The Tucson City Council decided 7-0 to shut down the suicide lane on East Grant Road yesterday.

The reversible lane runs west from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. and east from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

The suicide lane has existed for 20 years and the council has never evaluated it, said Ward Two council member Carol West.

The lane has been a safety concern since its inception in 1981, and members of the city council are happy that it's gone, West said.

"I think it was the right thing to do," she said.

Last year, a middle school student was killed while crossing the street.

The council ruled in favor of removing the lane because out-of-towners may not know how to use the reversible lanes if they don't look up at the overhead signs.

Safety for children coming and going from school was another concern, West said.

"Anytime you have students or individuals not following guidelines, that's dangerous, no matter the time of morning or afternoon," said Faye West, principal of Doolen Middle School.

Carol West said she believes the usefulness of the reversible lane is gone. She said the reversible lane no longer serves its intended purpose of giving traffic heading both east and west an extra lane during rush hour.

"The reversible lane isn't working the way it was intended to work," Carol West said.

"When this first started, the traffic going west in the morning to get to their businesses was about 65 percent, and 35 percent going to the east. Now it's about 50-50 (and) it doesn't make any difference. And when you have that, you have a lot of congestion both ways," she said.

Business owners like Ross Ribaudo, owner of Wags Family Restaurant, 4026 E. Grant Road, said the suicide lane has been a real inconvenience and safety concern for him and his customers.

"My main concern is that the lane is extremely dangerous," Ribaudo said. "People have stopped using the road because they're afraid they might get hit."

The changes will not take place until July so the council can inform people, Carol West said.

Some UA students said the decision to rid Grant Road of the reversible lane has been a long time coming and that safety will no longer be an issue during rush hour.

"It's very dangerous and I think the removal of the lane is going to save a lot of lives," said Katie Lewis, a political science freshman.

Some said that people from out of state have no idea what to do when the suicide lane is in effect.

Other students said they try to stay away from Grant entirely.

"I try and avoid Grant altogether and whenever possible," said Adam Lester, a communication junior. "The middle lane is a joke."