A Health Impact Assessment (HIA) of proposed “Road Diet” and re-striping project

As part of a Health Impact Assessment (HIA) capacity planning and building initiative led by the South Carolina Department of Health & Environmental Control (SC DHEC), in partnership with the South Carolina Institute of Medicine & Public Health (IMPH), and funded by the Association of State and Territorial Health Officers (ASTHO), an HIA Steering Committee examined the potential health impacts of a proposed re-striping and “road diet” of a downtown Spartanburg, South Carolina arterial road, Daniel Morgan Avenue. A road diet is a technique used to reduce the number of car lanes on a roadway to provide safe space for pedestrians and cyclists. The proposed road diet would reduce the roadway, currently two lanes in each direction, to one travel lane in each direction with a center turn lane. The freed-up space would provide sidewalks for pedestrians on both sides of the roadway and a physically separated bicycle lane for cyclists. It would allow for multi-modal transportation options on this arterial and enhance Spartanburg's bicycle network by connecting to three roads that already have bicycle lanes. The HIA resulted in findings indicating that the proposed improvements to the road design would allow for increased safety for motorists, bicyclists, and pedestrians. Through increased opportunities for physical activity and access to goods and services that support a healthy lifestyle, many chronic diseases can be prevented on the community and individual level. Anticipated improvements in air quality would have a positive effect in preventing and controlling respiratory illnesses. The presentation will include a description of HIAs, how the first HIA in South Carolina was implemented, what the process yielded in terms of recommendations to policy makers, and what lessons were learned about the utility of an HIA as well as an explanation of the impact the HIA had on the decision making process.