INTERCHANGE OPERATIONS STUDY Interstate 480 / Transportation Boulevard Interchange
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INTERCHANGE OPERATIONS STUDY Interstate 480 / Transportation Boulevard Interchange City of Garfield Heights, Cuyahoga County, Ohio Prepared For: City of Garfield Heights 5407 Turney Road Garfield Heights, OH 44125 & ODOT District 12 5500 Transportation Boulevard Garfield Heights, OH 44125 Prepared By: GPD Group 5595 Transportation Boulevard Suite 100 Cleveland, OH 44125 May 2016 Interchange Operations Study – Interstate 480 / Transportation Boulevard City of Garfield Heights, Ohio TABLE OF CONTENTS I. Purpose: ............................................................................................................................... 1 II. Study Area: ........................................................................................................................... 1 III. Traffic Volumes: ................................................................................................................... 1 ‘No-Build’ Traffic Volumes: ..................................................................................... 1 ‘Build’ Traffic Volumes: ........................................................................................... 2 IV. Alternatives Considered: ....................................................................................................... 2 V. Traffic Analysis: .................................................................................................................... 3 Methodology: .......................................................................................................... 3 Intersection Analysis: ............................................................................................... 3 Constrained Traffic Volumes: .................................................................................. 7 Freeway Section Analysis: ....................................................................................... 8 Ramp Junction Analyses: ....................................................................................... 10 Storage Length Calculations and Recommendations: ............................................. 11 VI. Summary and Recommendations: ...................................................................................... 13 LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Level-of-Service Criteria for Signalized Intersections Table 2: HCS Intersection Capacity Analysis Summary – Signalized Intersections – Design Year 2038 ‘No-Build’ vs. ‘Build’ Conditions Table 3: Constrained Traffic Volume Comparison – ‘No-Build’ vs. ‘Build’ Conditions Table 4: Level-of-Service Criteria for Basic Freeway Segments Table 5: Mainline Freeway Segment Levels-of-Service Summary – Design Year 2038 ‘No- Build’ vs. ‘Build’ Conditions Table 6: Level-of-Service Criteria for Freeway Merge and Diverge Areas of Influence Table 7: Ramp Areas of Influence Levels-of-Service Summary – Design Year 2038 ‘No- Build’ vs. ‘Build’ Conditions Table 8: Auxiliary Turn Lane Recommended Storage Lengths – Design Year 2038 ‘Build’ Conditions Page - i May 2016 Interchange Operations Study – Interstate 480 / Transportation Boulevard City of Garfield Heights, Ohio LIST OF APPENDICES Appendix A: Certified Traffic Plates Appendix B: HCS Intersection Capacity Analysis Appendix C: Constrained Traffic Analysis Appendix D: HCS Freeway Capacity Analyses Appendix E: Storage Length Calculations LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Study Area Map Figure 2: Design Year 2038 ‘No-Build’ Traffic Volumes Figure 3: Design Year 2038 ‘Build’ Traffic Volumes Figure 4: ‘No-Build’ Traffic Control Diagram Figure 5: Conceptual Improvement Rendering Figure 6: Freeway Location Key Map Page - ii May 2016 Interchange Operations Study – Interstate 480 / Transportation Boulevard City of Garfield Heights, Ohio I. Purpose: The City of Garfield Heights and Craig Realty Group retained the services of GPD Group to perform an Interchange Operations Study (IOS) for the Interstate 480 / Transportation Boulevard interchange. The purpose of this study is to determine if the improvements proposed as part of the Outlets of Cleveland Traffic Impact Study will degrade the operation of Interstate 480 (I-480) in the immediate vicinity of the Transportation Boulevard interchange and if so, what actions are required to address such degradation. II. Study Area: The study area includes Transportation Boulevard from the Granger Road intersection (northern study limit) to the Vista Way intersection (southern study limit). The study area also includes the I-480 freeway segments entering / exiting the I-480 / Transportation Boulevard interchange as wells as the merge and diverge junctions of the Transportation Boulevard entrance / exit ramps. The study area limits on I-480 were provided by the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) District 12 and ODOT Central Office. See Figure 1 for a map of the study area. III. Traffic Volumes: ‘No-Build’ Traffic Volumes: For the Transportation Boulevard Interchange Operations Study, GPD Group supplied manual turning movement traffic counts for all study intersections to the ODOT Office of Statewide Planning and Research and requested that ODOT develop the certified traffic volumes for the Opening Year 2018 and Design Year 2038 traffic conditions for the Transportation Boulevard corridor. Additionally, ODOT was also requested to develop certified traffic volumes for the I-480 / Transportation Boulevard interchange which includes all entrance and exit ramps as well as mainline I-480 in the immediate vicinity of the interchange. Certified Traffic Plates were obtained from the ODOT Office of Statewide Planning and Research on February 24th, 2016 and are contained in Appendix A. These plates contain the Opening Year 2018 and Design Year 2038 ADT, AM Peak hour and PM Peak hour traffic volumes along with TD and T24 design designations. The Design Year 2038 ‘No-Build’ traffic volumes will incorporate the trip generation of the Outlets of Cleveland outlet mall that is expected to be developed in the near future. The development traffic was distributed and assigned to the ‘No-Build’ roadway network and incorporated into the Design Year 2038 ‘No-Build’ traffic scenario. The Design Year 2038 ‘No-Build’ traffic volumes are shown in Figure 2. Page - 1 May 2016 Interchange Operations Study – Interstate 480 / Transportation Boulevard City of Garfield Heights, Ohio ‘Build’ Traffic Volumes: The Design Year 2038 ‘Build’ traffic volumes will also incorporate the trip generation of the Outlets of Cleveland outlet mall that is expected to be developed in the near future. The ‘Build’ traffic volumes differ from the ‘No-Build’ traffic volumes with the construction of a new EB approach at the Transportation Boulevard / I-480 WB Ramps intersection, referred to as ‘Public Road #1’ for the remainder of this report. This new approach will become the main access point of the outlet mall which will cause traffic patterns for the trips generated by the outlet mall to change. The development traffic was redistributed and assigned to the ‘Build’ roadway network in order to account for the new access point of Public Road #1. The Design Year 2038 ‘Build’ traffic volumes are shown in Figure 3. IV. Alternatives Considered: For the purpose of analyzing the I-480 / Transportation Boulevard interchange, the following two (2) scenarios were evaluated: ‘No-Build’: The ‘No-Build’ scenario assumes no changes to the existing roadway configuration or traffic operations of the ramp terminal intersections at the Transportation Boulevard / I-480 interchange or anywhere within ODOT’s limited access area. It should be noted that, as part of the Outlets of Cleveland outlet mall project a new WB approach will be constructed at the current location of Center South Drive and ODOT’s access drive will be relocated to this location and signalized. Further detail of this intersection modification is provided under the ‘Build’ description below. The ‘No-Build’ scenario is the base condition to which the subsequent alternative is compared. See Figure 4 for a depiction of the ‘No-Build’ traffic conditions. ‘Build’ (As proposed in The Outlets of Cleveland Traffic Impact Study): The ‘Build’ scenario incorporates the following proposed improvements: . Transportation Boulevard / Center South Drive / ODOT Drive Intersection: o Construct a traffic signal and provide coordinated operation with the existing signal system along Transportation Boulevard o Construct a WB Approach with a single (left-thru-right) outbound lane and a single entering lane (ODOT Drive relocation) o Construct NB & SB left turn lanes . Transportation Boulevard / I-480 WB Ramps / Public Road #1 Intersection: o Construct an EB approach with three (3) outbound lanes (left, thru, right) and a single entering lane o Construct NB & SB left turn lanes o Construct a WB thru lane o Reconstruct traffic signal to accommodate new intersection geometry Page - 2 May 2016 Interchange Operations Study – Interstate 480 / Transportation Boulevard City of Garfield Heights, Ohio . Transportation Boulevard / I-480 EB Ramps / Antenucci Boulevard Intersection: o Restripe EB & WB approaches to have the following lane configurations: . EB approach – four (4) lanes (left, left, thru, right) . WB approach – three (3) lanes (left, thru, right) o Replace the split-phase operation with traditional eight-phase signal operation with the EB and WB left turn movements operating as protected only. The improvements listed above will require modification to signal phasing and timings and widening of Transportation Boulevard within the study area, including the bridge