Description:

A Multimodal Road Reconfiguration (commonly called a road diet) modifies the cross section of a roadway designated for vehicular use. This is accomplished by narrowing the width of travel lanes and by reducing the total number of lanes. Narrow lanes reduce operating speeds and reduce pedestrian crossing distances. Remaining pavement can be used to provide elements such as median islands, a two-way left-turn lane, pedestrian refuges, bike lanes, and/or on-street parking. An engineering evaluation is needed to assess site specific impacts.

Advantages:

•    Reduces vehicular speeds.

•    Opportunity to add or enhance bicycle lanes.

•    Opportunity to add on-street parking.

•    Promotes multi-modal transportation use.

•    Reduces crossing distances at crosswalks.

•    Allows for street beautification.

•    Can reduce total crashes by 19-47%.

Disadvantages:

•    Increased implementation cost compared to other traffic calming measures.

•    Increased maintenance needs/costs.

•    Requires significant community “buy in”.

Suitable:

•    Downtown areas.

•    Commercial areas.

•    Mixed-use areas.

•    Roadways with high bicycle usage.

•    Multilane roadways that are underutilized.