STEAMBOAT SPRINGS — What makes Eighth Street, where it runs between Lincoln Avenue and Oak Street, in downtown Steamboat Springs so special that it gets to be the only one-way street segment in the area?

Steamboat Today reader Judith Emerson wanted to know.

So we asked City Engineer Ben Beall, who provided the easy answer.

Based on the sidewalk width and diagonal parking on both sides of the street, Beall explains there simply isn’t enough room for two-way traffic on Eighth.

Shuttle buses and SUVs would find it hard to share the road and pass each other in the 19 feet of space that’s left after the sidewalks and diagonal spaces take up the rest of the street.

Ninth has a similar layout to Eighth, but Beall said the west side of that street has parallel parking, making it wide enough to have two ways of traffic.

Have a question you’d like answered in our I Wonder Why… series Email it to sfranz@steamboattoday.com.

To reach Scott Franz, call 970-871-4210, email scottfranz@SteamboatToday.com or follow him on Twitter @ScottFranz10