Q: What is going on at 10th and Hamilton streets in Allentown? With the opening of the police station on the northwest corner, the street lights are being replaced and now they're adding confusing line painting on 10th Street. Turning from Hamilton onto one-way northbound 10th you'll now notice about 100 feet of double-yellow line along with a stop bar for southbound traffic at Hamilton. The line paint would make you think that 10th is now two-way at that spot, but the signs do not agree. If 10th is two-way at that spot, someone could turn from Hamilton into the left lane of 10th Street and be confronted by oncoming traffic. I'm assuming the police station needed access on 10th to Hamilton, but if this is the case shouldn't the signs change?
— Andrew Henry, Upper Macungie Township, Oct. 28
Q: What's up with the recently painted double-yellow line on N. 10th Street between Hamilton and Court streets in downtown Allentown? Tenth Street is a one-way street northbound, yet having that double-yellow line in the middle of the two-lane street seemingly means that that half-block is now for two-way traffic. I don't get it. Just north of Court Street the double-yellow disappears, replaced by the white dash line, which apparently means 10th Street is now one-way again? There are no road signs that indicate two-way traffic for that short, half-block distance. Does this mean that traffic heading north on 10th, approaching Hamilton, must quickly merge into the right-hand lane after crossing over Hamilton?
— Stephany LeVan, Allentown, Nov. 1
A: That's exactly what it means, Stephany, though the lane markings and signs recently added at the intersection duly specify the unusual new traffic pattern. This is hardly a routine change; I can think of no other example of a one-way street morphing into a two-way street for half a block, then reverting, in Allentown or anywhere else.
You turned the key on the ignition to the answer, Andrew: the Allentown police patrol station that opened in June on the northwest corner of 10th and Hamilton streets. The station's garage exits onto one-way 10th Street near the Court Street intersection, and police officials asked that the short portion of 10th between there and Hamilton be opened to two-way traffic to provide the fastest emergency-response times possible, Assistant Chief Daniel Warg said.
Without the change, police would have to turn left onto northbound 10th Street as they exit the garage, and if headed to any point to the southeast, continue 11/2 blocks to Turner Street because Linden is one-way westbound, then double back south via Ninth or another southbound street to get to their destination. Unfortunately, the likelihood of trouble breaking out along portions of Hamilton or Walnut streets east of 10th Street is not so remote.
By law, police can travel in whatever direction they deem necessary to reach their destinations quickly. But emergency responses create potential dangers of their own, even with the required flashing lights and audible warnings activated.
Though it's sometimes necessary, "we don't like driving the wrong way on a one-way street" because it can be dangerous, Warg said. Abiding by the "old" traffic pattern "would have added to the response time" for emergencies to the south, he said.
In first gear, I suspected the change might have been made simply for the convenience of officers in their work commutes or for lunch runs or other trips, and that the fix was in among city agencies — police, traffic, public works, whatever. Business owners or residents' groups might not have gotten the same treatment, reasoned cynical me. Somehow the emergency-response angle didn't even occur to me, which seems ridiculous in retrospect.
City Public Works Director Rich Young said traffic engineers studied the police department's request early this year and had no major objections. He said it was treated no differently from other requests.
"They ask," he said of the police department, "they don't order."
Another factor helped grease the wheel bearings for this proposal, Young said: The traffic signal at 10th and Hamilton already was scheduled to be replaced, and the new road painting, signs and other changes required for the two-way change could be incorporated into that project's budget.
"Purely by coincidence, we were putting a new light in there anyway," Young said. Otherwise, "We may have said 'no' to the cops."
"The timing for this just happens to be perfect," city Traffic Superintendent Ron Penrose told city council members in April.
The effects of the changes on traffic patterns were considered, Penrose said, and found to be relatively small. "It's certainly not ideal" having a half-block stretch of two-way traffic in the middle of a one-way city street, "but we can work around it," he said.
The traffic signal was altered and phased to accommodate the new southbound flow, and the relevant signs and road markings were added, apparently after you emailed, Andrew. This work includes a left-turn arrow and "only" in the left-hand northbound lane of 10th approaching Hamilton, and all the relevant "do not enter" and "no left turn" signs. So motorists do get some warning of the odd circumstances in all directions, including northbound 10th Street traffic approaching Hamilton, Stephany.
Council members were convinced the change was for the best, approving the ordinance unanimously in May. Me too, I'd have to say. It's an unusual twist, and a bit confusing, but obviously, nothing takes a back set to the emergency-response issue and its safety component.
Road Warrior appears Mondays and Fridays, and the Warrior blogs at mcall.com. Email questions about roadways, traffic and transportation, with your name and the municipality where you live, to hartzell@mcall.com, or write to Road Warrior, Box 1260, Allentown, PA 18105-1260.
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Odd traffic pattern aids police responses
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