The traffic issue in downtown comes to discussion again (from the Ithaca Journal):
Ending one-ways in downtown Ithaca stuck in traffic
David Hill,
dhill@ithacajournal.com | @Ijdavidhill 12:19 a.m. EST February 1, 2015
The prospect of hotel patrons getting lost or holding up traffic has prompted the semi-decadal discussion of whether Aurora and Cayuga Streets can be returned to two-way traffic at the Commons. The answer: Not without making a lot of other changes, too.
City transportation engineer Tim Logue and Frank Nagy, the director of parking, briefed the city’s Planning and Development Board last week on downtown transportation and parking issues.
The context was city review of recently approved or under-review plans for major new or enlarged buildings on and near the Tuning Fork, the block immediately east of the Commons bounded by the utensil-shaped intersection of Aurora, State/Martin Luthe King Jr. Street, Seneca Street and Seneca Way.
Specifically, the Hilton Canopy hotel proposed for the block could see patrons driving down East Hill toward the Commons only to miss the hotel entrance then have to circle the commons or find some other way back to the entrance.
Meanwhile, a renovated and enlarged Carey Building, which formerly housed Mayer’s smoke shop and newsstand, is likely to draw more traffic, and the Marriott hotel under construction a block away will have a loading area off Aurora Street but parking in the adjacent Green Street garage, requiring a circle around the Commons or up to Prospect Street.
Logue drew on a 2001 study by a consultant in 2001 commissioned at the time of the Hilton Garden hotel and office building at Seneca and Tioga Streets. The study asked the same question. Going back to all two-way would relieve drivers of having to circle the Commons, which is surrounded by one-way streets: Cayuga on the west, Aurora on the east, Seneca north and Green south.
The answer: Aurora and Cayuga could be two-way, but without significant mitigation, such as adding left-turn lanes, which would in turn eat up 40 to 50 on-street parking spaces, traffic flow would be significantly slowed.
The 2001 study is being circulated among board members, and the idea could be resurrected. But Logue noted the idea comes up every few years and hasn’t gotten farther.
Perhaps small changes could be made. For instance, after the 2001 study, two blocks of Cayuga were returned to two-way traffic, which slowed southbound flow but is mitigated some by timed signals. Still, it’s not as simple as simply taking out the one-way signs and repainting pavement.
“You can’t do Aurora only or Caygua only,” Logue said. “They really work in a pair.”
Here's the link:
http://www.ithacajournal.com/story/n...ssed/22649251/
