One-way called right way to go for boulevards

Converting Olympic and Pico boulevards into one-way streets from downtown Los Angeles to Santa Monica could increase capacity on the roads by up to 20%, according to a county transportation study to be released today.

The finding by a traffic engineering firm represents the first solid evidence that the conversion idea could reduce congestion. But the idea still faces an uphill battle at Los Angeles City Hall, in part because some residents fear that the change would increase cut-through traffic in neighborhoods between the streets.

The report, commissioned by Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, a one-way proponent, is meant to be the first step in what will be a yearlong examination of whether the concept could work.

Traffic engineers who studied commuting patterns on Olympic and Pico found that about 106,000 cars a day use the corridor. They also studied a traffic configuration in which Pico would go west only and Olympic east only.

Vehicle capacity could increase by 20% with one-way streets and no left turns, the study found. It was conducted by Allyn D. Rifkin, a transportation planner and engineer.

A less restrictive alternative, which would allow left turns, would increase vehicle capacity by nearly 6%.

"We need to do something specific and we need to do it now," said Yaroslavsky, who added that if the Olympic-Pico street conversion worked it could become a prototype for other major thoroughfares.

He and other proponents argue that the one-way idea could be implemented at a much lower cost than the billions of dollars that have been estimated for a Wilshire Boulevard subway or for freeway widenings.

Driving along one-way streets is quicker than most two-way streets because traffic signals can be better synchronized and turning vehicles don't have to cross oncoming traffic.

Motorists, however, might have to drive a little farther to reach their destinations and might cut through residential areas, the report found.

The Los Angeles Department of Transportation has "done all the things that traffic engineers do in the traditional sense," said Rifkin, who recently retired as a Los Angeles city traffic engineer. "But still, congestion is so bad, it's important to think outside the box."

But persuading other officials -- and residents -- could prove difficult.