Columbus Mileposts: July 26, 1950 - One-way streets stick after 60-day test drive

Columbus Dispatch, The (OH) - July 26, 2012

Author: Gerald Tebben, FOR THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Third and 4th streets became one-way streets on July 26, 1950, in a 60-day experiment that remains 62 years later.
Freeways were 10 or more years in the future, and cars were becoming more and more common in 1950, when the Columbus City
Council authorized the experiment to ease congestion and tempers each workday morning and evening. Plans called for other streets to
be added to the one-way scheme if the experiment proved successful.
In the days before the switch occurred, "One Way" signs were posted, parking meters were turned around to face traffic, and portable "Do
Not Enter" signs were trucked to strategic intersections.
The Dispatch reported on the first afternoon: "Traffic officers said the huge volume of morning 'rush hour' traffic moved freely. Traffic jams
at busy intersections appeared to have become a thing of the past."
Lt. George W. Scholer, the head of the Columbus police traffic bureau, said the system was working even better than he had expected.
"Most drivers are telling us it now takes but 10 minutes to go what used to be a 30-minute distance," he said.
"Boy, this is wonderful," a cabdriver told The Columbus Citizen that morning.
The Citizen said, "Traffic control policemen reported motorists had little difficulty in catching on to the new system. One policeman at
Broad and 3rd streets said only two motorists had attempted wrong turns during 45 minutes of the morning rush hour."
Initially, 3rd and 4th streets were made one-way only between Mound and Chestnut streets. On the second day of the experiment, traffic
officials were recommending that the one-way designation be expanded.
Today, 3rd/Summit Street and 4th streets are each one-way from just north of the University District to German Village. They are still
major routes to and from Downtown, but most motorists now use them to get to the freeways just north and south of Downtown.
Suggestions for Mileposts that will run this bicentennial year can be sent to Gerald Tebben, Box 82125, Columbus, OH 43202, or email
gtebben@columbus.rr.com.

* This daily feature traces important dates in Columbus history and is archived at Dispatch.com.
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