Making Two-Way Streets Act Like One-Ways

"The plan, however, is to make them behave more like one-way streets, which are far more prevalent in other cities but have not been used much in Los Angeles outside downtown. In this case, the plan is to give a decided time advantage to those traveling east on Pico and west on Olympic."

"The move comes as part of an attempt by the city to more efficiently get people to jobs on the congested Westside in the morning and help them get out in the afternoon. City officials say travel time could be cut by as much as 45%."

"The first step in the mayor's plan would be to immediately begin to eliminate parking on both streets during rush hour. Then, beginning next year, traffic lights would be re-timed so that those traveling west on Olympic and east on Pico would be rewarded with longer green lights. Those driving in the other direction might see their rides take longer."

"If those two steps speed up traffic, mayoral aides say the city might take an additional step and restripe both streets, so most lanes on Pico would be for eastbound motorists, while westbound lanes would predominate on Olympic."