Doing a $140,000 traffic study suggests that the stakes must be high for the idea of converting Baltimore’s north-south arterial streets from one-way to two-way. The logistics also would be formidable to install all those new signals, signs and stripes.

But two-way flow simply creates friction for its own sake, and while the modern mantra is to “tame the automobile,” two-way flow lets the metal beasts run free. That’s why this idea comes up about once a decade, but hasn’t happened yet.

So here’s a $000,000 traffic study with some easier, less expensive, yet more effective solutions. After the city implements these, they can think more clearly about making Calvert and St Paul streets two-way.

The Funnel Effect

Back in the 1980s when the Jones Falls Expressway (JFX) was almost totally rebuilt, city planners and traffic engineers realized that its “commuter shed” covered almost the entire city and suburbs north of North Avenue – a funnel almost 180 degrees wide.

This area has almost not a single roadway that radiates directly to and from downtown except through Mt. Vernon. Some streets almost sorta make it all the way downtown, but not quite.

To the northwest, some motorists from the swath between Gwynns Falls Parkway, Liberty Heights Avenue, Reisterstown Road and Park Heights Avenue are able to find little McCulloh Street and Pennsylvania Avenue through Druid Heights and Upton instead of big Druid Park Lake Drive to and from Mt. Royal Avenue and the JFX, but many don’t.

The York Road/Greenmount Avenue corridor looks and feels like it ought to be the classic due-north urban arterial spine, but then it veers off just enough eastward into Old Town to provoke many of its drivers to deflect westward into Mt. Vernon instead.

Loch Raven Boulevard ends unceremoniously at 24th and Greenmount. The Alameda, Perring Parkway and Walther Avenue are all wide outer city boulevards, but all end at Harford Road, which turns into little Aisquith Street.

Big Belair Road turns into little desolate Gay Street, which ends at Preston/Biddle. Falls Road and Sinclair Lane don’t make it all the way downtown, either.

Traffic from all of these streets finds it way to Mt. Vernon. No wonder there’s too many cars in this handsome, historic community.

Jones Falls Bypass Solution

The best way to reduce Mt. Vernon traffic is to keep the Jones Falls Expressway traffic on the JFX as long as possible, instead of making Mt. Vernon an expressway dumping ground.

The simplest way to do that is to close the St. Paul southbound off-ramp. This ramp was only supposed to be temporary until the JFX was completed 50 years ago, and it shares a corresponding northbound on-ramp at Charles with the Maryland Avenue off-ramp. That’s two southbound off-ramps but only one northbound on-ramp.

This closure can be easily done. Just put some orange barrels in the ramp lane and measure the effect on traffic patterns. (But unlike Governor Chris Christie’s traffic blockade minions in New Jersey, the St. Paul ramp closure should be announced in advance.)

On the “To Do” List

Other not-so-difficult measures can also be implemented to increase the capacity of the lower JFX and its Fallsway and Guilford Avenue flanking service roads, including:

• designating a mandatory left-turn lane from St. Paul Street to the Eager Street southbound on-ramp.

• designating mandatory southbound left-turn lanes onto Mt. Royal Avenue.

• designating mandatory northbound right-turn lanes into Centre Street.

• creating a connection from the Pleasant Street southbound off-ramp to Gay and Orleans Street (as was once in the city’s capital program).

• creating a direct northbound JFX on-ramp from Saratoga Street next to the Gay Street ramp.

• striping out a fourth lane in each direction south of Eager Street where the JFX shoulders are now.

There’s also one larger project:

Create a new set of long ramps between the JFX and Greenmount Avenue, starting just north of the Amtrak tracks in front of Green Mount Cemetery along diagonal Belvidere Street.

Mention should also be made of the billion-dollar proposal that’s been around since well back in the last century to do exactly the opposite: Knock down the JFX and make it into a surface boulevard to enhance the interconnections between the rear of Mt. Vernon and the prison/social service district.

Replacing the grade-separated JFX with a surface boulevard would require many more lanes and traffic signals, but many urban designers and “visionaries” are enamored of boulevards such as President Street, MLK Boulevard and Conway Street and want yet another. (There was also a plan a few years ago to widen Pratt Street to turn it into the same.)

Roll out the Barrels, Please

So to get things moving without the cost and delay of consultant studies – stick those barrels out in the St. Paul ramp.

Then tackle the question of traffic signals.

By just observing the chain of green traffic signals that stretch downstream when you drive on St. Paul or Calvert, you know that the signals are ill-timed. They encourage motorists to speed to hit as many greens as possible.

The problem is the cycle lengths of 90 to 100 seconds (total time for red, green and yellow). Re-time the signals for shorter cycle lengths. Let the city’s master computer figure out how to do it. The cycle lengths must be uniform or in even multiples over a large contiguous area for downtown, Mt. Vernon, Charles Village and other areas to benefit.

Philadelphia and Portland are models for how it should be done, with cycle lengths of 60 seconds or less in the urban grid, and many one-way streets that people don’t complain about.

Always keep in mind that it’s the residential community that counts most. These people live there 24/7 and have invested their lives. They’re the stewards and ambassadors.

Since St. Paul and Calvert are the most residential streets, they should be the highest priority for traffic relief. Since Charles is the most commercial and heaviest transit street, its traffic relief can be a lower priority.

Bicyclists would also benefit tremendously from stronger midtown communities. So creating a civilized street environment within a neighborhood should become a higher priority as well.
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Gerald Neily was a transportation planner for the Baltimore City Department of Planning from 1977 to 1996. He is a writer, consultant and regular Brew contributor.