A section of State Street through Jackson was reduced to three lanes (with a turning lane) after being decommissioned as US 51. As a four-lane, State Street was rather narrow, so I can definitely justify it being downgraded. It's the only road in the area I can think of that used to be four-laned.
Too many to name have been reduced from 4 lanes to 2 or 3 lanes, in the name of being pedestrian friendly, traffic calming, etc, etc. Woodbury, NJ recently saw NJ 45 undergo this 'diet' to encourage slower traffic, which would encourage businesses to come to town. A bike lane was also added. So far, no new businesses. I'm sure those things take time.....
I happened to notice a traffic counter one day, and she appeared to be counting bicyclists. Relately, I also noticed an unusual number of bicyclists going by that day. Guess word got out to take a few rides.
Many miles of old US 66 through central Illinois have been reduced from 4 to 2 lanes since I-55 has been completed. You can see the results on Google Earth.
VDOT plans to reduce a four-lane dual-carriageway segment of US-50 west of Middleburg to a two-lane single-carriageway, though they haven't done it yet. It's a strange segment, a very brief four-lane segment on an otherwise two-lane road. A lot of drivers treat that spot like a raceway and floor it to try to pass as many people as possible. Heading eastbound, that can be a bit dangerous because the four-lane part ends just as you crest a hill approaching Middleburg (where the speed limit quite appropriately drops to 25 from, I believe, 50).
One near me:
Glenolden, PA - MacDade Blvd was restriped from 4-lanes to 3 (center lane being a left-turn lane) between South Ave. and Ashland Ave. about a year or two ago.
I can think of quite a few:
-NY 31 in the village of Pittsford, four to three
-NY 590 and Sea Breeze Dr; three to two northbound from NY 104 east to Ridge Rd (OK, not too far, and that left lane ending never made sense...), two to one north of Titus Ave; two to one southbound north of Titus, same between Titus and Ridge, two to one from Ridge to NY 104, two to zero at NY 104 (NY 590 south now merges onto itself; the though travel lanes are now a two-lane ramp from NY 104)
-NY 37 used to be four lanes divided from NY 56 to the Akwasanse reservation; it was reduced to two crossing into the reservation so NYSDOT could save money replacing a bridge, and reduced further to just before the border station when that was re-configured; there's actually enough pavement to keep it four lanes until the border station, but for some reason the eastbound left lane ends before it; guess region 7 doesn't like through lanes magically becoming turning lanes, even though that would make more sense than the current configuration
WI 96 between Appleton and Little Chute, WI (the two share a common border, but I'm referring to the part between their urbanized areas) was reduced from four to two lanes with a center left turn lane and striped bicycle lanes about ten years ago. One aspect there is that the road was rebuilt as four lanes in the 1960s and traffic since then has never warranted that capacity as several better paralleling routes are available.
Mike
There's a section of US 60 near Aurora, MO that was once 4 Lanes, but is now 2.
http://goo.gl/maps/tZksO
A lot of the examples cited would fall under the term "road diet"...basically converting a 4-lane urban street into a 2- or 3-lane street (third lane often being a center left turn lane) and adding on-street parking, bike lanes, wider sidewalks, or whatnot. Optimum when average daily traffic is under 15K, but still doable with ADT up to 20K.
Quote from: RoadWarrior56 on April 11, 2013, 06:19:42 AM
Many miles of old US 66 through central Illinois have been reduced from 4 to 2 lanes since I-55 has been completed. You can see the results on Google Earth.
similarly: old US 66/91/395 coming down Cajon Pass. the drivable segment between exits 123 and 129 of I-15 has two lanes maintained, and two lanes closed off and left to decay. south of exit 123, one can see four abandoned lanes heading southbound a bit further.
Quote from: 1995hoo on April 11, 2013, 07:54:43 AM
VDOT plans to reduce a four-lane dual-carriageway segment of US-50 west of Middleburg to a two-lane single-carriageway, though they haven't done it yet. It's a strange segment, a very brief four-lane segment on an otherwise two-lane road.
Sounds like the bit of US 33 just east of Russels Point, Ohio. I'm actually not sure how long ago the westbound carriageway was abandoned, but the pavement was physically still there until just a few years ago.
US 40 (Main St) in West Jefferson underwent a road diet a couple of years ago, going from 4 lanes with parallel parking to 3 lanes with parallel parking. (or is it angle parking now?) It's definitely easier to turn left now. Also, they removed one of the three traffic lights, which had been timed at like 12 MPH – the two remaining lights don't obstruct traffic so blatantly. And for some reason, they tore out all the trees that had previously lined the street. :banghead:
Quote from: vtk on April 11, 2013, 12:31:21 PM
Quote from: 1995hoo on April 11, 2013, 07:54:43 AM
VDOT plans to reduce a four-lane dual-carriageway segment of US-50 west of Middleburg to a two-lane single-carriageway, though they haven't done it yet. It's a strange segment, a very brief four-lane segment on an otherwise two-lane road.
Sounds like the bit of US 33 just east of Russels Point, Ohio. I'm actually not sure how long ago the westbound carriageway was abandoned, but the pavement was physically still there until just a few years ago.
....
I think VDOT doesn't necessarily intend to abandon the one carriageway, as there are some houses and such in the area. I think the plans I saw called for turning the eastbound carriageway into a local-access road and simply severing the two ends (I don't know whether with barricades or by ripping it up, though I assume the latter based on overall plans for spiffying up that road).
Portland, Oregon is heavily doing this. Streets like S.E. Holgate and Division, N. Williams and Vancouver, S.W. Barbur and Naito Parkway.
Portland seems to think traffic congestion is a good thing as it will encourage motorists to get out and bike or walk. Of course, those bike paths sit empty and virtually unused most of the year.
Indianapolis has done this to a few streets in the past few years, all along roads that got bike lanes. For the most part, the streets may not really need the four lanes anymore and it's not a universal policy since there are four-lane roads that stayed four lanes when the put the new bike lanes in.
One street of note in Downtown Indianapolis that got redone was Georgia Street, a four-lane three-block road that connected the Convention Center with Bankers Life Fieldhouse. In that case, the city decided to transform the road into a two-lane boulevard with a boardwalk running down the middle in hopes of turning it into a festival-like space, such as the Super Bowl Village at SB 46. So that's taking a four-lane road and making it two-lanes, and selling it as a venue for festivals.
http://www.michiganhighways.org/listings/MichHwys120-139.html#US-131
Quote1956 Updated - Nearly 15 miles of US-131 from jct M-66 north of Mancelona to the northern jct of M-32 northwest of Elmira is "twinned" whereby a second carriageway is constructed adjacent of the existing roadway, which is turned into a four-lane, divided highway, with the exception of approximately 3/4 mile through the community of Alba. From M-66 north to the sweeping curve at Deadman's Hill and Coulter Rds (approx 1.5 miles south of southern M-32 jct), the new lanes are constructed west of the existing lanes, built in the 1920s, while from there north to the northern M-32 jct, the new roadway is built on the east side of the existing highway. The original plans called for the 1920s lanes to be removed, although a decision to leave them in place for now has an unintended side-effect. The new lanes, built to modern (1950s) standards, facilitate easier snow removal than the older lanes and the State Highway Dept makes the determination that US-131 between Mancelona and M-32 WEST will be a seasonalfour-lane divided highway. Each winter, the 1920s lanes of US-131 are blocked off and the new 1956 lanes are converted to two-way traffic until the spring.
1968 (Fall) Updated - The divided highway portion of US-131 from M-66 north of Mancelona to the northern jct of M-32 northwest of Elmira "twinned" in 1956 is "de-twinned" when the original northbound lanes of the highway are closed and torn up with two lanes of traffic maintained on the "new" carriageway. One site contributor familiar with the area notes, "The 'northbound lanes' were tore out ... because there wasn't enough traffic on the road at the time, it cost too much to maintain (i.e. snow removal expenses) and there would be many a drag race in the summertime. Take a trip up there and the old [right-of-way] is still there, very easy to spot." [Thanks Barry Camp!] Indeed, on May 1, 1968, the State Transportation Commission announces the $170,000 project in lieu of the alternative: a $1.5 million project to bring the 1920s lanes up to modern standards. With 1968 traffic volumes not justifying a four-lane divided highway between Mancelona and M-32 and with long-range plans to extend the US-131 freeway from Grand Rapids to the Straits of Mackinac in the next few decades, it is felt future traffic volume increases will be handled by the proposed freeway routing. The old 1920s lanes were completely removed by late fall and US-131 reverts back to a two-lane, unvdivided highway through this stretch.
Cajon Boulevard through Cajon Pass in Southern, CA is a two lane road that was once a 4 lane US 66, 91, & 395 before I-15 was constructed. The one side remains abandoned there.
Terril Road along the Fanwood- Plainfield Border in Union County, NJ was widened to four lanes back in the mid 80's between NJ 28 and Midway Avenue, but later restriped to be two lanes so cars could park along the side of the road as there was no shoulder to do so.
US 301 from Jarrat, VA to just south of Petersburg, VA was four lanes, but narrowed back to 2 lanes when I-95 was constructed along side taking away the former NB lanes to become the new SB I-95 lanes.
One in Seattle: NE 125th St. between 15th and 25th Avenues NE was converted from two lanes each direction to one lane each direction, one two-way left turn lane in the middle, and two bike lanes on the sides. Some drivers feared it would lead to traffic backups, but I haven't observed that. There were so many drivers waiting to make left turns anyway the left lanes were normally blocked in at least one place.
Quote from: jeffandnicole on April 11, 2013, 02:58:18 AM
Too many to name have been reduced from 4 lanes to 2 or 3 lanes, in the name of being pedestrian friendly, traffic calming, etc, etc. Woodbury, NJ recently saw NJ 45 undergo this 'diet'...
IIRC NJ 168 south of I-295 also was reduced from 4 to 3 lanes. I don't recall how far south the 4 lane section went. Perhaps as far as the three lane section now does.
Quote from: NE2 on April 11, 2013, 04:03:10 PM
http://www.michiganhighways.org/listings/MichHwys120-139.html#US-131
Quote1956 Updated - Nearly 15 miles of US-131 from jct M-66 north of Mancelona to the northern jct of M-32 northwest of Elmira is "twinned" whereby a second carriageway is constructed adjacent of the existing roadway, which is turned into a four-lane, divided highway, with the exception of approximately 3/4 mile through the community of Alba. From M-66 north to the sweeping curve at Deadman's Hill and Coulter Rds (approx 1.5 miles south of southern M-32 jct), the new lanes are constructed west of the existing lanes, built in the 1920s, while from there north to the northern M-32 jct, the new roadway is built on the east side of the existing highway. The original plans called for the 1920s lanes to be removed, although a decision to leave them in place for now has an unintended side-effect. The new lanes, built to modern (1950s) standards, facilitate easier snow removal than the older lanes and the State Highway Dept makes the determination that US-131 between Mancelona and M-32 WEST will be a seasonalfour-lane divided highway. Each winter, the 1920s lanes of US-131 are blocked off and the new 1956 lanes are converted to two-way traffic until the spring.
1968 (Fall) Updated - The divided highway portion of US-131 from M-66 north of Mancelona to the northern jct of M-32 northwest of Elmira "twinned" in 1956 is "de-twinned" when the original northbound lanes of the highway are closed and torn up with two lanes of traffic maintained on the "new" carriageway. One site contributor familiar with the area notes, "The 'northbound lanes' were tore out ... because there wasn't enough traffic on the road at the time, it cost too much to maintain (i.e. snow removal expenses) and there would be many a drag race in the summertime. Take a trip up there and the old [right-of-way] is still there, very easy to spot." [Thanks Barry Camp!] Indeed, on May 1, 1968, the State Transportation Commission announces the $170,000 project in lieu of the alternative: a $1.5 million project to bring the 1920s lanes up to modern standards. With 1968 traffic volumes not justifying a four-lane divided highway between Mancelona and M-32 and with long-range plans to extend the US-131 freeway from Grand Rapids to the Straits of Mackinac in the next few decades, it is felt future traffic volume increases will be handled by the proposed freeway routing. The old 1920s lanes were completely removed by late fall and US-131 reverts back to a two-lane, unvdivided highway through this stretch.
If I'm reading this correctly, this was how I-69 between Charlotte and Lansing was built as well. EDIT: Lansing Road from Charlotte to Lansing was a 4-lane road and is now two lanes with the SB lanes becoming I-69. However, I-69 obviously remained open, unlike US-131.
A local example of the 4-lane=>2 lanes+bike lanes+turn lane "road diet" is on Jersey Ridge Rd in Davenport. On the google satellite (https://maps.google.com/?ll=41.551621,-90.540929&spn=0.001944,0.00327&t=k&z=19), you can still see the dashed lane markings on the bridge. Similarly, Grand River Ave near the Michigan State University campus was changed from four lanes to 2 lanes, left turn lane, and unmarked bike lane.
In the St. Louis area:
* Vandeventer Avenue between Kingshighway and I-44. This one though looks like it has gone back and fourth - the 45 degree imagery on Google Maps shows three lanes with blacked out dashes, while the plain aerial shows four lanes.
* Grand from Arsenal to Utah - Supposedly friendlier for pedestrians, but much harder to get a gap for a right turn onto Grand the one time I was through after the diet.
* The southern half of Grand - The inner lane was extremely narrow, maybe 9 feet.
* MO 100/Manchester Avenue, Taylor to Chouteau
* Hall Street, from south of I-270 to near the BNSF overpass - I think this was another one with narrow before the reduction; there aren't any pedestrians along this section to otherwise justify the reduction.
* The McKinley Bridge - Supposedly rebuilt with only two lanes because MoDOT did such a pathetic job when the overpasses over I-70 were replaced and failed to modify them to handle traffic from/to a four lane bridge - though the south outer roadway at the truss spans is now used for pedestrians.
* Section of Morganford Avenue - can't remember the limits
* The north end of MO 267 - Also had several traffic signals removed after the 93 Flood.
* The north end of MO 231
* Broadway from the end of MO 231 to I-55 - I think part of the five lane section between I-55 and Jefferson also went from five to three, but ended up being put back to five.
* Germania Avenue from I-55 to Alabama Avenue
* 14th Street - Lafayette Avenue to MO 100/Chouteau - Reduced after the Truman Speedtrap was constructed
* Parts of Lafayette Avenue
* MO 367 from I-70 to the Halls Ferry Circle - Combined with all of the stop signs, this poor excuse for a state highway should be decommissioned or swapped for a different road.
There's probably quite a few others I'm forgetting.
Proposed
* Eads Bridge - Down to two, but probably after it gets better access to I-70 on the Missouri side and traffic volumes possibly go up.
* MO 115 near the UMSL Campus - As part of a revitalization imitative, will go from 5 and 4 lanes to 3.
I believe the former VA 168 was a four lane divided arterial from where I-64 used to end west of Camp Peary to where current VA 30 is just west of the Toano interchange (231). From what I remember I-64 transitioned into this going west. When I-64 was built, the westbound lanes of VA 168 were torn up and made into the eastbound lanes of I-64, just like VDOT did with US 301/I-95.
Don't forget the section of OH 158 near Kirkersville that used to be I-70.
Extreme example: Henderson Bridge, Providence, RI
Oh, this: http://goo.gl/maps/eMoTy Now was that a 6 to 4 or an 8 to 4 diet?
US 127 in downtown Harrodsburg, KY. Was four lanes with no center turn lane and only a double-yellow stripe in the middle. Repaved and repainted as a two-lane road with a TWLTL. Through traffic is encouraged to use the four-lane bypass.
Noticed yesterday that the eastbound lanes of US 68 Business in Paris, Ky., were reduced from two narrow lanes to one lane with a bike lane and on-street parking. The westbound carriageway still carries two lanes, as it's on a separate street that runs behind the main business district.
Quote from: vdeane on April 11, 2013, 10:23:51 AM
I can think of quite a few:
-NY 31 in the village of Pittsford, four to three
-NY 590 and Sea Breeze Dr; three to two northbound from NY 104 east to Ridge Rd (OK, not too far, and that left lane ending never made sense...), two to one north of Titus Ave; two to one southbound north of Titus, same between Titus and Ridge, two to one from Ridge to NY 104, two to zero at NY 104 (NY 590 south now merges onto itself; the though travel lanes are now a two-lane ramp from NY 104)
The city of Rochester did a bunch of traffic calming with this technique. South Winton Road got it between I-490 and the city line, 4 to 2, and University Avenue got it through the arts district 4 to 3 or 4 to 2. I think we could go on and on, nationwide, with examples like this.
Another example that's noteworthy in our ranks for other reasons is old NY 17 in Hillburn. That had its lanes reduced but a median added.
The section of LA 21 in Bogalusa between the divided portion and the bridge before LA 10 was restriped from an undivided four-lane to three lanes with small shoulders a few years back. I'm not sure of the motivation.
Quote from: roadman65 on April 11, 2013, 04:16:40 PM
US 301 from Jarratt, VA to just south of Petersburg, VA was four lanes, but narrowed back to 2 lanes when I-95 was constructed along side taking away the former NB lanes to become the new SB I-95 lanes.
Part of that is still four lanes, in the Carson area for about a mile.
In Petersburg, VA, Winfield Road (US 460 Business) was demoted to two lanes at some point.
In western Lucas County, Ohio, Airport Highway (OH-2) went on a road diet.
http://www.dot.state.oh.us/districts/D02/RoadDiet/Pages/default.aspx
ODOT explains what it did in the link above.
The city of Des Moines in recent years has turned a few four-lane streets into three-lane streets with a center turn lane and dedicated bicycle lanes -- Ingersoll Avenue west of downtown is an example.
A four-lane divided segment of US 30 existed between Denison and Dow City, IA, from about 1960 until the late 1970s. When the DOT resurfaced the eastbound lanes at that time, they decided not to resurface the westbound lanes due to the lack of traffic. If you look at aerial photos in the area, though, the right-of-way for a four-lane highway is still there.
E. Lincold Way (former US 30) from just east of Wooster east to where it becomes a divided highway was once a 4-lane, undivided road. After the new highway was built, the old section was turned into 2 lanes with a center turn lane and wider shoulders.
Quote from: golden eagle on April 11, 2013, 12:56:25 AM
A section of State Street through Jackson was reduced to three lanes (with a turning lane) after being decommissioned as US 51. As a four-lane, State Street was rather narrow, so I can definitely justify it being downgraded. It's the only road in the area I can think of that used to be four-laned.
Md. 144 (Old National Pike) east of Frederick crossing the Monocacy River (https://maps.google.com/maps?q=39.398348,-77.367121&hl=en&ll=39.398381,-77.367074&spn=0.009269,0.01929&num=1&t=h&gl=us&z=16) used to be four lanes when it was U.S. 40. The parallel section of I-70 was the last to be completed in Maryland (the freeway unceremoniously became a four-lane arterial between present-day Exits 56 and 59).
The Monocacy is a fairly large river, and one of the two large bridges that spanned its waters when the road was U.S. 40 is now abandoned.