A one-way pair, one-way couple, or couplet refers to that portion of a bi-directional traffic facilitysuch as a
road,
bus
A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...
,
streetcar
A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport a ...
, or
light rail linewhere its opposing flows exist as two independent and roughly parallel facilities.
Description
In the context of roads, a one-way pair consists of two
one-way streets whose flows combine on one or both ends into a single
two-way street. The one-way streets may be separated by just a single block, such as in a
grid network, or may be spaced further apart with intermediate parallel roads.
One use of a one-way pair is to increase the vehicular capacity of a major route through a developed area such as a
central business district. If not carefully treated with other traffic calming features, the benefit in vehicular capacity is offset by a potential for increased road user deaths, in particular people walking and biking. A one-way pair can be created by converting segments of two-way streets into one-way streets, which allows lanes to be added without widening.
On occasion, "couplet" has been applied specifically to the point where the one-way streets and the two-way street meet, rather than the paired one-way streets themselves.
Flows on a one-way pair may follow the
traffic handedness convention of the locale, or may be switched. Following the convention allows a one-way pair to be more easily integrated into an existing network of two-way streets, as a single two-way street is effectively split into the two sides of the pair, as in the diagram below:
Examples
Australia
Sydney CBD features a number of one way pairs, all north-south. One example is
Pitt Street
Pitt Street is a major street in the Sydney central business district in New South Wales, Australia. The street runs through the entire city centre from Circular Quay in the north to Waterloo, although today's street is in two disjointed sect ...
with
Castlereagh Street
Castlereagh Street is a major street located in the Sydney central business district in New South Wales, Australia. The street runs in a north-to-south, in a one way direction only.
Description
Castlereagh Street's northern terminus is at the ...
. Pitt street carries only northbound traffic from Goulbern Street to Market Street. Castlreagh Street only carries southbound traffic on its entire length from Hunter Street to Hay Street near central station. Trams once ran from Central Station to
Circular Quay
Circular Quay is a harbour, former working port and now international passenger shipping port, public piazza and tourism precinct, heritage area, and transport node located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia on the northern edge of the Syd ...
along Pitt Street and back to Central Station along Castlereigh, Bligh, Bent and Loftus Streets.
In
Redfern, part of
Elizabeth Street is paired with Chalmers street. This follows the usual flow convention.
In the Brisbane CBD
Ann Street is paired with
Turbot Street and
George Street with North Quay, the latter by the
Brisbane River. In
Southbank, Merivale Street is paired with Cordelia Street from Montague Road to Vulture Street. In
East Brisbane,
Vulture Street is paired with
Stanley Street.
Japan
Japan National Route 340
is a national highway of Japan connecting the cities of Rikuzentakata, in southeastern Iwate Prefecture, and Hachinohe, in southeastern Aomori Prefecture. It travels south to north and has a total length of . It serves primarily as an alternate, ...
travels through the central part of
Hachinohe
is a city located in Aomori Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 221,459, and a population density of 725 persons per km2 in 96,092 households, making it Aomori Prefecture's second largest city by population. The city ...
in
Aomori Prefecture as a one-way pair between its northern terminus at an intersection with
Japan National Route 45
is a national highway of Japan connecting Aoba-ku, Sendai and Aomori, Aomori. Alongside Japan National Route 6, it is a main route along the Pacific coast of eastern Japan. It is paralleled closely by the incomplete Sanriku Expressway between ...
and Aomori Prefecture Route 251.
United States
Interstate 78 travels along a one-way pair of surface streets,
12th Street and 14th Street, in
Jersey City, New Jersey, between the end of the
New Jersey Turnpike Newark Bay Extension and the
Holland Tunnel
The Holland Tunnel is a vehicular tunnel under the Hudson River that connects the New York City neighborhood of Hudson Square in Lower Manhattan to the east with Jersey City in New Jersey to the west. The tunnel is operated by the Port Author ...
, which leads into
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
,
New York.
There are hundreds of one-way pairs among the streets and avenues of New York City. One example is
Fifth Avenue with
Madison Avenue. Others include
First Avenue with
Second Avenue;
Third Avenue with
Lexington Avenue; and
Seventh Avenue with either
Sixth Avenue or
Eighth Avenue.
Two major streets in the city of
Pittsburgh serve as a one-way pair;
Forbes Avenue
Forbes Avenue is one of the longest streets in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. It runs along an east–west route for a length of approximately .
History
According to historical writer and blogger Leon J. Pollom, the lowest section of F ...
and
Fifth Avenue. Both streets begin in
Downtown near
Point State Park
Point State Park (locally known as The Point) is a Pennsylvania state park on in Downtown Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, USA, at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers, forming the Ohio River.
Built on land acqu ...
before becoming a one-way pair just east of
Market Square, with Forbes serving outbound traffic and Fifth serving inbound traffic, going through
Uptown and
Oakland before both streets end up with two-way traffic and diverge, with Fifth Avenue eventually terminating in
Highland Park, while Forbes terminates in
Wilkinsburg just outside the city limits. The mostly two-way
Boulevard of the Allies
The Boulevard of the Allies is a mostly four-lane road in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, connecting Downtown Pittsburgh with the Oakland neighborhood of the city. Because of its lengthy name, locals sometimes refer to it as simply "The Boulevard ...
parallels Forbes and Fifth for most of the time the two streets are a one-way pair.
The east side of
Portland, Oregon
Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the list of cities in Oregon, largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, Columbia rivers, Portland is ...
, features a number of one-way pairs, both north–south and east–west, with the east–west pairs being associated with bridges; these all follow the usual flow convention – see
Transportation in Portland, Oregon, for more details. By contrast, the
Portland Transit Mall, which is a public transportation (bus and rail) corridor, has the opposite flow, with the westernmost component (6th Avenue) running north, with the eastern component (5th Avenue) running south.
There are a number of one-way pairs in
Downtown Los Angeles,
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
. These include
3rd and 4th Streets,
5th and 6th Streets, 8th and 9th Streets,
11th and 12th Streets, and
Main
Main may refer to:
Geography
* Main River (disambiguation)
**Most commonly the Main (river) in Germany
* Main, Iran, a village in Fars Province
*"Spanish Main", the Caribbean coasts of mainland Spanish territories in the 16th and 17th centuries
...
and
Spring Streets.
Levick Street and Robbins Street in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...
are considered a one-way pair. The streets carry traffic to and from the
Tacony-Palmyra Bridge through the
Mayfair and
Wissinoming neighborhoods. Between Frankford Avenue and
Roosevelt Boulevard, the streets carry
US 13
U.S. Route 13 (US 13) is a north–south U.S. highway established in 1926 that runs for from Interstate 95 (I-95) just north of Fayetteville, North Carolina to US 1 in the northeastern suburbs of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in Morrisville ...
in their respective direction.
In
Orlando
Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures re ...
,
Florida, Princeton Street carries 4 miles of SR-438 near
Interstate 4. Over a portion of that, Smith Street carries the westbound traffic. At Lake Lawsona, Mills Avenue splits into Jackson Street northbound and Thornton Avenue southbound.
In Virginia Beach, Virginia, the eastern end of Interstate 264 transitions to 21st and 22nd Street, each going in its respective direction.
See also
*
Directional running, the equivalent for
rail transport
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a p ...
References
{{Reflist
Types of roads