When it comes to promoting the peaceful coexistence of traffic and pedestrians on city streets, sometimes less can be more.
That is the philosophy behind “road diets,” reconfiguring urban roadways to turn four-lane roads into two lanes with a turning lane and leftover space for bike or pedestrian lanes. Little Rock has a couple of high-profile road diet stretches, on South Main Street and Napa Valley Drive.
The road design has gotten high marks, especially South Main. The street’s road diet design was completed in December 2013 and has played a significant role in the area’s revitalization.
Kyle Leyenberger, head of the Downtown Little Rock Partnership, lives in the So Ma neighborhood. He said he feels the positive affects of the road diet all the time.
“People want to be able to park and walk or live where they can walk,” he said. “I just moved to So Ma, and it’s been a life-changing experience. I have a 4- year-old, and we can ride our bikes wherever we go, we can walk to dinner, we can walk to do our shopping, I can walk to work. It’s a great way to live.”
Traffic engineers insist that the design works to calm traffic and improve flow.
“A lot of areas were building these four lane roads, two lanes in each direction (with) no separation … These four lane roads are high speed and very dangerous with lots of crashes,” said Robert Noland, a professor at Rutgers University and the director of the college’s Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center. “The term road diet means you can actually improve things by reducing the amount of pavement.”
According to a page on the Federal Highway Administration’s website, road diets “can improve safety, calm traffic, provide better mobility and access for all road users, and enhance overall quality of life.” It cites a 2010 study that shows road diets can lead to a reduction of19% to 47% in crashes, depending on the road.
According to the administration’s website road diets have several benefits, such as:
- Reduction of rear-end and left-turn crashes due to the dedicated left-turn lane.
- Reduced right-angle crashes as side street motorists cross three versus four travel lanes.
- Fewer lanes for pedestrians to cross.
- Opportunity to install pedestrian refuge islands, bicycle lanes, on-street parking, or transit stops.
- Traffic calming and more consistent speeds.
- A more community-focused environment that better accommodates the needs of all road users.
On South Main Street, between Interstate 630 and Roosevelt Road, accident numbers have remained mostly consistent. According to accident numbers for the road from 2015-2024 provided by Metroplan, the road saw a high of 68 accidents in 2017, narrowly edging out the second-highest total of 67 accidents in 2022. In 2024, the most recent total available, there were 42 accidents, which is around the street’s accident average since 2015 of 51.
A portion of Napa Valley Drive between Mara Lynn Road and St. Charles Boulevard completed a road diet in 2023. In 2022, there were 24 accidents on the road. There were 17 accidents in 2023 and 21 accidents in 2024.
According to David Hopkins, manager of civil engineering with the city of Little Rock, research and test projects done around the country and world show that reducing the capacity of certain roadway configurations, like a fourlane configuration, make vehicle travel safer. He referred to the process as “rightsizing” a roadway, or reducing a road’s size relative to its usage to make it safer.
Several road diets have been completed or are planned for the city. In Little Rock, like in many other places, road diets are done with cyclists in mind. According to Hopkins, if a road on the city’s Master Bike Plan is being resurfaced or improved, it will usually get a road diet that includes bike lanes.
One of these cases is the portion of Napa Valley Drive. There was some confusion as to why bike lanes were put in the area, especially since it didn’t connect to much else, Hopkins said. But it was due for resurfacing and on the Master Bike Plan, so the city added bike lanes.
In the future, the bike lanes on Napa Valley Drive will be connected, according to Hopkins, but implementation of Little Rock’s Master Bike Plan will be piecemeal because of limited funding, he said.
The Arkansas Department of Transportation is in favor of road diets when “implemented correctly.”
“When an appropriate location is identified and rightsizing is implemented correctly, it can enhance safety and support planning goals without restricting traffic flow,” said Dave Parker, a spokesperson for the transportation department. “Conversely, poorly planned adjustments to the roadway crosssection may cause congestion, safety issues, problems with freight movement, or other negative effects. Thus, ‘rightsizing’ must be applied thoughtfully. It is not a one-size-fits-all concept.”
According to Leyenberger, the road diet fits South Main perfectly. He insists it has made the street safer and more comfortable for pedestrians and cyclists, leading to more foot and bike traffic from areas surrounding South Main Street. This was a boon for business in the area.
Jack Sundell owns the Root Cafe, a business that opened on the street in 2011. He saw the effects of the South Main Street road diet firsthand.
“When traffic slows down in a neighborhood like So Ma, it is beneficial for the businesses that operate there,” he said. “From a business perspective we are always excited to see projects aimed at slowing down cars driving through the neighborhood.
“When we first opened in 2011, Main Street was four lanes of traffic,” Sundell continued. “There was really a big problem with pedestrian safety … Like when we’d walk across to Boulevard Bread Company to get our buns each day and our bread order, it felt like an unsafe situation.”
According to Sundell, the road diet was a game changer for pedestrian safety in the area.
Another business owner in the area, Shelley Green, echoed much of Sundell’s sentiment. Her business, the Green Corner Store, opened in 2009, making it one of the older establishments in the area. Before the road diet, vacant store fronts and empty lots were a staple in SoMa, but now it’s grown tremendously, she said.
“I really bucked the age-old formula for success: location, location, location,” she said. “Back then it wasn’t really a good location, but sometimes you do things for heart … and it’s paid off.”