20. THIS STREET WENT ONLY ONE WAY LAST NIGHT!

Downtown Hollywood, Florida consists of two parallel streets running east and west from Highway A1A. In early 1960 each street was two way, resulting in massive traffic confusion and tie ups during the winter "snowbird" season.

Studied and Finally Approved. The Traffic Divisions of each of the City's Public Works and Police Departments had for years studied the two way pattern and repeatedly had recommended to the City Commission (City Council) that the two streets be made into a couplet, with one handling eastbound traffic and the other westbound.

Finally, the City Commission caved in and adopted the change. The super-efficient City Public Works Department worked out the signal, parking meter, signage and other necessary revisions in excruciating detail, and prepared a schedule. It then leafleted the area, went on local radio and what little TV that then existed, and in general did a superb job of notifying not only the involved merchants and property owners, but attempted to tell everyone who might use the streets under any circumstance that the change was coming, in a month.

No Confusion. Finally, the critical day arrived. Public Works personnel worked all night to turn things around -- signs, stripes and the like -- to point in or be oriented in the correct direction. By 6:00 a.m. the next morning the score of blocks of the two streets looked as if they had always been one way. The transition went smoothly. There was no confusion. And traffic flowed far better than it had in the past -- quickly and without turning conflicts.

Two Tumultuous Months. But the fight wasn't over. The downtown merchants, joined by a mixed bag of supporters who, for various reasons ranging from simple opposition to any change in anything, to the drive-in banks which would have to re-orient their drives and windows, started a drum beat of protest to the City Commission.

These people simply wouldn't accept that traffic flow had improved dramatically under the two one-way street approach. They continued to protest, emotionally and greatly to the City Commissioners, at their weekly meetings as well as individually.

A Reversal. Finally, after more than eight "scenes" at the City Commission meetings by the protestors, at 11:00 p.m. one night the City Commission reversed their prior decision. By a split vote they directed the Public Works Department to return to the two way street pattern. Unfortunately, the motion did not contain a timetable or timing directive. It was an emotional spur of the moment thing.

The opponents to the one way traffic patterns were so elated that they went in droves to the local downtown bars and celebrated until closing. They all went home, elated, and slept it off.

Retribution. The Hollywood Public Works Director was one of the best and his Department consisted of the best public infrastructure workers I had ever observed. They were super efficient in all things. Knowing that, as a way to illustrate its effectiveness, and in absolute retribution, Public Works Director Bill Wright, authorized by City Manager Colonel Joseph Watson, USA (ret.), ordered and City personnel converted the street back to two way between the near-midnight Commission decision and the start of the early morning "rush hour" only seven hours later.

The entire Public Works Department staff turned out for the transition, having been called by the Department's "telephone tree". They reversed all the signage, traffic signals, parking meters and signs, street striping for traffic and parking and, in total, put everything back the way it had been two months earlier. The job was complete. And all took great glee in knowing that they were "most efficient" and had proved it to a waffling group of elected officials who had great difficulty deciding anything, much less sticking with a decision once it was made.

Chaos. Of course chaos reigned the next morning and, by noon, the downtown merchants were crying foul and begging for the one way pattern to be returned. The City Commission called a special meeting and did just that. Nary a word was ever said by any City Commissioner to any of Watson, Wright or any of the Public Works personnel, or the Police Department's Traffic Division, either, for that matter.

It took the Hollywood City Council years to recover its political equilibrium from the fiasco. Nor did they ever again complain about the Public Works Department's "efficiency" level, especially when executing Council's direct orders.