In the Metroplex, we seem to perpetually experience road construction to expand and extend roads to handle more traffic. Simply adding more lanes sometimes sacrifices safety in the attempt to speed up the flow of traffic. Other alternatives are often more effective in residential or mixed use areas.
Maybe you've seen a "Road Diet" in use, even if you're not familiar with the term Learn more about its benefits.
The
strategy, known as a “road diet,” calls for restriping a stretch of road to
remove at least one lane and turning that pavement over for other purposes. it
a cheap way to reduce vehicle collisions and make roads more bike and
pedestrian friendly.
FHA
studies of road diet projects have found
simply reducing the number of lanes dedicated to cars cuts vehicle crashes by
19 to 52 percent as a result of reduced speeds and fewer opportunities for
collisions. And perhaps most surprisingly, according to the FHA, the technique
doesn’t reduce the number of people who can move along a roadway.
A roadway reconfiguration known as a Road Diet offers several high-value
improvements at a low cost when applied to traditional four-lane undivided
highways. In addition to low cost, the primary benefits of a Road Diet include
enhanced safety, mobility and access for all road users and a "complete
streets" environment to accommodate a variety of transportation modes.A classic Road Diet typically involves converting an existing four-lane, undivided roadway segment to a three-lane segment consisting of two through lanes and a center, two-way left-turn lane.
The resulting benefits include a crash reduction of 19 to 47 percent, reduced vehicle speed differential, improved mobility and access by all road users, and integration of the roadway into surrounding uses that results in an enhanced quality of life. A key feature of a Road Diet is that it allows reclaimed space to be allocated for other uses, such as turn lanes, bus lanes, pedestrian refuge islands, bike lanes, sidewalks, bus shelters, parking or landscaping.
