“Carolina Beach residents pleased Road Diet is over,” reads one headline. “When Gov\u2019t Imposed \u2018Road Diet\u2019 to Control Drivers, It Ended as Many Diets Do \u2013 With People Hangry,” reads another.<\/p>\n
Main Avenue’s new “road diet”<\/a> has been met with much reaction. The Bismarck Tribune<\/em> recently published an article of praise<\/a>, citing positive reviews based on attendees at a public informational meeting.<\/p>\n There is evidence to the contrary, however. Two online polls, one conducted by this site<\/a> and the other by KFYR-TV<\/a>, showed overwhelmingly negative feedback, with only 25% and 12% voting in favor of the changes. Even within the Tribune’s own Facebook feed<\/a>, much of the commentary is\u00a0negative.<\/p>\n It is difficult to concur\u00a0that\u00a0reducing the capacity of one of Bismarck’s busiest roads improves traffic. Congestion and traffic back-ups are prone\u00a0to increase. In fact, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)\u00a0acknowledges in a report<\/a> that the likelihood of congestion increases when road diets are implemented on\u00a0roads topping 20,000 vehicles per day, which Main Avenue is approaching<\/a>.<\/p>\n Admittedly, there are benefits to the changes. The wider driving and parking lanes, in particular, meet high praise. The dedicated\u00a0left turning lane, in itself, would also make sense in most\u00a0circumstances. Except, in this case, a left turn must now yield to a\u00a0line of through traffic twice as long as previous due to the halved capacity. Protected turn signals\u00a0would only add to the length of through traffic wait times, further increasing congestion.<\/p>\n One of the arguments in favor of the road diet is improved safety. The previously cited\u00a0FHWA report concluded that road diets did not result in “a significant safety effect.” While crash rates did generally decrease, they were “not statistically significant.”<\/p>\n One news article even suggests that road rage incidents increased<\/a> with the implementation of their own local diet.<\/p>\n A\u00a0quick search online reveals that road diets are not well-favored in other communities. The Carolina Beach in North Carolina, the Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles, Gainesville, Florida… these are just three examples of localities\u00a0who reversed their controversial\u00a0diets. There are others.<\/p>\n Numerous alternatives have been suggested, including removing parking along the congested areas of Main Avenue, resulting in\u00a0four through lanes with separate left turns. Certainly, the argument against this lies in the already\u00a0sparse downtown parking, which will likely get worse with the implementation of Depot Plaza<\/a>.<\/p>\nImproved Safety?<\/h2>\n
Road Diet Reversals<\/h2>\n
Alternatives<\/h2>\n