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Anatomy of a Road Diet Pitch Lately I have been pitching more and more road diets to communities with a fair amount of success. So I wanted to share some tips that anyone can use in conjunction with a little bit of research to promote them in their own area. 1/
2/ So what is a road diet? In short, a road diet is the rebalancing of roadway space toward a more human scale by reducing the amount of motorized traffic lanes on a roadway. Road diets generally apply to through lanes rather than auxiliary turn lanes, etc.
3/ Road diets are most commonly are implemented on arterials – 4 or 5-lane, high capacity thoroughfares – which are reduced to a 3-lane configuration: a single travel lane in each direction and a center left turn lane.
4/ Here is the classic plan view of a road diet from Rice University.
5/ Road diets are usually done in conjunction with lane diets, which reduce the width of the travel lanes from 12 or 11 ft to 11 or 10 ft, respectively. The intent is to add a little bit of perceived friction so that slower travel speeds are induced.
6/ So, how are road diets pitched in public meetings and private discussions? I’ll share a few techniques we’ve been using with a fair amount of success.
7/ First, and this is the most important, SELL THE VISION! Read master plans and any other available documentation, meeting minutes, etc. to home in on any road diet concepts that tie in with the stated objectives.
8/ Typical concepts are safety, walkability, urban vitality, and cultural, social, and recreational facilities. The tighter you can tie road diet design features to these outcomes, the more compelling your vision will be. Include visuals.
9/ Be sure to include a few non-benefits as well, to provide balance. Inevitably, right turning movements will be an issue you’ll just have to push through.
10/ Once the vision is provided, you’ll need data to back it up. Congestion is the biggest concern that resisters will bring up. We typically come to meetings prepared with a Synchro simulation already developed to counter this
11/ We use the Synchro model to evaluate intersection capacity because this is where the delays seem to be easiest for non-engineers to visualize. Depending on your situation, you may or may not have access to this expensive software, but…
12/ Most agencies keep old traffic studies and analysis around and can be found with a little bit of digging. Once you have existing conditions in front of you, you can safely assume that road diets cause a single letter drop in level of service.
13/ This is a great time to remind any traffic engineers in the room that there is no federal LOS mandate, and to remind everything else about the safety improvements you mentioned earlier.
14/ We build on the Synchro intersection with a VISSIM network model that includes a lot of flexibility to cater the simulation to local preferences. This is a little cherry on top of the presentation, but not a necessity.
15/ When we do use a VISSIM model, we first model a key intersection, then the entire corridor or even the whole network. This network simulation is from a conversion project I did in downtown Lansing recently.
16/ Corridor or network simulations help to finalize signal parameters based on localized assumptions and preferences. Again, this step is not absolutely critical to a successful road diet pitch, so don’t worry if you don’t have access to the software.
17/ Next, we elaborate on 5-year crash history. Be sure to describe the various crash types and their frequencies, tying them back to the benefits of a road diet.
18/ Bonus points if you use diagrams to step through the events leading to the crash.
19/ To really hit the point home, we include more visuals to illustrate how left turning movements are safer in a 3-lane configuration.
20/ If the pitch is successful, folks will be thinking that road diets are a no-brainer and start to wonder why they aren’t more popular. Turns out, they are very popular it’s just that most non-engineers don’t look for them.
21/ Which makes this a great time to include a list of cities that have successfully implemented road diets. Providing local officials with contact info for some of these locations goes a long way in boosting their confidence.
22/ At this point, it’s time to wrap up by reiterating the vision. Again, be sure to include visuals that connect to the audience on a personal level. Feel free to throw a little contrast in there to really seal the deal.
23/ Don’t forget to connect the road diet on this individual corridor to the broader safety agenda in a classic call to action ending.
24/ Well, there you have it. Those are the basic components of our road diet pitch. Feel free to use or expand on any of them, and let us know if we missed anything.
Thanks for reading!
Thanks for reading!
