  Talk about tight!  And this is regularly the case on South 2nd -- barely enough room for two vehicles to pass one another easily or at all.  Anyone who has driven on South 2nd knows that either you find a place to pull over for a car headed your way, or you hope the other driver does it for you.  And drive slowly, hoping other drivers will do the same.  Add vehicles turning at intersections and an alley or two and it can be really challenging to travel a block or two without having an unwelcome situation.  Imagine if this were the situation on all of our side streets!

The conditions are identical on South 2nd as they are on all the one way streets I listed (width, parking, TRAFFIC!), yet for some reason no one at City Hall feels there is a need to make South 2nd a one way street.  Why on earth are they making things dangerous, stressful and annoying for drivers and bicyclists on 2nd and not, say, on 7th?  Or 4th?  Why is S. 6th Street not a two way street if S. 2nd Street is?  They're both 30 feet wide!  The two streets have parking on both sides!  Is it because one of them can somehow handle the two way traffic safely and the other cannot?  Or is there not enough traffic on 2nd Street to justify making it one way?

My guess is that, if asked by the council about South 2nd Street, DPW Superintendent Robert Perry would say that he does not have the power to change a two way street (which is true), that only the HPD Commissioner has that power.  HPD Commissioner Shane Bower, if by some miracle appearing at a council meeting, would probably say that he does not have the power to make that change and that he would have to consult with the NY State DOT to understand the situation.  The Common Council would then take over and Tom Depietro would create a 2nd Street Study Committee (led by Margaret Morris, of course), to look into the matter and come back to him with a proposal by the end of 2026.

Do you now see why S. 2nd was not changed to a one way street long ago?  The question is:  When will it have only one way traffic, making it as safe and drivable as the other one way streets in town that are also 30 feet wide? 

(And, of course, what about 30-foot wide Union Street with its two way traffic and parking allowed on both sides below 4th Street?  An article for another time, perhaps!)