SHREVEPORT, La (KTAL/KMSS) – One-way streets in Downtown Shreveport could be a thing of the past soon, according to a woman who says she has the full support of the Mayor and City Council with such an objective.
Liz Swaine, the Director of the Downtown Development Authority, says one-way streets are difficult to navigate and are inconvenient to visitors downtown.
“One of the things that we hear a lot from people who do not come downtown all the time is that they’re intimidated by one-way streets,” said Swaine. “You have to go four blocks out of your way just to back around to get the place where you want to be.”
And Swaine’s not wrong.
She said the one-way streets pose a threat to drivers and pedestrians and she thinks making those one-way streets into two-way streets will make the downtown much safer.
Problems with the current layout are obvious, she said. “People constantly going the wrong way. Head-on collisions. We see it everywhere,” said Swaine.
Caleb King is the owner of Dripp Donuts in downtown Shreveport. He just opened his business last week and is hoping if the one-way streets are eliminated, it might slow down traffic.
“It would be nice if they could slow it down a little bit or make it a little more inviting for pedestrians,” said King.
Liz says she has the full support of the Shreveport City Council and the Mayor, which would be needed if approved.
How would downtown Shreveport go about changing one-way streets into two-way streets?
“It would be changing signage, and making sure that the lights are in the right location, adding traffic signals,” said Swaine.
And she’s not shy about expressing her opinion of why this needs to happen. “Because of the people who do come downtown all the time,” she says. “We’re used to the one-way streets. So it’s going to be real freaky for us.”
