This post originally appeared on Orphan Road.
A press release from SDOT shows that reducing the number of traffic lanes on Stone Way has been a success all around. You’ll recall that when the restriping was proposed 4 years ago, property owners on the street freaked out that there wouldn’t be enough room for traffic if the street went from 4 lanes to 3. Needless to say, those fears haven’t come to pass:
- Motor vehicles now travel at speeds nearer the legal limit;
- Total collisions dropped 14 percent with injury collisions down 33 percent;
- Pedestrian collisions declined significantly;
- Bike trips increased 35 percent but collisions per bicycle trip have declined; and
- Volumes show the roadway still easily accommodates motor vehicle traffic.
Full report here (pdf).
Very nice report and I’m glad SDOT prepared it. Relatively cheap fixes like this can really improve pedestrian safety. Also interesting tidbit from a recent blog post:
“Along those lines, and for all my engineering friends that measure prosperity through Average Daily Traffic counts (ADT), there is one fact brought to the surface that is salient: design speed in urban areas does not impact volume. [DeWayne] Carver [of Hall Planning and Engineering] pointed out that at 20 MPH, cars will go by at a rate of about one very two seconds. At 45 MPH, cars will go by at a rate of about one every two seconds. At higher speeds they simply spread out more.”
I’m guessing it feels more annoying to drive a 20 MPH, but it actually results in fewer crashes, fewer injuries, fewer deaths.
Yet my neighborhood is apparently strongly against road diets, and has sent a letter to the mayor and city council to that effect. (sigh) Time to start attending community council meetings.