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A road diet involves reducing the number of travel lanes on a roadway, often repurposing the space for other uses such as turn lanes and/or bike lanes. The US Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration describes a road diet as roadway reconfiguration that improves safety, calms traffic, provides better mobility and access for all road users, and enhances overall quality of life.
Leveraging their engineering expertise across almost 60 combined years, project managers Aaron Bubb and Nick Bobinski, and traffic engineer Neal Styka, explain how road diets help create safer, better roads for everyone–drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians alike.
How would you describe the evolution and implementation of road diets throughout your career?
Aaron: When I began my career more than 25 years ago, most of my projects focused on traffic operations and capacity improvements, which expanded the roadway footprint. With the implementation of complete streets and context-sensitive design, there has been a move to accommodate all users within the existing right-of-way, which, in some instances, can be accomplished with a road diet.
Neal: Similarly, when I began my career 16 years ago, projects focused on getting more vehicles through a roadway faster. We’ve all seen the increase in reckless driving and speeding, and as an industry, we now realize we need to change our priorities. Many communities have adopted Vision Zero policies in which safety is the driver so that they can achieve the goal of zero fatalities and fewer serious crashes. Road diets are one of the many tools available to help reach that goal.
Nick: There has been slow but steady movement on the concept of road diets over the years. As more projects are completed, both locally and around the country, we better understand what works and what doesn’t. For example, reconfiguring lanes and striping on-street bike lanes does not necessarily provide safe bike accommodations. Many communities are now taking this one step further and implementing protected bike lanes, making bikers feel safer and further reducing the width of the vehicular roadway to encourage slower speeds.
Are road diets specifically asked for in a project scope, or can you utilize them as desired?
Aaron: For some projects, the client requests a road diet upfront, but in other instances, a road diet may be selected based on alternative analysis, including traffic operations and safety evaluations.
Neal: Agreed, it’s a bit of both. Some communities have specific plans and goals in mind when the project is scoped, and that can include a road diet. For others, like our recent 39th Avenue project in Kenosha, a road diet made sense based on the crash history, location of the roadway, and traffic volumes.
What challenges do you face when trying to implement a road diet?
Nick: Balancing competing needs for space in a specific corridor, from traffic operations and bicycle accommodations to curbside management, on-street parking, and transit, can be challenging. Unfortunately, road diets don’t work everywhere. Major arterials with high traffic may not be good candidates for lane reductions. Luckily, there are other tools and treatments we can consider to prioritize safety in our designs. The project’s location and the community it’s in can impact the public’s acceptance of it. Some people may initially have concerns and hesitancy about the project, but candid conversations and proven statistics can convert these people into supporters.
How do you measure the success of a road diet?
Neal: Safety, in terms of reducing reported crashes and near misses, is the most significant metric of success. Public perception is also important. The goal is for people to feel more comfortable and safer when interacting with the roadway.
Nick: Safety is No. 1, but another success factor is cost. Since there is less pavement area, a narrower roadway is cheaper to build and maintain.
Is there any road diet you’ve created that you’re particularly proud of?
Aaron: Two projects come to mind. For Glenview Avenue in the City of Wauwatosa, a road diet saved mature terrace trees along a residential historic district. For 39th Avenue in the City of Kenosha, a road diet has been designed to (a) reduce speeding, (b) provide both on-street bicycle lanes and parking, (c) reduce the overall pavement width and create more greenspace, and (d) improve safety.
Neal: I was involved in studying and designing the39th Avenue Road diet, and I’m excited to see it built this year. We initially proposed it using only very preliminary traffic counts, and when the turning movement counts were collected in the field, the traffic model confirmed our initial thought that the roadway would be a good candidate for a road diet.
Nick: I’m also excited about 39th Avenue. The narrower roadway allowed us to save existing street trees and reduce the length of pedestrian crossings. While not truly a road diet, on Lake Drive in the Village of Shorewood, we completed a parking analysis that showed we could still meet parking needs while eliminating a parking lane and reallocating the space for bike lanes, avoiding impacts to mature street trees.
Are there any common misconceptions about road diets you’d like to dispel?
Aaron: There can still be good vehicular traffic operations with a roadway diet.
Neal: They won’t work because the streets will be too narrow or there will not be enough parking. However, with good planning and community input, these concerns can be resolved.
Nick: I’ve heard misunderstandings that fewer or narrower lanes will be less safe or result in more crashes. When implemented properly and in the right locations, the opposite can be true because the road diet encourages lower vehicular speeds, which are safer for everyone.
Road diets are a powerful tool for improving safety, mobility, and livability in our communities. By rethinking street design, Kapur is helping roads–and those who use them–breathe easier and function better.
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