Chapter 5: Transportation
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SUSTAINABLE FRANKLIN COUNTY Chapter 5: Transportation INTRODUCTION The top sustainable transportation goals Franklin County is the most rural county in the identified in the public outreach process are: 1) Commonwealth and as a result, transportation increase availability and use of public transit; 2) planning and its implementation pose many unique restore passenger rail service; and 3) increase challenges. Its sparse population and large bicycle/pedestrian facilities and promote walking geographical area naturally constrain many modes of and bicycling. These goals will be implemented travel beyond that of the private automobile. The by many of the specific projects listed in the large area that the transportation network covers also Recommendations section at the end of this makes it difficult to efficiently provide improvements. chapter, which have been identified by the Towns In spite of these obstacles, Franklin County has had a and stakeholders in the County. very successful record of not only maintaining and improving its transportation system, but also adapting it to be more sustainable. For example, over the last BACKGROUND two decades, the County has established the Franklin Franklin County has diverse transportation resources County Bikeway; created several park-and-ride lots; including major highways, scenic byways, park-and- expanded the public transit system; built the first zero- rides, and bike paths. This section details current net energy multi-modal transit center, and more. conditions of the various modes of transportation and While these projects have been crucial to promoting infrastructure in the region. sustainability in the region, more needs to occur to ensure that Franklin County remains a livable place Roadways and Bridges economically, environmentally, and equitably. The ROADWAYS ultimate goal is to improve mobility and make it more Franklin County has nearly 1,700 miles of roadways. affordable while reducing fossil fuel use and climate The majority of these miles, almost 80 percent, are change emissions. maintained by the Towns, while the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) owns and This chapter will examine the existing conditions of maintains approximately 11 percent of the roads. The the transportation system. Much of this information is remaining percentage of roads are either private or derived from the recently completed Franklin County classified as unaccepted. The majority (84%) of the 2012 Regional Transportation Plan, which is a total roadway mileage in the County is officially comprehensive plan updated every three years with a categorized by MassDOT as “rural,” with the large public input component. This chapter will remaining 16 percent defined as “urban.” Because analyze the current conditions to determine many of the roadways in Franklin County are rural, opportunities, constraints and/or barriers to the traffic volumes on most roads are quite low. sustainability in the region and then will make However, there is a large variation in traffic volumes recommendations to improve the transportation within the County. Most roads average less than 100 system in the County. The public workshops and the vehicles per day, while sections of Interstate 91 can surveys conducted as part of the public outreach have over 30,000 vehicles per day. Other high volume process for this Regional Plan for Sustainable corridors in the County include: Route 2 near the Development will help inform the chapter by Greenfield Rotary (22,000 vehicles per day), Route identifying barriers that may exist and 116 in Sunderland and Route 5/10 in Whately, both recommendations for making the County more with traffic volumes of 15,000 vehicles per day. sustainable. Analysis shows that the two percent decrease in traffic SUSTAINABLE FRANKLIN COUNTY TRANSPORTATION | 3 volumes over the last five years can be attributed to the predominantly under the domain of the State. economic recession and rising gas prices. According to the 2009 National Bridge Inventory (NBI) created by the Federal Highway Administration, PAVEMENT CONDITION there are 49 bridges (or 16%) in the County that are MassDOT and FRCOG have recently begun a formally classified as “structurally deficient.” Bridges Pavement Management System (PMS) to monitor are considered structurally deficient if they fall below pavement conditions on roadways throughout specific thresholds. They may span a range of Franklin County to prioritize maintenance, conditions, from requiring a minor, but vital repair to rehabilitation, and reconstruction strategies. In 2010, a more complete rehabilitation. The NBI also classifies MassDOT and FRCOG’s data collection showed that 42 bridges (or 14%) in Franklin County as 40 percent of the roadways in the County can be “functionally obsolete.” This term refers to a bridge’s categorized as “good,” while 34 percent fall under the inability to fully support the roads they serve due to “poor” category. The relationship between pavement variables such as limited width or height. This bridge condition and the cost to repair is not linear. As classification helps identify areas where mobility may conditions worsen, the costs to bring the pavement be decreased as a result of the bridge’s condition. back up to excellent condition increases significantly. Because it is much more costly to reconstruct a ROADWAY SAFETY roadway, the most cost-effective and sustainable Approximately every three years, the FRCOG analyzes approach would be to properly maintain all roadways crash data from the Registry of Motor Vehicles for before they reach a poor level of condition. Franklin County to identify intersections that have experienced a high number of crashes. The study BRIDGES identifies the 50 most hazardous intersections and Bridges are a critical component of the Franklin ranks them based on severity of the crashes and traffic County roadway network. The majority of the bridges volumes. The latest study showed that 26 of the 50 located on high volume roadways in the County are most hazardous intersections are located in Greenfield, which is by far the most populated and Franklin County Residents Say... densely developed community in the County. Because Franklin County is very rural and the majority of its Public participation and outreach roadways carry low traffic volumes, the inclusion of an emphasized the need to: intersection on the most hazardous intersection list does not necessarily mean that an intersection is . Support expanded alternative experiencing a hazardous crash problem. In fact, no transportation options, such as Franklin County intersection made it onto bicycling and park-and-rides; MassDOT’s “Top 200 High Crash Clusters.” . Examine how climate change will affect transportation infrastructure; While there may not be severe hazardous safety issues . Promote bus ridership and its benefits here in the region, there are problem spots that and conveniences; and require mitigation. Examples of projects in the . Plan for the changing transportation County that have been recently completed to improve needs of the growing elderly safety on Franklin County’s roadways include: the population in the County. retrofit of the Route 2 Rotary in Greenfield; the addition of climbing lanes and turning lanes on Route 2 East; the relocation of Route 2 around the Erving 4 | TRANSPORTATION SUSTAINABLE FRANKLIN COUNTY Paper Mill; and the installation of pedestrian safety parts to the site.1 As more wind turbines are planned measures on Route 116 in Sunderland, to name a few. for sites in Franklin County and adjoining regions, the issue of transportation of turbine segments is a large FREIGHT TRANSPORT one, especially for the many winding roads in the Freight transportation is an important issue for County that would have difficulty accommodating Franklin County. The accessibility and efficiency of these trucks. freight transport plays a vital role in the economy and viability of the region. The major trucking routes in SCENIC BYWAYS the County are Interstate 91 and Route 2. Other Franklin County’s rural landscape, varied topography, active truck routes in the region include: Route 5/10, and rich history combine to make the region especially Route 47, Route 116, Route 63, and Route 112. beautiful and scenic. As an indication of the region’s Recently, there have been several major roadway picturesque resources, five of the seven scenic byways improvements that increase the safety and efficiency of in Western Massachusetts are located in Franklin trucking in the region. Most notably was the County. They are: the Mohawk Trail Scenic Byway relocation of Route 2 away from the Erving Paper Mill (Route 2), the Route 112 Scenic Byway, the Route 116 in Erving. Other recent improvements include the Scenic Byway, the Route 122 Scenic Byway, and the addition of climbing lanes and turning lanes on Route Connecticut River Scenic Farm Byway (Route 63 and 2 East. 47). To ensure that the many resources that make these routes so special are maintained, Corridor The Commonwealth of Massachusetts Commercial Management Plans have been created for each of the Motor Vehicle Center is responsible for permitting Scenic Byways. These plans are developed with an the transportation of non-reducible loads, also referred extensive amount of public participation and their to as “wide loads.” If a transporter wishes to move a goal is to identify mechanisms that can protect the load of 12 feet or more in width over state highways, scenic value of the byway while promoting