After a passionate public discourse featuring a diverse cross-section of Phoenix citizens, the Phoenix City Council has decided to take a closer look at the city's reverse lane system, as opposed to uprooting it outright. This comes in the wake of an online petition that has collected over 4,000 signatures demanding the lanes' removal, a petition detailed by 12 News. The council's stance, following hours of public comment, is to put the traffic system under a microscope through a comprehensive study, which was a unanimous resolution and is unlikely to bear fruit before December 2026.
The proposed study will examine the traffic from 19th Avenue to 16th Street and McDowell Road to Dunlap Avenue, with a particular focus on Missouri Avenue to McDowell Road, according to ABC15, a plan which was put forth by Councilwoman Laura Pastor. Yet the call for quick action was clear from residents, students, and business owners who argue that the reverse lanes are not only perplexing but also unsafe in an area experiencing growth.
Members of the community, including safety advocate Stacey Champion, who spearheaded the petition, feels that the council's decision is a letdown, "The city has sacrificed speed and convenience over safety for long enough," Champion told ABC15 during public comment, expressing a sentiment that has resonated deeply among those against the reverse lanes' continued existence. The Street Transportation Department has committed to engaging with Champion within the next 30 days for input on the study's scope of work.
The reverse lanes, which are operational during peak morning and afternoon hours, shift the left-turn lane into a reversible direction to alleviate traffic congesting, a system in effect since before State Route 51's completion, and despite evidence from a city-administered study a few years ago suggesting its removal could "create operational delays" and "increase travel times," community members hold fast to the belief these lanes, now being called "suicide lanes," no longer suit the city's evolving landscape as voiced in the petition, as reported by 12 News.
As the city awaits the new study, Council Member Stark remains a defender of the lanes for they seem, in some instances, to enhance safety. "Because the intersections are not being utilized for left turns, they become safer. And it does move traffic," Stark explained, as per ABC15's coverage of the council meeting. With December 2026 as the expected date for presenting the study's results, the people of Phoenix will have to navigate these reverse lanes and controversy through another day, week, and year.
