Lane Widths

I did a bit of reading about lane widths this afternoon. Downtown White River Junction has, for the most part, very wide lanes (in excess of 12-feet, the width of an interstate lane). According to much of what I read, this encourages faster and more reckless driving because the perception from a driver's point of view is that there is plenty of margin for error. Some studies show that narrowing lanes statistically reduces accidents because people pay more attention and curiously, in some cases, narrowing has increased traffic because people feel safer when traffic is calmer.

As a result of these insights, some municipalities have narrowed their streets and avenues. In Montgomery, Maryland, a city more populous than the entire state of Vermont, for instance, 25mph streets, like those in downtown White River, have 10-foot lanes, with 8-foot parking along one or both sides. The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) recognize that in some situations lanes as narrow as 9-feet may be acceptable.

I'm not sure what the Hartford town ordinance specifies, if anything, but it seems like a good idea for us to review our lane widths downtown to see if they can be adjusted to promote better traffic flow, provide quality on-street parking, and reduce downtown driving speeds. I do know the minimum parking space is 9-feet by 20-feet, which is an enormous space that most cars swim within. Many parking facilities have compact-car parking which allows for additional cars without additional paving.

In the case of my prior post, looking at North Main Street, if lanes were narrowed to 10-feet, public on-street parking could be created without making any changes to sidewalks, curbing or lighting. By scaling downtown street conditions to reflect our desires (as opposed to the current conditions which seem to encourage undesirable behavior) we may be able to find inexpensive solutions to some of the traffic and parking problems much discussed.