Mobile Street Optimization Gets Underway

Mobile has kicked off the next phase of its Street Optimization Plan for downtown. The Downtown Mobile Alliance explained that the plan was developed by noted architect and urban planner Jeff Speck and his team, who carefully examined the city’s street grid and met with downtown stakeholders in large and small groups for input into the plan to improve safety and economic activity. The resulting plan was adopted by Mayor Sandy Stimpson and was sent to Volkert, Inc. for detailed design and engineering. Many one-way streets were made into two-way streets. Because two-way travel organically slows down vehicles, the streets became safer and more welcoming to pedestrians. There were more direct routes to businesses and residences, eliminating the diversions one-way patterns require. The implementation of the plan began earlier this year, when some traffic signals were replaced by all-way stop signs. The next phase will remove more signals, convert more streets to two-way travel and add on-street parking. The width of our historic streets will require a “yield street” type of traffic flow with parking on both sides of the street and vehicles pulling to the side when an oncoming car approaches. “The payoff, however, can be transformational, and the opportunities for development and activation will help sustain the ongoing redevelopment of our beautiful city center,” the Downtown Mobile Alliance said.