One way? No way!

Nearly 200 anxious Queen Village residents braved the stifling humidity and tight confines of the basement in St. Philip Neri Church, 218 Queen St., to make their point during a raucous community meeting last Thursday.

And, overwhelmingly, their point was to keep Christian Street pointed both ways.

The monthly community meetings usually attract no more than 30 neighbors, but a capacity crowd turned out this time to protest a proposal to turn Christian Street — which runs both east and west — into a one-way from Sixth to Front streets.

The plan, which Queen Village Neighborhood Association board members had approved by a 6-3 margin in the spring, was being resurrected after a seven-year hiatus.

"The last guy who brought this idea up had to sell his house and move," quipped David O’Donnell, QVNA president.

O’Donnell said Christian Street residents had long lobbied board members to address the volume of high-speed traffic that flows through the street because of the I-95 off-ramp on nearby Columbus Boulevard.

"There’s a lot of elderly people and young families in this area who are very, very concerned with just crossing the street," explained O’Donnell, a resident of the 200 block of Christian. "Our job, after all, is to represent them. We can’t just ignore their concerns."

QVNA board members met with representatives from the Streets Department a few months ago to discuss an eight-month trial period for the one-way concept.

O’Donnell said the board had not yet sent a completed proposal to First District Councilman Frank DiCicco’s office, and instead held last Thursday’s meeting to start a discussion within the neighborhood.

The discussion, however, was short-lived and full of hot-tempered yelling that rivaled England’s House of Commons.

Catharine Street residents shouted down O’Donnell’s attempts to explain that the proposal was strictly in the planning stages and that more meetings were going to be held.

"I never, ever expected to see that sort of mob mentality," O’Donnell sighed. "I thought we were above that."

The president said that Catharine Street residents received leaflets alleging that the trial proposal already had been approved and was about to take effect.

"A lot of people were upset because they felt like they were left out of the decision-making process," said Mike Lauff, of the 300 block of Christian. "We found out about this plan because of the leaflets. We didn’t hear about it beforehand."

While safety was the primary reason behind the proposal, O’Donnell said parking was also an influential factor, with 50 new homes about to open at the intersection of Christian and Swanson streets.

"A lot of people said they had a hard enough time parking and getting out of the neighborhood as it is now," he said. "Imagine what it will be like with at least 50 additional cars."

He added that making part of Christian one-way would allow for double-parking.

But few residents at last week’s meeting expressed parking concerns.

"I walk with a cane, and I almost got run over by two cars crossing the street," lamented one elderly woman.

"If Christian goes one way, the traffic will get dumped on the rest of us!" shouted an opponent of the plan.

O’Donnell said he doubted other streets would have to worry about receiving the bulk of diverted traffic, though he did allow that traffic could get backed up turning onto Washington Avenue.

"There’s still a lot we have to look into, a lot we have to study," O’Donnell said with a shrug, adding that he would consult with the city and state about conducting traffic studies.

At this point, studying the situation is all the QVNA president can hope to do. The board members unanimously decided to back away from the proposal for the time being.

DiCicco’s office also doesn’t want to address the issue just yet.

"We knew how contentious this would be," said Brian Abernathy, the councilman’s spokesperson. "We have felt, and continue to feel, that there needs to be more studying and more discussions before anything is ever done."

In attempt to fan some contentious flames, Abernathy added that DiCicco never received any formal proposals regarding Christian Street, although he has fielded numerous phone calls stating otherwise.

The perception among many residents at last week’s meeting was that the QVNA board and DiCicco already met and shook hands on the proposal, though this never happened, O’Donnell asserted.

"We have the most honest intentions," he added. "Tractor-trailers speed down the same street mothers try to cross with babies in strollers. I thought people would’ve understood the risk there."

But, until studies are conducted and statistics are released on any danger of having Christian remain a two-way street, O’Donnell’s hands are tied.

"We don’t want our neighbors to feel disenfranchised or browbeaten," he said. "We’ll get someone to come in here and evaluate this situation. We won’t give up."