When we think about the changes coming soon to the streets of Winston-Salem, we can’t help but remember William F. Buckley Jr.’s description of his seminal periodical National Review — that it “stands athwart history, yelling Stop, at a time when no one is inclined to do so, or have much patience with those who so urge it.”
And we do mean, literally, the streets.
It’s been a longtime project of the city to convert portions of several downtown streets from one-way to two-way. With new pavement poured and new lines painted, we’re now just a day or two away from the culmination of the first stage of the plan.
Stop. Stop.
But, alas, the deal is done. It was signed, sealed and delivered when voters approved the conversion, part of a 2018 bond referendum. They’ve had their say. Now it’s all over but the crying.
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The first streets to be open to two-way traffic will be First and Second streets, which have both been one-way for more than a few decades. Second Street, to which Peters Creek Parkway spills its east-bound traffic from Salem Parkway, is a main artery leading downtown; First Street regularly carries traffic back west from downtown to Peters Creek Parkway and Salem Parkway.
These functions aren’t likely to change.
“First Street will still be the main way out of downtown and Second Street will still be the main one into town,” Jeff Fansler, the city’s assistant transportation director, told the Journal’s Wesley Young earlier this week.
But unfortunately, it’s not that simple. Some sections of these streets will remain one-way.
For First Street, that includes the section from Main Street to Spruce Street. Second Street will remain one-way from Spruce Street to Town Run Lane. There’s also a one-block section of Second between Broad and Spring streets that will remain one-way.
Fortunately, there will initially be plenty of digital signs in place to direct motorists and keep them from accidentally going the wrong direction.
Or drivers can just continue to travel them as they’re used to traveling them — but with traffic now often approaching from the opposing direction.
A further change that will convert Main and Liberty streets downtown to two-way traffic is scheduled for some point in the future.
This is enough for now.
You may be among those who wonder why this is taking place; weren’t the streets easy enough to navigate already? Didn’t they serve useful functions?
The changes are being made, Fansler says, to “improve pedestrian and vehicle circulation and create more of a downtown setting.”
On top of that, planners hope the changes will slow traffic, making the residential areas adjacent to downtown safer. Local residents have long complained about the speed of traffic in their neighborhood, Fansler says.
This includes the dangerous hill on First Street, between Poplar Street and Shady Boulevard, site of many a deadly accident.
With hope, the changes will also benefit downtown business and tourism — especially once the Kaleideum children’s science museum is completed.
OK, those reasons make sense.
As much as we’re grousing, we do have faith in the city’s planners. We’re sure they’re not just attempting to add to urban chaos. Pretty sure. Give it a few years and everyone will be so fond of the new traffic patterns that when conversion back to one-way is proposed, we’ll be outraged.
We still predict a little initial confusion as residents and commuters adjust to new traffic patterns — now and again when Main and Liberty are converted. It’s best for drivers to prepare themselves now to practice patience — a practice, actually, that should extend throughout the holiday season in other settings, as well, as traffic and crowds increase to help Santa prepare for his big day.
