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UTC recommends narrower lane widths, urges city to align TCM with NACTO guidance
Summary
The Urban Transportation Commission voted unanimously to ask City of Austin staff and Council to adopt narrower lane widths on multi‑lane arterials, aligning guidance with NACTO standards to improve safety and make room for multimodal infrastructure.
The City of Austin Urban Transportation Commission voted unanimously on July 1 to recommend that city transportation policy align more closely with guidance from the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) by adopting narrower baseline lane widths on arterials and multi‑lane streets.
Vice Chair Schumacher, who moved the recommendation, framed it as a safety and multimodal space issue. "For each additional foot of lane width, the estimated speed on each road goes up 2.9 miles per hour," he told commissioners, citing research discussed in the recommendation.
What the recommendation proposes
- Adopt a recommended general travel lane width of 10 feet with a constrained width of 9 feet for lanes not designated for frequent freight or transit usage.
- For general travel lanes where freight/delivery traffic is expected to be approximately 10% of total traffic or where the lane will carry transit service, adopt a recommended width of 11 feet with a constrained width of 10 feet (outer lanes in multi‑lane corridors).
- Allow traffic engineers to exceed recommended widths where contextual factors warrant (heavy truck volumes, fire/emergency vehicle requirements, or other engineering justifications).
- As resources allow, Transportation & Public Works (TPW) should perform a lane width audit on Level 3 and Level 4 streets to identify corridors with excessive lane widths and prioritize restriping, resurfacing or other improvements.
- Recommend City Council amend the Austin Strategic Mobility Plan (ASMP) to include target indicators for lane‑width reduction under chapter 1, "Designing for Safety."
Rationale and supporting evidence
Proponents cited NACTO research and a comprehensive literature review (speaker referenced work from Johns Hopkins University research teams) indicating narrower lanes are associated with lower operating speeds and that 12‑foot lanes can correlate with higher non‑intersection crash rates in the 30–35 mph range. Commissioners argued narrower lanes free roadway width for separated bike lanes, trees, and pedestrian space without reducing necessary capacity where context requires wider lanes.
Discussion and next steps
Commissioners debated whether the narrower width should be the default or whether the constrained dimension should be the default; supporters recommended using 10 ft as the recommended width with 9 ft as the constrained minimum based on both engineering interviews and local fire/emergency service considerations. Several commissioners and staff noted the recommendation is focused on Level 3 and Level 4 streets (multi‑lane arterials) and that emergency services have been engaged in prior TCM discussions. TPW staff present said they would review the recommendation and look for implementable elements even before a Council directive.
The commission voted to circulate the recommendation to City Council and staff; the motion passed unanimously.
