Road Diets

A “Road Diet” is roadway reconfiguration that involves narrowing or eliminating travel lanes to calm traffic and increase safety of all roadway users. A classic road diet converts a four-lane undivided roadway to a three-lane roadway with a center two-way turn lane. Road diets can also remove vehicle lanes from a roadway and reallocate the extra space for other uses or traveling modes, such as parking, sidewalks, bicycle lanes, transit use, turn lanes, curb extensions, parklets, or pedestrian refuge islands. Implementing Road Diets improves mobility and accessibility for all users, including pedestrians, bicyclists, and public transit riders. This Spark page explains benefits of road diets, provides examples traffic-calming elements, and provides Delaware-specific examples.

Road Diets
Road Diet Infographics

A road diet reduces the number of lanes in a roadway to create space for other uses, including walking, biking, and transit use. This infographic visually shows the traditional road diet model and the variety of benefits of implementation.Infographic illustrating the benefits of road diets. Benefits include increased pedestrian flow, increased parking, reduced crashes, improved bike facilities, and decreased traffic speeds.Infographic about pedestrian safety islands. Pedestrian safety islands limit the amount of pedestrian exposure to vehicles in streets. As the number of travel lanes increases, pedestrians feel more exposed and less safe crossing the street, so adding a pedestrian safety island can help address these concerns. There are three design recommendations. One, safety islands should be at least 6 feat wide and have a length of 8-10 feet. Two, they should have a 'nose' which extends beyond the ntersection. They should include curbs, bollards, or other features to protect people who are waiting.