Cars head north and southbound for the first time since the 1950s on N. 2nd Street at the Reily Street intersection.
After decades, a main Harrisburg roadway has made the switch from one-way to two-way traffic.
On Thursday at noon, the first car made its way southbound down N. 2nd Street in Harrisburg. This was a historic drive, as the road has been a three-lane, one-way corridor since the 1950s.
With the opening, N. 2nd Street is now officially a two-way street between Division and Forster streets.
“I’m excited to see this take place,” said Percy Bullock, project manager for the city. “2nd Street is finally open.”
The project comes to a close after years of planning and over a year of construction, with several delays to the timeline. The city broke ground in May 2021. The goal was to make the roadway safer and more walkable for pedestrians, as part of the city’s Vision Zero initiative to eliminate pedestrian fatalities.
City project manager Percy Bullock answered questions from the media just after N. 2nd Street switched to two-way traffic.
According to Bullock, the new two-way street hopefully will redirect traffic from the corridor, which cuts through residential neighborhoods, to other roadways in the city such as N. 7th Street.
The road now has three roundabouts where traffic lights used to be at Verbeke, Reily and Kelker streets. There are also raised pedestrian crosswalks and speed bumps at intersections and the speed limit has been lowered from 35 to 25 mph to slow traffic, Bullock explained
Within the hour after N. 2nd Street officially made the switch to two ways, cars headed down the road, maneuvering new roundabouts, speed bumps and raised crosswalks. Traffic moved smoothly and slowly. One large truck made a tight turn at an intersection, partially running over the roundabout and medians, but that’s expected, Bullock explained at a previous press conference. It’s why the roundabouts were built low to the ground.
Cars maneuver a roundabout on N. 2nd and Kelker streets.
Bullock said that he understands that it may take some time for motorists to adjust to the new traffic pattern, but encourages drivers to be “patient.”
On Thursday, several city police officers and community service aides were stationed along the roadway to assist with the transition.
One long-time N. 2nd Street resident, Joel Burcat, stood at the N. 2nd and Division streets intersection on Thursday morning waiting to see the first cars make their way southbound on the road.
“I’ve been looking forward to this for a long time,” he said. “I think it will make a positive impact in our neighborhood. It’s a big improvement for the city.”
In 2013, TheBurg published a lengthy feature story about the history, the promise and the perils of 2nd Street, when it was still a three-lane, one-way urban highway. To learn more about the history of the street, click here.
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