© 2024 WNIJ and WNIU
Northern Public Radio
801 N 1st St.
DeKalb, IL 60115
815-753-9000
Northern Public Radio
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Rockford, Aurora: Changing Times Call For Changing Streets

Aurora and Rockford are altering the way they handle traffic through their downtowns.  They’re part of a trend that got rolling in American cities a couple of decades ago.

If you’ve driven through the downtowns of either Rockford or Aurora, Illinois the last few years, you’ve seen a change.  Streets that had been one-way traffic for decades are being converted to two-way traffic, with proposals to convert more.  So why is this happening?

Rockford’s Director of Public Works, Timothy Hanson, says he knows why, and why they were one-way in the first place

Fifty years ago downtown was the center of the universe for this city," he says, "and really at this point we’re trying to regenerate that.”

Aurora’s City Traffic Engineer, Eric Gallt, says, back when downtown was a focal point, capacity became a real issue, particularly with the rise in the number of automobiles and trucks.

“Remember back in the 50s and 60s, we didn’t have quite the highway system we have now.  So U.S. Route 30, 31 and Route 25 all converged, everything came through the city of Aurora,”  he says.

Rockford and Aurora are not unusual in this regard.  David Morley is a senior research associate with the American Planning Association, a professional organization that deals with city planning issues.  Morley says the initial change to one-way streets began in cities all over the U.S. with the post-World War II boom, when the car was becoming king.  It was based on the idea that one-way streets are more efficient at moving traffic than two-way streets.  

“And you have cities that weren’t built for automobiles, trying to accommodate automobiles. And this was one way to make life a little easier for drivers, or that was the thinking,”  Morley says.

But, over the decades, downtowns in Rockford, Aurora and across the country hollowed out, as interstates, bypasses, corporate parks and shopping malls diverted business and housing developments moved people away from the city center. 

Morley says that has led city planners to reconsider their priorities.

“I think that the evolution of thought has been largely guided by the idea that there are more things to consider than just how fast can we move cars in and out of an area.  Communities are recognizing a multiplicity of goals,” he says. 

Including making downtown attractive again.

Recent years have seen something of a comeback for downtowns, at least in some cities, but it’s in a different form.  Some people are living and working there, but for most, downtown is a place to visit on occasion, and not a familiar one at that. 

Hanson says, for those folks, a system of one-way streets can be just plain confusing.  He speaks from personal experience.

“When I first moved out here in ’98, and  I was with United Parcel Service. Keep in mind, I’m a UPS guy, so I can get my way around pretty well. And every time I tried to get to the downtown area and maneuver through it, I’d end up either on the north side of town or the south side of town, but I could never get to the downtown,” he says.        

Hanson says that becomes critical as Rockford tries to bring people to a proposed downtown hotel and sports complex, as well as performance venues, restaurants and shops, for which success depends on drawing people from outside the area.

Gallt, too, says concerns over making it easier for visitors was a big reason for the changes in Aurora.  That was true even before people began flocking to a new outdoor concert venue downtown.

“We consistently hear from businesses that it’s important to have ease of access - that they didn’t have to navigate sometimes confusing one-way streets. Also, it’s the exposure. On two-way streets, you have two ways of traffic and multiple exposures,” he says.

Gallt says two-way streets are considered more pedestrian friendly, too, and that’s a consideration as cities try to attract and keep people downtown.    

Both Rockford and Aurora’s downtown traffic situations continue to evolve.  Hanson says the city is working with the Illinois Department of Transportation to switch Illinois Route 2 through downtown and beyond from a pair of one-way streets, Main and Church, to a single two-way road, with the other coming under the city’s jurisdiction. Hansen says several other one-way pairs are being looked at closely.  Gallt says in Aurora, Illinois Route 25 will undergo a similar transformation after road work this summer, and New York Street, a major connection between downtown and the city’s far east side, will convert this fall.    

Hanson and Gallt remind everyone that, with the changing traffic patterns, it’s more important than ever to be alert, watch the signs and signals, and when moving into or through traffic, to look both ways.

Guy Stephens produces news stories for the station, and coordinates our online events calendar, PSAs and Arts Calendar announcements. In each of these ways, Guy helps keep our listening community informed about what's going on, whether on a national or local level. Guy's degrees are in music, and he spent a number of years as a classical host on WNIU. In fact, after nearly 20 years with Northern Public Radio, the best description of his job may be "other duties as required."