Sioux Falls, SD (KELO AM) - The Main Avenue Road Diet is a pilot project that repurposed one traffic lane of Main Avenue from Sixth Street to 14th Street. The goals of the project include increasing safety for pedestrians and bicyclists, adding parking, extending public seating areas, and calming traffic.
While the project has been in place for just more than a month, several benefits have been observed, including:
- The additional 75 parking spaces are being used on a daily basis.
- The average traffic speed has been reduced by 10 percent from 22 mph to 20 mph. The speed limit on the street is 20 mph.
- The bumpouts at the intersections shorten the distance for pedestrians to cross the streets.
“Creating a vibrant, walkable downtown requires us to rethink our street systems,” says Mark Cotter, Director of Public Works. “The Main Avenue Road Diet project allows us to try new layouts and new ideas to test their effectiveness for a small investment.”
The project is, in part, in response to recent public input. A common theme during work on the 2025 Downtown Plan was a request to enhance the pedestrian environment along Main and Dakota Avenues in downtown Sioux Falls.
The project team continues to monitor all aspects of the Main Avenue Road Diet. Depending on the results of the pilot project, permanent changes could be implemented in the future. More information about the project as well as an opportunity to provide input on the pilot can be found at www.siouxfalls.org/mainavesurvey. QR codes on all of the project signage along Main Avenue also will link you to the site.