Second Avenue to become two-way on Friday

CEDAR RAPIDS - One-way Second Avenue from Sixth Street SW across the bridge to First Street SE will open as a two-way street on Friday, weather permitting, the city said.

Next week, similar work will take place on Third Avenue, which is changing from one-way to two-way from Sixth Street SW to Third Street SE.

The conversions of the two arterial streets into and out of downtown have been discussed by the City Council for the last several years. Plans to complete the work has been publicized for some months.

The move from one-ways to two-ways is part of a nationwide trend.

Two-ways are thought to slow traffic down and get motorists to spend time in a place like a downtown rather than to speed through and out of it. Two-ways also increase a city's opportunity to add bike lanes and add accommodations that better protect pedestrians, the city says.

The city already has converted sections of one-ways to two-ways in the MedQ district and around the Ground Transportation Center bus depot.

Fourth Avenue SE from Fifth Street SE to 19th Street SE also is being converted to a two-way and Eighth Street SE from Fourth Avenue SE to 12th Avenue SE also is slated to be converted this year.

For now, conversions in the downtown do not extend across the railroad tracks because of the expense of converting the rail crossings to handle two-way traffic.