WYOMING, Mich. — Wyoming is launching a pilot road diet this weekend along a stretch of Burlingame Avenue.
Crews will have a moving convoy complete the new line striping on Saturday at the intersection of Burlingame Avenue between Chicago Drive and Burton Street.
Saturday's work is expected to last about 6 to 8 hours and no detours will be needed to complete the work, the city said.
Wyoming asked residents who typically use on-street parking in those areas to move their vehicles until striping is complete.
The existing curb and gutter will stay the same. Only the painted lane markings will be moved.
The road diet will reduce the section of Burlingame Avenue from the existing four lanes to reorient pavement markets that will create a three-lane road with on-street parking.
Right now, Burlingame Avenue has four travel lanes and parking is allowed on a limited basis in the outside lanes.
The city said this creates dangerous conditions when drivers in the outside lane suddenly encounter a parked car in their lane and have to shift over to the inside road to avoid a wreck.
Wyoming also said the lack of a center turn lane causes drivers in the inside lane to shift over to the outside lane when the vehicle in front of them stops to turn left. Both of these situations increase the potential for rear-end and sideswipe collisions, the city said.
With this new traffic configuration, parking is still allowed full-time, but now, it is in a narrower dedicated parking lane along the outside curbs.
The remaining three lanes will be a northbound lane, one center-left turning lane and one southbound lane.
Studies have shown that road diets help calm traffic, reduce speeding and improve safety in those areas.
