Advocacy & Safety - Time for change.

Last Friday I attended the Iowa Bicycle Summit 2007. I am going to initiate chage as a result of attending the summit in Sioux City. I am also pleased the Parks & Rec. Director attended the Thursday session which is meant for city officials, engineers, parks & rec. people, etc. The Friday session is geared more for advocates.

One of the things that I am hoping to change is putting one of the roadways in Sioux City on a diet. Riverside Blvd to be exact. I am going to advocate to turn this 4-lane individed roadway into a 3 lane roadways with 6' BL's on each side. Riverside Blvd is the section of State Highway 12 that runs through the Sioux City corporate limits. It runs from I-29 to Military Rd. It is mainly a residential area, speed limit of 35 mph. It is also the roadway used to access Riverside Park & the community theater. There are only 2 light controlled intersections, at Wright/W19th St. & again at Military Rd.

The notion of a 4-lane roadway is outdated, out-moted & not the safest as was once thought. You can move just as much traffic, just as safely, if not safer with a 3-lane roadway then with a 4-lane. This is only if the roadway is 48' wide or wider. Otherwise this will not work.

Putting Riverside on a diet is so easy & simple it is not even funny. All it requires is restripping the lanes. Let me say that again, all it takes is restripping the lanes. Very little if any cost to do so. Here is what the layout will be if this happens: a 6' BL on each side, a 12' travel lane on each side & a 12' turn/merge/quai-passing lane in the middle. There is your 48'.

Another neat thing about this is because no physical facilties were moved or changed it can easily be changed back to 4 undivided lanes if this does not work. Simply by re-stripping the lanes.

Now all I've got to do is "sell" this idea to the city, hopefully with the help & support of the Siouxland Trails Foundation.

What do you think? Are there roadways in your area that could stand to be put on a diet? Or any that already have been?

Road diets in the Seattle area have been proven to increase average daily flow rates on roads, make road cooridors safer for pedestrians and more usable by bicyclists. Look to www.cascade.org for any links towards our own local Road diets and their effectiveness in Seattle. also note the business kneejerk opposition to road restriping plans that actually improve smooth traffic flow on roads that are up for a diet.

Yay!

Last Friday I attended the Iowa Bicycle Summit 2007. I am going to initiate chage as a result of attending the summit in Sioux City. I am also pleased the Parks & Rec. Director attended the Thursday session which is meant for city officials, engineers, parks & rec. people, etc. The Friday session is geared more for advocates.

One of the things that I am hoping to change is putting one of the roadways in Sioux City on a diet. Riverside Blvd to be exact. I am going to advocate to turn this 4-lane individed roadway into a 3 lane roadways with 6' BL's on each side. Riverside Blvd is the section of State Highway 12 that runs through the Sioux City corporate limits. It runs from I-29 to Military Rd. It is mainly a residential area, speed limit of 35 mph. It is also the roadway used to access Riverside Park & the community theater. There are only 2 light controlled intersections, at Wright/W19th St. & again at Military Rd.

The notion of a 4-lane roadway is outdated, out-moted & not the safest as was once thought. You can move just as much traffic, just as safely, if not safer with a 3-lane roadway then with a 4-lane. This is only if the roadway is 48' wide or wider. Otherwise this will not work.

Putting Riverside on a diet is so easy & simple it is not even funny. All it requires is restripping the lanes. Let me say that again, all it takes is restripping the lanes. Very little if any cost to do so. Here is what the layout will be if this happens: a 6' BL on each side, a 12' travel lane on each side & a 12' turn/merge/quai-passing lane in the middle. There is your 48'.

Another neat thing about this is because no physical facilties were moved or changed it can easily be changed back to 4 undivided lanes if this does not work. Simply by re-stripping the lanes.

Now all I've got to do is "sell" this idea to the city, hopefully with the help & support of the Siouxland Trails Foundation.

What do you think? Are there roadways in your area that could stand to be put on a diet? Or any that already have been?

A turn/merge lane is okay, providing there are enough intersections to make it work, however as a passing lane, uh no, this was tried back in the 50's and 60's they were called suicide lanes, because two people going opposite directions would pull out to pass at the same time, and meet in the middle:eek: .

We have some 3 lane roads, where there is a traffic signal above the third lane, it has a green direction arrow, and a red X, this allows the road to effectively be 2 lanes in one direction at one point in the day with a single lane the other way, and they can switch this around at other times. Usually it's a road that services a large factory, so that they can gain extra lanes for shift changes. This could also be done there.

A turn/merge lane is okay, providing there are enough intersections to make it work, however as a passing lane, uh no, this was tried back in the 50's and 60's they were called suicide lanes, because two people going opposite directions would pull out to pass at the same time, and meet in the middle:eek: .

We have some 3 lane roads, where there is a traffic signal above the third lane, it has a green direction arrow, and a red X, this allows the road to effectively be 2 lanes in one direction at one point in the day with a single lane the other way, and they can switch this around at other times. Usually it's a road that services a large factory, so that they can gain extra lanes for shift changes. This could also be done there.

This area is largely residential. R'side Blvd terminates at I-29 on the south end & continues as State Hwy 12 going north out of town. 98% of the commercial businesses are on the east side with most of those closer to the sections that go by W 19th & Military Rd. There is a school on the west side north of W 19th but south of Military. Aside from the 2 light controlled intersections R'Side has no other controlled intersections. Except those 2 light controlled areas all of the others are stop sign controlled or are private or commercial business driveways that exit onto the roadway. There is no parking anywhere on R'side.

This area is largely residential. R'side Blvd terminates at I-29 on the south end & continues as State Hwy 12 going north out of town. 98% of the commercial businesses are on the east side with most of those closer to the sections that go by W 19th & Military Rd. There is a school on the west side north of W 19th but south of Military. Aside from the 2 light controlled intersections R'Side has no other controlled intersections. Except those 2 light controlled areas all of the others are stop sign controlled or are private or commercial business driveways that exit onto the roadway. There is no parking anywhere on R'side.

So why is this a 4 lane road? Sounds like it might be better to go with a different plan, take a 6' section of road, mark this off with planters, benches, bike racks, etc. Then you have a 6' bike lane, a 12' MV lane, then reverse going the other way. Later on, when they need to redo the road, they can redesign it for a narrower profile.

So why is this a 4 lane road? Sounds like it might be better to go with a different plan, take a 6' section of road, mark this off with planters, benches, bike racks, etc. Then you have a 6' bike lane, a 12' MV lane, then reverse going the other way. Later on, when they need to redo the road, they can redesign it for a narrower profile.

Good question, it always has been as far as I know. Putting benches & bike racks would not be condusive along this roadway. Planters may be a good idea though, if put on the city ROW.