Chapter 4 Existing Transportation System Existing Transportation System
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Chapter 4 Existing Transportation System Existing Transportation System This chapter provides an overview of the existing transportation system sification is the process by which streets and describes some of the transportation planning challenges that face and highways are grouped into the MPO area. The chapter discusses streets and highways, bicycle and classes, or systems, according to the pedestrian systems, transit, aviation, rail, and water transportation. The character of service they are intended chapter also includes an analysis of freight movements within Bradley to provide. Basic to this process is the County. recognition that individual roads and streets do not serve travel independ- Roads & Bridges ently in any major way. Rather, most Roadways are the foundation for the movement of people and travel involves movement through a freight in Bradley County. They serve as the backbone for transit op- network of roads. It becomes neces- erations and bicycle and pedestrian travel as well. There are three sary then to determine how this travel main agencies that are responsible for the management and future can be channelized within the network planning of this roadway system in the Cleveland MPO area: in a logical and efficient manner. Func- tional classification defines the nature x The Bradley County Highway Department is the primary agency of this channelization process by defin- responsible for the day-to-day maintenance and operations of ing the part that any particular road or the unincorporated roadways in Bradley County. This consists of street should play in serving the flow of approximately 1,253 county roads totaling 760 miles as well as 90 trips through a highway network. bridges and six traffic signals. The Functional Classification map for x The City of Cleveland Public Works Department is the primary the Cleveland MPO area classifies agency responsible for the day-to-day planning, operations and streets in the area as: Urban Interstate, management of transportation infrastructure within the city lim- Freeway/Expressway, Urban Principal its. This consists of approximately 325 miles as well as 24 bridges and Arterial, Urban Minor Arterial, and Ur- 70 traffic signals. ban Collector. The total mileage of roads in various classifications is limited x The Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) plays a sig- within percentage ranges for purposes nificant role in the provision and condition of transportation infra- of the National Highway System classifi- structure in the region. The state maintains nearly 140 miles of cation. roadways throughout the region as well as 83 bridges (of the 199 bridges) in the region. The interstate (Interstate 75) and other freeway (APD 40 south of Waterlevel With the establishment of the MPO, a classified road network Highway) are maintained by TDOT (Functional Classification System) was developed, and is the basis for according to the state transportation planning analysis and future roadway improvements. Functional clas- plan. The “Urban Principal Arterials” are 4 - 1 Chapter 4 to be 5%-10% of the National Highway Figure 4.1 Functional Classification map for the Cleveland MPO area. System; “Major Arterials” are to be 15% to 25%, “Urban Collectors” 5%-10%, and “Local Roads” are to be 65% (not shown on functional classification map). Interstates and Freeways Interstates/Freeways are limited access divided highways with grade separated junctions and without traffic lights or stop signs. Examples of Interstates/Freeways: x Interstate 75 at Exit 20 (APD 40) to Exit 33 (Lauderdale Highway); and x APD 40 is a Freeway/Expressway and runs from Waterlevel Highway (US 64) to Interstate 75 at Exit 20 to the MPO boundary. Expressway 4 - 2 2035 Regional Transportation Plan | May 2011 Existing Transportation System Urban Principal Arterials Urban Collectors The urban principal arterial system serves the major centers of activity of The collector street system provides both the MPO area, the highest traffic volume corridors, and the longest trip access to land and traffic circulation destinations. It carries most of the trips entering and leaving the urban within residential neighborhoods, com- area, as well as the majority of through movements desiring to bypass mercial and industrial areas. It differs from the central city. These roads link to the interstates and freeways. the arterial system in that facilities on the collector system may run through resi- Examples of Urban Principal Arterials: dential neighborhoods, providing access to the ultimate destination. The collector x US 64/APD 40/25th Street/ Georgetown Road street also “collects” traffic from local x Paul Huff Parkway from North Lee Highway to Georgetown Road streets in residential neighborhoods and channels it into the arterial system. In the x North Lee Highway/Keith Street/South Lee Highway central business district, and in other ar- eas of like development and traffic den- Examples of Urban Minor Arterials: sity, the collector system may include the x Blue Springs Road/South Ocoee Street/North Ocoee Street from street grid which forms a logical entity for Keith Street to APD 40 traffic circulation. x Dry Valley Road/Michigan Avenue Road Examples of Urban Collectors: x Georgetown Road/Westside Drive/Norman Chapel Road loop x Benton Pike/6th Street/Gaut Street/ Central Avenue from APD 40 to Broad Street x South Lee Highway from APD 40 to south end of MPO boundary x Tasso Lane Local Street System The local street system is made up of all facilities not on one of the higher systems. It serves primarily to provide direct ac- cess to residential areas. Buses typically do not run on local roads. Urban Arterial Road Local Road 4 - 3 Chapter 4 Roadway Performance Table 4.1 Levels of Service One method of analyzing how well Level of General Descriptions of Levels of Service roadways function is to assess them Service based on “Level of Service”. Level of Represents free flow. Individual users are virtually unaffected by the Service is a qualitative measure from A A presence of others in the traffic stream. Freedom to select desired (best) to F (worst) describing opera- speeds and to maneuver within the traffic stream is extremely high. tional conditions within a traffic stream, Within the range of stable flow, but the presence of others in the traffic generally described in terms of such stream begins to be noticeable. Freedom to select desired speeds is factors as speed and travel time, free- B relatively unaffected, but there is a slight decline in the freedom to dom to maneuver, traffic interruptions, maneuver within the traffic stream from LOS A. comfort and convenience, and safety. Within the range of stable flow, but LOS C marks the beginning of the LOS is measured quantitatively by de- C range of flow in which the operation of individual users becomes signifi- gree of volume to capacity ratio. The cantly affected by interactions with others in the traffic stream. transportation industry describes LOS as LOS D represents high-density, but stable flow. Speed and freedom to one of six traffic performance catego- D maneuver are severely restricted, and the driver experiences a gener- ries, as illustrated in Table 4.1. ally poor level of comfort and convenience. LOS E represents operating conditions at or near capacity levels. Free- dom to maneuver within the traffic stream is extremely difficult. Com- E fort and convenience levels are extremely poor and driver frustration is generally high. LOS F is used to define forced or breakdown flow. This condition exists F when the amount of traffic approaching a point exceeds the amount that can traverse the point. Figure 4.2 illustrates the current level of service conditions for classified roadways in the Cleveland MPO area. This map shows Level of Service in terms of a “volume to capacity ratio” (categories “A” through “F” can be equated to the color-coded volume-capacity ratios below, where green is the best condition and red is the worst). Currently the roads that show the greatest traffic congestion are Ocoee Street north of 25th Street and Interstate 75 from the County line to Candies Lane. 4 - 4 2035 Regional Transportation Plan | May 2011 Existing Transportation System Figure 4.2 2008 Roadway Performance. Future Roadway Conditions In coordination with TDOT, the MPO uses a travel demand forecasting model to assess current and future transportation demands within the region. The model provides quantifiable data on current and future roadway deficiencies and was used to assist the MPO in the devel- opment of this long range transportation plan. The MPO Travel Demand Model (TDM) follows the traditional four-step planning process. As its name implies, this process has four basic phases: x Trip generation (the number of trips to be made); x Trip distribution (where those trips go); x Mode choice (how the trips will be divided among the available modes of travel); and x Trip assignment (predicting the route trips will take). In order to anticipate future conditions, the travel demand model was run for the final year of the Regional Transpor- tation Plan – 2035. Projects that are al- ready “committed” to being com- pleted in the MPO area (those that in- clude funding for preliminary engineer- ing and right-of-way acquisition) were included in the 2035 model conditions. 4 - 5 Chapter 4 Based on the travel demand model Figure 4.3 Roadway Performance, including results, several additional roadways in Existing and Committed Projects. the MPO area showed declining traffic conditions in 2035. This is precipitated by the additional demand placed on the roadways by the future residents and workers in the MPO area. Based on their current design standard, many of roadways will be unable to handle this anticipated additional demand. Roads that show future issues (See Fig- ure 4.3) include: 25th Street, US 11 (before Inman Street), and Waterlevel Highway.