The City of Billings and local project partners with Downtown Billings are retrofitting eight streets from one way to two-way downtown with an eye on increasing safety, accessibility, and walkability.
Billings originally switched streets from two-way to one-way in the 1970s.
Mehmet Casey with Downtown Billings says that was a time when Billings and other cities nationwide were adapting to the rise of vehicle transportation in a growing urban and suburban sprawl.
"There was the migration of downtown businesses into malls. And we basically, we as a nation had an evacuation plan that was highly successful, essentially. We evacuated downtowns, and it worked." said Casey
He says the transition to one-way streets helped increase the speed of car through traffic in downtown Billings, and a switch back will marginally decrease speeds but increase safety.
Construction follows two initial street conversions in 2021and will transition some streets back to two-way while retaining a couple of the busiest one-way streets in the area.
An open house is scheduled at the Downtown Billings Association on Thursday, April 10th from 4 to 6 p.m.
