TRAVERSE CITY — A traffic engineering analysis has recommended making the two-way traffic pattern on State Street permanent in downtown Traverse City.
The recommendation follows a three-year pilot project that showed improvements in safety, traffic speeds and business support.
City Engineer Anne Pagano engaged the engineering firm Wade Trim to provide an objective review of the pilot project after an internal city employee team failed to reach a consensus on the traffic flow. The independent analysis found that converting the road from one-way to two-way traffic is consistent with national best practices for reducing vehicle speeds and increasing pedestrian safety.
Data collected since the pilot began in November 2022 shows that vehicle speeds on State Street decreased. The 85th percentile speed, which is the speed at which most drivers travel, dropped from 26 mph under one-way operations to between 22 and 23 mph.
Compliance with the 25 mph speed limit also increased from 78% to more than 91%. Drivers traveling faster than 35 mph dropped from 16 during one-way operations to two drivers in July 2025.
Wade Trim transportation engineer Lori Pawlik conducted the analysis of the project findings. Pawlik recommended that the two-way conversion remain permanent to enhance safety for pedestrians and bicyclists. Crashes involving pedestrians or cyclists dropped from four during the one-way period to two during the three-year pilot phase.
Non-motorized activity more than doubled during the pilot, increasing from 947 people in 2022 to 1,971 people in 2025.
A survey of 43 local business owners showed that 71% support making the conversion permanent. While 78% of owners reported no noticeable change in revenue, parking revenue collections along State Street increased by 18.5% following the implementation of two-way operations.
Property tax revenue along the corridor also grew by 5.7%. Among residents in the Boardman neighborhood, 64% said accessibility had improved under the two-way system.
The study identified that the current street configuration creates an unbalanced system because it has three westbound lanes but only one eastbound lane.
Based on traffic volumes, there is nearly four times as much traffic per lane traveling eastbound during peak evening hours compared to westbound lanes. Engineers recommended eventually converting Front Street to two-way traffic to balance this stress and improve overall downtown circulation.
Permanent improvements for the corridor are estimated to cost between $500,000 and $1 million. High-priority immediate projects, such as repaving the Front Street and Pine Street intersection to remove an existing island, are estimated at $103,100.
Other proposed modifications include adding left-turn green arrows at the intersection of State and Union streets to reduce wait times. Implementing specific driveway spacing requirements would result in the loss of 17 on-street parking spaces.
The analysis found that State Street can operate satisfactorily for the next 20 years with mitigation efforts. While the intersections at Park Street and Boardman Avenue are expected to reach Level of Service E during peak evening hours, engineers indicated these issues could be addressed by adding new traffic signals or changing signal phasing.
Historically, State Street and Front Street operated as two-way roads until they were converted to one-way in 1967.
The city manager will present traffic control orders to the City Commission to make the two-way operation permanent. The presentation will also include recommendations for specific improvements and infrastructure changes required to complete the conversion.