Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Seventh Street between Prince and Main used to be four lanes of travel. Now there are just two.
Why? Also, are streetlights coming? It’s so dark now.
Seventh Street between Prince and Main was subjected to a “road diet” in its reconstruction, according to Clovis City Manager Justin Howalt.
“Converting a four-lane roadway to a three-lane roadway is referred to as a road diet,” Howalt said in an email.
That’s when the existing roadway volumes do not necessitate the need for the number of existing lanes, Howalt said.
Howalt included the reasoning for a road diet from the U.S. Department of Transportation:
“Reconfiguration … offers several high-value improvements at a low cost when applied to traditional four-lane undivided highways. In addition to low cost, the primary benefits of a road diet include enhanced safety, mobility and access for all road users and a ‘complete streets’ environment to accommodate a variety of transportation modes.”
The DOT outlines resulting benefits of the change to include a crash reduction of 19% to 47%, reduced vehicle speed differential, improved mobility and access by all road users, and integration of the roadway into surrounding uses “that results in an enhanced quality of life.”
It’s noted a key feature of a road diet is that it allows reclaimed space to be allocated for other uses, such as turn lanes, bike lanes, sidewalks, and other options as needed.
Before this year’s reconstruction, Seventh Street between Prince and Main streets was a four-lane undivided roadway and those experience relatively high crash frequencies.
In an article Howalt shared, the Federal Highway Administration deemed road diets a proven safety countermeasure and promotes them as a safety-focused design alternative to a traditional four-lane, undivided roadway.
It is also noted the change reduces the cost of restriping the area.
A road diet is a low-cost solution that addresses safety concerns and benefits all road users — a win-win for quality of life.
Road diets have been in use for more than three decades. One of the first installations of a road diet was in 1979 in Billings, Mont.
As for streetlights, Howalt said they’re coming.
“They haven’t been installed yet. There will be a light at each intersection,” Howalt wrote.
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