The Transportation System
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IV. The Transportation System I US Decennial Census of Population, Ulster County 100% count, Census year 2010 & 2018 ACS 5 Year Estimate. Figure 4.1 represents each municipality’s percentage of the total absolute (both growth and decline) population change for all Ulster County municipalities, not simple decennial-year-to-decennial-year population change. II US Dept. of Transportation. FTA C 4703.1: Environmental Justice Policy Guidance for Federal Transit Administration Recipients. 8/2012. Last viewed online IV. THE TRANSPORTATION 2/15 at http://www.fta.dot.gov/documents/FTA_EJ_Circular_7.14-12_FINAL.pdf III The term “Limited English Proficiency” is defined by the US Census Bureau as any person age 5 and older who reported speaking English “less than very well.” Racial and ethnic minority populations are defined as: Asian American, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native. SYSTEM IV Minority and age data derived from Census 2010; all other data derived from 2013and 2018 US Census ACS 5 Year Estimates. V https://www.newyorkfed.org/regional-economy/profiles/kingston VI New York State Dept of Labor Labor Market Profile for the Kingston MSA, issued 4/21/20. VII New York State Dept of Labor. Significant Industries, Hudson Valley, 2019. https://labor.ny.gov/stats/PDFs/Significant-Industries-Hudson-Valley.pdf VIII NYSDOT. Local Area Unemployment Statistics (Not Seasonally Adjusted), March 2020 Labor Force Data – Hudson Valley. IX NYSDOL. Unemployment rates and labor force for Kingston MSA; all values are annual averages. X Significant Industries. NYSDOL 2019. https://labor.ny.gov/stats/PDFs/Significant_Industries_Report_0610.pdf XI Quarterly Workforce Indicators (QWI) Data. U.S. Census Bureau. 2019. Quarterly Workforce Indicators Data. Longitudinal-Employer Household Dynamics Programhttp://lehd.ces.census.gov/data/#qwi. Data represent annual quarterly averages. XII NYSDOT System Performance & Asset Management Bureau; infogroup.com business point data for establishments with 10 or more employees. 2019. Infogroup data are used under license agreement with NYSDOT. Longitudinal-Employer Household Dynamics Program. U.S. Census Bureau. 2017. OnTheMap Application. http://onthemap.ces.census.gov/ XIII New York State Association of Realtors Annual Existing Single-Family Homes Sold. XIV US Census American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates - 2010, 2013 & 2018, Housing Characteristics, Ulster County, New York State (Table CP04). XV US Census 2018 American Community Survey 5 Year Estimate, Table S2506 FINANCIAL CHARACTERISTICS FOR HOUSING UNITS WITH A MORTGAGE XVI Source: Ulster County Planning Department XVII Source: Ulster County Planning Department Photo by: Gerald Berliner 66 Ulster County Transportation Council 2045 Long Range Transportation Plan 67 IV. The Transportation System The regional profile in Section 3 describes Ulster County as a place, its people, and its businesses. The transportation system exists to serve the travel needs of these people and businesses. Figure 4.2: Ulster County Roadway Functional Classifications This section provides a summary of the modes that collectively comprise the Ulster County transportation system including highways and streets, transit operations, and facilities for non-motorized travel. This section describes the division of travel among these modes, existing safety related issues system wide, and freight movement across highways, railroads, waterways, and pipelines. HIGHWAY SYSTEM ROADWAY CLASSIFICATION AND JURISDICTION Functional classification is a well-established system utilized by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) for grouping streets and highways into classes based on roadway characteristics and intended services. Basic to this process is the recognition that individual roads and streets cannot serve travel independently; rather, most travel involves movement through a network of roads. Thus, it is necessary to determine how to channelize travel within the network in a logical and efficient manner. Functional classification defines the extent to which roadways provide for through-travel versus the extent to which they provide access to land parcels. An interstate highway provides service exclusively for through-travel, while a local street is used exclusively for land access. Figure 4.1 illustrates the functional classification system. Figure 4.1: Functional Classification of Roadways Source: FHWA 68 Ulster County Transportation Council 2045 Long Range Transportation Plan 69 IV. The Transportation System Figure 4.2 illustrates the Ulster County highway system by functional classification. Each roadway has a classification number based on its location, access, and capacity characteristics. Figure 4.4: Centerline Mileage by Maintenance Jurisdiction ii The majority (70%) of roads in UCTC’s MPA are local roads, with 45% designated as rural local and 25% Maintenance Jurisdiction Centerline Miles Percentage designated as urban local. Interstates comprise about 2% of the centerline miles, while other principal arterials comprise 6% of centerline miles. There are more rural centerline miles (60%) than urban centerline NYSDOT 293.85 13% miles (40%) in the road system, which is a reflection of the rural land mass compared to urban developed County 422.06 18% land. Figure 4.3 provides a breakdown of UCTC’s MPA centerline mileage by functional classification. It is important to note that Rural Local streets which are not eligible for federal funds make up 45% of the Town 1368.35 59% UCTC’s road mileage. City or village 123.83 5% Figure 4.3: Centerline Mileage by Functional Classification i Local Parks 0.55 0% Other State agencies 8.96 0% FC Description Centerline Miles Percentage Other local agencies 28.77 1% 1 Rural Principal Arterial Interstate 2.62 0% Private or Restricted Access 7.09 0% 4 Rural Principal Arterial Other 69.28 3% 6 Rural Minor Arterial 19.41 1% NYS Thruway 47.78 2% 7 Rural Major Collector 69.51 3% Other Toll Authority 1.62 0% 8 Rural Minor Collector 188.16 8% Bureau of Fish and Wildlife 0.03 0% 9 Rural Local 1,040.52 45% Army 0.12 0% 11 Urban Principal Arterial Interstate 45.17 2% Total 2,303.01 100% 12 Urban Principal Arterial Expressway 9.59 0% 14 Urban Principal Arterial Other 71.66 3% Functional class and jurisdiction are important not only in relation to operational and maintenance 16 Urban Minor Arterial 59.48 3% responsibility, but also in how roadway improvement projects can be funded. Funding eligibility limitations include: 17 Urban Major Collector 142.88 6% 18 Urban Minor Collector 13.81 1% 19 Urban Local 570.92 25% FHWA National Highway Performance Program (NHPP) can be used only on the National Highway System, which comprises the Interstates, all other Principal Arterials, and all designated Total 2,303.01 100% NHS Connectors. FHWA Surface Transportation Program Block Grant program (STPBG) can be used on any facility except Local Roads and Rural Minor Collectors, thereby excluding 78% of roads in UCTC’s MPA. NYSDOT, the New York State Thruway Authority (NYSTA), Ulster County, the City of Kingston, FHWA Highway Safety Improvement Program can be used to address safety problems on any towns, and villages are responsible for maintaining and operating roadway facilities in Ulster County. The functional classifications described above assists in allocating resources and investment for roadways across public road. these agencies. New York State Dedicated Fund can be used only on State owned facilities. Figure 4.4 summarizes the mileage and percentage of roadways by their respective jurisdiction. Over half The Thruway Authority uses toll revenue to maintain its facilities. (59%) of the roadway centerline miles in UCTC’s MPA fall under the jurisdiction of towns. About 18% are county owned roads, while 13% are within NYSDOT’s responsibility. 70 Ulster County Transportation Council 2045 Long Range Transportation Plan 71 IV. The Transportation System ROADWAY ASSET CONDITION Figure 4.6: IRI Summaries on State TRAFFIC SIGNALS Touring Routes, 2017 Keeping pavements in a state of good repair is a central function of agencies with jurisdiction over roadways. Traffic signals are a key element of traffic control. Pavement condition is measured in two ways in New York. The first is surface condition, as measured Their location and timing affects the mobility through a visual scoring methodology. This method has been in place for many years and provides valuable of vehicles and pedestrians. National studies information on underlying pavement problems. The second measure is ride-ability, as measured by the demonstrate that poorly timed traffic signals are International Roughness Index (IRI). This is a more user-based metric. NYSDOT typically uses both responsible for a significant proportion of urban methods to evaluate State highway system pavements. Some local governments and MPOs use the visual traffic congestion. Signal timing that does not scoring method for locally owned roads, but this has not been done in Ulster County. As such, data is allow sufficient time for pedestrians to cross a street available only for the State Touring Route system. The most recent pavement data does not include visual can contribute to safety problems and act as a pavement scoring and only includes IRI condition rating. barrier to walking. The Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) establishes minimum The IRI is determined by measuring the collective deviation from a smooth level surface in inches