Road Diets: What are they, what are the benefits| Federal Highway Administration

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Improved safety and congestion relief on public roadways are high-priority national goals. Innovative reconfigurations such as Road Diets can help achieve these goals for motorists and non-motorists on mixed-use streets by reducing vehicle speeds and freeing space for alternative modes. Road diets can reduce collisions, increase mobility and access, and improve a community’s quality of life.

Road Diets are a safety-focused alternative to a four-lane, undivided roadway. The most common type of Road Diet involves converting an existing four-lane, undivided roadway segment that serves both through and turning traffic into a three-lane segment with two through lanes and a center, two-way left-turn lane (TWLTL). The reclaimed space can be allocated for other uses such as bike lanes, pedestrian refuge islands, bus lanes and parking.

On a four-lane undivided road, vehicle speeds can vary between travel lanes, and drivers frequently slow or change lanes due to slower vehicles or vehicles stopped in the left lane waiting to turn left. On three-lane roads with TWLTLs, left-turning vehicles are separated from through vehicles, and the vehicle speed differential is limited by the speed of the lead vehicle in the through lane. This reduces the vehicle-to-vehicle conflicts that contribute to crashes.

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