To one-way or not to one-way?

Published 11:35 pm Saturday, March 11, 2006

VALDOSTA — One way in and one way out.

If the Valdosta City Council, after years of discussion and study, passes the proposed one-way pairing of Ashley and Patterson Streets this summer, that’s what citizens on the north side of town will have — one way into town and one way out.

Prior to that time, still several months away, city management has decided to hold three public comment meetings for three consecutive months to allow citizens ample opportunity to hear the reasoning behind the proposal and to ask questions of city officials.

“We’re sensing from issues like the recent storm water utility and Jerry Jones widening project that the council wants to get more public comment on the front end of a project,” Larry Hanson, city manager, said.

“We can educate the public on the issue and use the feedback we receive to improve and enhance the project, which results in our taking a better project in the end to the elected officials when it’s time to vote.”

The first meeting is Tuesday, March 14 from 3 to 5 p.m. at the City Hall Annex Multi-Purpose Room at 300 N. Lee St. Subsequent meetings are scheduled for April 17 and May 15.

“This is a public comment meeting, not a hearing,” City Engineer Von Shipman said. “We want to present the facts and information to the public.” Representatives from the city’s engineering department, along with Dan McGee of the Metropolitan Planning Organization, will be in attendance to answer questions about the proposal.

Traffic was re-assigned in 1998 with the implementation of a turn lane on Patterson Street, followed in 2000 by Ashley Street, in anticipation of the future one-waying of both.

Shipman said, “I understand the one-way concept was conceived in the 1980s, after the one-way streets were implemented in downtown Valdosta, but no timeline was established to make the conversion between Magnolia Street and the Five Points area. Because both streets are state routes, the Georgia Department of Transportation has the ultimate authority to approve lane assignment changes and the installation of new traffic control devices.”

Following the lane assignment changes in 1998 and 2000, traffic has been “encouraged” to flow south on Patterson St., and north on Ashley Street. According to Shipman, this has worked well as the traffic was split 50/50 north/south on each road prior to the change, but is now at 75/25 in the encouraged direction. The lane changes were made to ease citizens into the one-way concept at the city’s request, although DOT had the ability then as now to implement the concept without public approval.

When asked why the traffic count on Patterson has been increasing but the count on Ashley has remained relatively stable at 20,000 vehicles per day for several years, Shipman said it’s because the street has “reached capacity. You can’t squeeze in any more cars and we’re finding that people are using alternate routes during peak hours to avoid the road due to the high volume of traffic.”

The one-way proposal has been discussed at city planning retreats by the mayor and council for several years, and more recently in the wake of the decision in July 2005 to one-way a section of North Oak Street. Traffic flow is restricted in a northbound direction beside Valdosta State University. At the time, the council voted to allow a six-month study period, and in December, voted to extend the deadline for making the change permanent. The change is part of the overall one-way concept as North Oak will be a northbound traffic artery if Patterson is designated one-way southbound.

According to Shipman, the change has worked very well and the intersection at Baytree and North Oak is now so vehicle-friendly that nearly twice the number of cars are using the intersection daily from a year ago, but traffic is no longer backed up or congested, despite the dramatic shift in traffic flow.

The city council will not make a final decision on the issue until sometime this summer, following the three months of public meetings, potentially followed by more formal public hearings.





• Public Comment Meetings are scheduled for:

March 14, 3 to 5 p.m., City Hall Annex Multi-Purpose Room

April 17, 3 to 5 p.m., VSU Odum Library auditorium

May 15, 3 to 5 p.m., City Hall Annex Multi-Purpose Room



• Traffic Counts on Ashley and Patterson Streets

Ashley St.

1989 16,000

1998 20,000

2003 20,000

2004 20,000



Patterson St.

1989 8,000

1998 12,000

2003 16,000

2004 17,000



• North/south bound traffic since the implementation of the turn lane in 1998

Ashley St.

North South

1998 10,000 10,000

2003 15,000 5,000

2004 16,000 4,000



Patterson St.

North South

1998 6,000 6,000

2003 4,000 12,000

2004 4,000 13,000