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What is a Road Diet
How can a road with less lanes carry the
same amount of traffic?
How does a road diet make driving safer?
How does a road diet make walking safer?
How does a road diet make biking safer?
How much is this project going to cost the city?
I don't ride a bike, why should I care about bike
lanes?
What happens if
it is a colossal failure?
Why are some people fighting so hard against the
road diet?
Why should I trust you?
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What is a Road Diet?
Basically a road diet is switching a road from four lanes to two,
with a center turn lane. Engineers and planners alike have found
that in high turn environments (like Broadway) three-lane roads
can carry as many motor vehicles as a four-lane road- with greater
safety and efficiency for all modes of transportation.
How can a road with less lanes carry the same
amount of traffic?
That is the one on everyone's mind :-), and luckily there is an
anwer! When a car stops in a moving traffic lane to turn left (as
is very common on Broadway) it causes a whole slew of problems-
congestion, blind spots, unsafe lane changes, and discrepencies
in vehicle speeds are some of the most common. In a three-lane system
there is always one lane for driving, and one lane for turning,
no mixing up the two, making driving safer and more reliable, with
fewer crashes and frustrations. For these reasons, a 3-lane road
can handle the same amount of traffic as a 4-lane road (and in some
cases it can handle more traffic).
Another part of the congestion equation is the intersection. It's
the intersection that oftern determines the levels of congestion
on a road. An important point to be made is that the intersections
will continue to have the same amount of lanes as they do today.
How does a road diet make driving safer?
As mentioned above, road diets provide a center turn lane so that
left turns are simpler. A driver crosses only one lane of traffic
at a time (resulting in fewer blind spots). With an undivided 4-lane
road, a driver must find a gap in two or three lanes of traffic
at once to make a left turn. An argument against the safety factor
is that it's because traffic is diverted to other streets that results
in fewer crashes. This has been found to be a false assumption.
In reality, road diets have been found to maintain (and enhance)
traffic flow while reducing crashes up to 90%.
How does a road diet make walking safer?
First, you only have to cross three lanes of traffic, not four.
Second there are fewer blind spots as you only have one lane in
each direction, thus there is less sight blockage by cars. Third
top vehicle speeds in a three lane system are lower (this does not
mean that it will take longer to get through downtown on Broadway,
it means that there will be less speeding up and slowing down, and
a more consisten pace).
Also, with the addition of bike lanes to the roads there will be
less bike traffic on the sidewalks (which is already illegal, but
still common, and can make sidewalks less safe for pedestrians).
How does a road diet make biking safer?
Bike lanes of course! And all of the reasons listed above for pedestrian
saftey. On Broadway today a cyclist is at risk of being 'doored'
by someone getting out of a parked car, or being 'mirrored' by a
motor vehicle passing by within a foot or two.
How much is this project going to cost the city?
Nothing! The Montana Department of Transportation is picking up
the bill. The project is a restriping, not a redevelopment, so the
project will be quick with minimal closures, and extremely inexpensive.
Most of the money goes into engeneering the project, and paying
people to paint the roads. The total cost of the project is about
$300,000, $150,000 of which has already been spent
I don't ride a bike, why should I care about
bike lanes?
Well first of all, there are tons of reasons the road diet will
make life easier for all modes of transportation. But to see why
bike lanes can be good for everyone, check out these bike
lane benefits.
What happens if it doesn't work out?
There is always a possiblity that this project will not work out-
and if this is the case the State has said that they will repaint
the road back to the way it used to be at no cost to the City.
Why are some people fighting so hard against
the road diet?
The reasons we have heard are a bit fuzzy. Some want the $200,000
to go to revamping the intersection of Reserve and Mullan. This
project has not been approved by anyone and may involve doing away
with the bicycle lanes to make room for an extended turn pocket
(this will not fly as the community will not allow it). Also, the
intersection is set to be dealt with in the 20-yr transportation
plan.
Other's say people will be afraid to drive on the new Broadway,
that they will think that there will be more congestion, and so
avoid it, even though this has not been an issue in any road diet
anywhere.
Another argument is that we should wait and see what the proposed
downtown study says about Broadway. We think going ahead with the
road diet now is prudent, as it will provide data for the downtown
study. With the State's offer to stripe the road back to its current
condition if it is unsuccessful, waiting will only lead to more
crashes and more congestion.
Finally, some are saying that 5-lanes
might be the answer for downtown. If we want downtown to be a viable
and accessbile destination- as opposed to a thru highway- then 5-lanes
is not the answer.
For more on this see the arguments
page.
Why should I trust you?
You dont have to, check out the stats page
and see for yourself how other road diets have possitively affected
communities around the nation.
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