The case for eliminating one-way streets and designing narrower lanes in Lake Worth

Many times on this blog have written about the inherent danger of one-way streets. One-way streets increase vehicular speed, narrow a driver's focus, and increase the risk to pedestrians and bicyclists. Many people complain in Lake Worth about the speed of vehicles on their particular street and many times those streets share two common characteristics: the street is too wide and the street is one-way. 

In urban areas it's been demonstrated that changing one-way streets to two-way increases property values, increases traffic to businesses, and takes away a decided advantage to the criminal element (having to look both ways for passers-by and PBSO). In the long run two-way streets are better for the environment: a decrease vehicle miles driven and the amount of fuel used. 

From Planetizen have more on urban streets and safety: street width.

     A new study indicates that the safest urban streets have lanes that measure 10-10.5 feet wide. Narrower and wider lanes have higher crash frequencies, and wider lanes have higher crash severity.
     The "forgiving highway" approach to traffic engineering holds that wider is safer when it comes to street design. After decades of adherence to these standards, American cities are now criss-crossed by streets with 12-foot wide lanes. As Walkable City author Jeff Speck argued in a column last year, this is actually terrible for public safety and the pedestrian environment.