Narrower lanes would force drivers to concentrate more

Editor:

As we came out of winter and into spring, we started to see the wear and tear that snow, sand and wheels have had on our roads.

Much of the road markings had been worn off and needed repainting. This led to an idea that a friend of mine presented to me, how about narrowing the roads with paint to affect traffic calming on the cheap?

We’ve seen the City of Kelowna implement double line buffers between vehicle lanes and bike lanes along streets like Dilworth Drive and Springfield Road. Same physical width to the roadway, but narrowed enough so that drivers take more care to stay within the lines.

For 50 years, we’ve thought that we needed fourmetre lanes so that cars don’t bump into each other. Actual data shows that really we only need three metres to be safe on the roads. Did we just discover new land?

Lots of other uses can be found for that metre of roadway. Widen the sidewalks, add extra buffer for multi-mode corridors (i.e. on-street bike lanes), put in some more greenery.

Unfortunately there is pushback, “The paint will wear off because of the wear from people running over it.” “Emergency vehicles need more width.” “Traffic needs to flow faster.”

Because it is paint, it will wear off, but for the benefit of overall safety, it’s a quick and cheap step that reaps much more in return.

For emergency vehicles, there is nothing physically stopping them from extending over the side, it’s just a line of paint.

Finally, the data shows that when traffic is slower, it will move more smoothly, transporting more people with less stress. When traffic starts to back up, people become more impulsive, looking for any chance to jump a few inches faster.

The lanes changes, the quick acceleration, the fast braking; all of these just clog traffic faster and exacerbate the issue.

We need to get smarter about traffic. We’re the ones in the driver’s seat, we can make this happen. Narrow lanes require more concentration, less distraction, safer driving results. Landon Bradshaw,

Kelowna