Op-Ed: Road diets increase efficiency, decrease accidents

Walkability and livability are the gold standard for promoting well-being in any urban neighborhood. Although Bay Ridge has wonderfully useful and interesting streets that encourage walking, there have been an alarming number of pedestrians injured by cars lately, especially along Fourth Avenue.

Four collisions in the past 10 weeks have led to hospitalizations, including two women who died from their injuries. The rate of injuries is among the highest of any traffic corridor in Brooklyn, which substantially undercuts the quality of life in our community.

In response to these and earlier injuries and fatalities on Fourth Avenue, NYCDOT has proposed a number of much-needed pedestrian safety upgrades for the corridor. Among the list of techniques and road designs in the proposal, one in particular has raised very vocal objections: the much maligned and misunderstood road diet.

One response we frequently hear in the community to road diet proposals is that by reducing the number of travel lanes, these designs will actually increase traffic congestion and collisions. The good news is, none of these things is true. Road diets do not technically reduce travel lanes, they do not increase congestion and they dramatically reduce collisions of all kinds.

Let me explain.

The typical road diet reduces a four-lane road, with two lanes of travel in each direction, to a three-lane road, with the center lane dedicated solely to making left turns from either direction. Traffic engineers call this a four to three lane reduction.

By removing all of the left-turning vehicles from the travel lane, it actually makes the roadway more efficient. A study by the engineering firm AECOM has shown that most road diets in fact increase the car-carrying capacity of the roadway. Another study recently issued by the Federal Highway Administration analyzes road diets across the country and demonstrates a 20 to 50 percent reduction in total crashes.

Once the general public understands that these road diets benefit everyone in our community, the backlash against them will evaporate. In fact, traffic engineer Richard Retting, who is currently preparing a nationwide study on the effects of road diets, points out that in every case documented so far, communities that resisted the change, eventually grew to support the new road configuration.

Another notable effect of road diets: they are proven to reduce the percentage of cars exceeding the speed limit. That’s exactly what we need.

Robert HuDock is a practicing architect and urban planner, and a member of Community Board 10 where he is chair of the Environmental Committee and a member of the Transportation Committee. He is currently at work on a book entitled Car Wars: Reclaiming Our City Streets for Pedestrians.