The Portland City Council took a step toward changing High and State streets to two-way instead of one-way Monday, a move that could mark a major change to the city’s downtown.

The council voted 8-0 to adopt a resolution at its regular meeting to “return the two-way operations on High and State streets.”

Officials hastened to add, however, that it would take some time before the resolution could be implemented.

“We’re putting this forward so we can actually have some conversations,” said Councilor Regina Phillips, chairperson of the council’s Sustainability and Transportation Committee, who introduced the resolution. “There’s still a lot of conversations left to have. There’s still designs that need to be made and need to be done.” 

State Street begins just south of the Forest Avenue exit off Interstate 295 and cuts one-way southward through the city almost directly onto the Casco Bay Bridge. High Street runs one-way in the opposite direction, parallel to State, from York Street up to Forest Avenue.

Both routes have been popular for decades with commuters looking to get to South Portland or Cape Elizabeth, especially from points north of the city.

That, according to Joshua Chase, is a problem. Speaking at Monday night’s meeting, he said he lives at 22 Sherman St., in the city’s Parkside neighborhood. He said out-of-town traffic moves at high speed through the neighborhood, which he described as the most populous neighborhood in the city and in Maine. Making both streets two-way, he said, will help to reduce speeds.

“To have these high-speed roadways bisecting the most populated neighborhood in our city, and our state, is crazy,” he said. 

Hanover Street resident George Rheault said he was born in 1972, and the issue was a problem even then. He said the streets were made one-way at a time when people were abandoning downtown areas, both in Maine and nationwide.

Today, he said, attitudes have changed, and the city’s streets should reflect that.

“We’ve rediscovered the fact that our beautiful little 19th century downtown is worth saving and inhabiting and building on,” he said.

Officials said the resolution will allow the city to enter detailed discussions with the Maine Department of Transportation on the subject. 

Other members of the public suggested a committee of stakeholders, including residents who bike and walk in the city, should be included in the decision-making process, something several councilors agreed was a good idea.

Mayor Mark Dion said he supported the resolution and reassured the public that nothing was going to happen overnight.

“This is simply the approval of a concept and all the other work that will happen ‘overnight’ is yet to come,” he said.