Federal Highway Administration explains "road diet" and why it is recommended today.
Four-lane undivided highways have a history of increased crashes as traffic volumes rise, due to motorists sharing the inside lane for higher speed through movements and left turns. Additionally, as active transportation increases, communities desire more livable spaces, pedestrian and bicycle facilities, and transit options, which are not easily accommodated by a 4-lane undivided roadway. One solution that benefits all modes is a Road Diet (Roadway Reconfiguration).
A Road Diet is generally described as removing vehicle lanes from a roadway and reallocating the extra space for other uses or travelling modes, such as parking, sidewalks, bicycle lanes, transit use, turn lanes, medians or pedestrian refuge islands. Road Diets have the potential to improve safety, provide operational benefits, and increase the quality of life for all road users. Road Diets can be relatively low cost if planned in conjunction with reconstruction or resurfacing projects since applying Road Diets consists primarily of restriping.
For additional information about Road Diets, visit the FHWA Office of Safety Road Diets website at http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/road_diets.
Four-lane undivided highways have a history of increased crashes as traffic volumes rise, due to motorists sharing the inside lane for higher speed through movements and left turns. Additionally, as active transportation increases, communities desire more livable spaces, pedestrian and bicycle facilities, and transit options, which are not easily accommodated by a 4-lane undivided roadway. One solution that benefits all modes is a Road Diet (Roadway Reconfiguration).
A Road Diet is generally described as removing vehicle lanes from a roadway and reallocating the extra space for other uses or travelling modes, such as parking, sidewalks, bicycle lanes, transit use, turn lanes, medians or pedestrian refuge islands. Road Diets have the potential to improve safety, provide operational benefits, and increase the quality of life for all road users. Road Diets can be relatively low cost if planned in conjunction with reconstruction or resurfacing projects since applying Road Diets consists primarily of restriping.
For additional information about Road Diets, visit the FHWA Office of Safety Road Diets website at http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/road_diets.
A post submitted to FPF (Saratoga/Village Green, North End):
ReplyDelete"As a teacher at Burlington High School, I recently had my students map out the different ways they travel around Burlington. Most of the students were seniors, and in reviewing both student generated maps and written work, two main themes jumped out: 1) High school students may be the most multi-modal transportation users in the city. Many of them use busses, cars, bicycles, and walk with great regularity. Sometimes their bus use, cycling and walking is out of necessity, and sometimes it is out of choice. 2) A large percentage of them feel unsafe while biking. Safety was a common reason students listed for not riding their bikes more often, even as they saw environmental, physical, and mental health benefits to cycling. Students said that they felt that the city’s bicycle infrastructure and their perceived attitudes of people in cars were inadequate for safe cycling. Several of the students from the New North End spoke specifically about how they felt unsafe riding on both North Avenue and its sidewalks, both of which they use to get to school. In a society where we should be encouraging people to ride their bikes, as both a teacher and a parent of young children, I support the pilot study so that some of our most vulnerable residents can safely enjoy the autonomy, mobility, and environmental responsibility that a bicycle affords its rider. May we consider the needs of all the people using Burlington’s streets and sidewalks, not just in the New North End, but throughout the city.