Picture a busy surface street in the city you use frequently. How would you make it rightsized? By that, I mean, the street likely no longer meets the needs of the people who use it. The road doesn’t have a middle turning lane or a median to control traffic flow. The area is frequented by pedestrians and cyclists, but the infrastructure doesn’t allow safe crosswalks, bike lanes or even sidewalks in some areas. Maybe it needs additional lanes for heavy traffic, or less lanes because it no longer services many vehicles.
Government Street is an example of a local thoroughfare that could benefit from rightsizing. It desperately needs turning lanes and a median, there aren’t adequate crosswalks—as shown with events like White Light Night, where organizers have to hire police officers to safely get people from one side to the other—and several businesses have bike racks outside their storefronts, even though there isn’t a marked bike or shared lane.
Where Mid City is flourishing, the infrastructure is falling behind. That’s where the idea of rightsizing comes in. As a recent story on The Atlantic Cities website points out, one size doesn’t fit every street, and as the community’s needs change, the streets should change with it. In fact, Government Street is listed in the city’s FutureBR plan as a roadway that should be converted to a complete street model—with options for designated bike lanes, bus lanes and other amenities.
