Transportation Part 1 Revised 8-05 No Hyphen.Pub
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Transportation Pottstown Metropolitan Regional Comprehensive Plan Chapter 8 Transportation Pottstown Urban Transit (PUT) Bus and Bike Lane U.S. 422 The Region Supports the Schuylkill Valley Metro Pottstown Municipal Airport The Transportation chapter of the Pottstown Regional Comprehensive Plan discusses existing conditions and planning for the Region’s highways, public transit, bike and pedestrian mobility, freight transport, and air travel. Transportation systems affect mobility, accessibility, safety, economic development and quality of life; therefore transportation is a critical element of this Regional Plan. Highways A survey of the Region's residents [Pottstown Regional Survey, 2002] showed that the improvement of traffic and road conditions is considered fourth most important among top priorities (behind only: increasing jobs, open space preservation, and agricultural preservation). 105 Pottstown Metropolitan Regional Comprehensive Plan Transportation The highway section addresses the condition and capacity Existing Conditions of the Region's roads and bridges. It discusses existing The primary challenges affecting the Region's highway highway conditions and problems, including: system include traffic congestion, deteriorating roads and bridges, and problems caused by narrow rural roads with • Statistics sharp curves and unaligned intersections. These issues in • Trends turn lead to an increasing amount of safety issues. The top three transportation issues as selected by regional survey • Major Transportation Corridors respondents [Pottstown Regional Survey, 2002] were road • Functional Classification of Roads maintenance, traffic congestion, and parking; however, it is • Environmental and Design Guidelines likely the high number of "parking" responses reflect concerns over parking in the borough of Pottstown. • Safety • ITS, TDM, TMAs Traffic congestion is a problem common to many areas experiencing growth like the Pottstown Region (see • Highway Funding Figure 8.1). Traffic congestion has caused some corridors to become especially congested, such as U.S. 422, and The goals are to make the highway system more efficient; PA100 north of High Street in Pottstown. Congestion and manage, limit, and potentially reduce traffic has led to the formation of bottlenecks at certain intersections, such as the intersection of Farmington congestion. Road, Gilbertsville Road, and Maugers Mill Road in Upper Pottsgrove; and the intersection of High Street and Pleasant View Road in Lower Pottsgrove. In some areas FIGURE 8-1 increased traffic has led to a need for additional through, AVERAGE DAILY TRAFFIC turn, or breakdown lanes. For example, a new left turn roffmnsville2dRDHUI lane is needed on PA724 at South Hanover Street in vegend North Coventry. Increased traffic contributes to the need ixpresswys VDVQH rinipl2erterils eTTQ for more highway maintenance, and greater potential for wjor2ods IUDQHU conflicts arising between motor vehicles and pedestrians WDIIT VDVVH eUQ or bikers. PIDTPT wmp2ike These problems have generally been defined as major IHDHQQ concerns of the participating municipalities, and more eIHH specifically in studies such as those currently underway VDPWU for the PA100, Swamp Pike, and PA724 corridors. PQDTVS righ2t SDVHSueim2d As greater demands are placed on the Region's highway FFRPPRIDSIW ermnd2rmmer2flvd system, traffic problems in one municipality often effect ISDUTW eUPRIQDUWR PWDQWU traffic flow in an adjacent municipality. Consequently, eIHH there is an obvious need to consider drafting a comprehensive regional highway plan and to then implement measures to improve the transportation TDISR ePQ system. Roadway improvements that should be considered include: 106 Transportation Pottstown Metropolitan Regional Comprehensive Plan FIGURE 8-2 The corridors are comprised of an interconnected TRANSPORTATION CORRIDORS network of highways, often with multiple roads vegend connecting one end of a corridor to the other. Any wuniipl2foundries evaluation of existing highway conditions and specific o2 pper2erkiomen ixpresswys highway problems and improvements should consider rinipl2erterils lleyGukertown winor2erterils roffmnsville2d these corridors. gorridor eTTQ o2vehigh2lley Studies have been conducted or are being conducted by DVRPC that focus on three key regional corridors: eUQ PA100, PA724, and Swamp Pike. The Route 100 o2gentrl eIHH Corridor Study’s preliminary findings showed the major erkiomen2lley wmp2ike issues to be traffic congestion, safety, inconsistent interchanges (signalized, non-signalized, and grade separated), transition zones at each end of the corridor, o2vimerik and increasing development pressures. o2eding ueim2tidge2ike o2uing2 The Swamp Pike Traffic Circulation Plan found upgrades RPP of2russi eUPR are needed throughout the corridor. Potential improvements include additional turn-lanes, road eIHH widenings, intersection improvements, a Gilbertsville o2est2ghesterG bypass, and a more direct connection from Swamp Pike ixtonGhowningtown ePQ to U.S.422. This Plan also supports the construction of additional turn-lanes to improve the Swamp Pike Corridor. • Road widenings (e.g., for the addition of travel, turn, or breakdown lanes) The PA724 Corridor Study inventoried proposed land • Road reconstruction or repairs developments, problem intersections, and problem areas . The Draft Report (2002) identified the following • Intersection and interchange improvements segments of PA724 as “problem areas”: • Road alignments or curve straightenings • Keim Street to the East Coventry-North Coventry • Studies to better understand where problem areas are boundary, and and where critical improvements are needed • Anderson Road to the East-Coventry-East Vincent boundary A comprehensive list of recommended highway projects can be found in Figure 8.8. Although not currently being studied, the PA663 corridor Transportation Corridors in the Pottstown would benefit from improvements to intersections and Metropolitan Region sight distance. The 422 corridor would benefit from Five major, inter-county transportation corridors serve improvements to interchanges, ramp modifications for the Pottstown Metropolitan Region. These corridors safety and capacity, and deck rehabilitation. The PA73 serve a regional market, provide access to major corridor would benefit from road widening, shopping and employment areas, and carry high volumes improvements to intersections and sight distance, and mixed types of traffic. modifications to Jackson Road to allow more direct access to PA100, and a prohibition on left turns. 107 Pottstown Metropolitan Regional Comprehensive Plan Transportation FIGURE 8-3 HIGHWAY FUNCTIONAL CLASSIFICATION roffmnsville2d eTTQ vegend ixpresswys rinipl2erteril2 winor2erteril e2UQ golletor eIHH yther2wjor2ods wmp2ike qilertsville2d ueim2t righ2t RPP eUPR eIHH wontgomery gounty lnning fse2mp2prepred2xovemer2PHHI gommission wontgomery2gounty2gourthouse2EE2lnning2gommission o2fox2QII222xorristown2e2IWRHREHQII ePQ @pA2TIHFPUVFQUPP22@fA2TIHFPUVFQWRI wwwFmontopForgGplnom his2mp2is2sed2on2PHHH2ortho2photogrphy2nd2offiil2souresF22roperty2lines2were2ompiled from2individul2lok2mps2from2wontgomery2nd2ghester2gounty2ford2of2essessment2eppelsD with2no2verifition2from2the2deedF22his2mp2is2not2ment2to2e2used2s22legl2definition2of properties2or2for2engineering2purposesF wgg 108 Transportation Pottstown Metropolitan Regional Comprehensive Plan Functional Classification, Dimensional Design • Hanover Street/South Hanover Street Guidelines, Highway Ownership Minor Arterials interconnect with and augment Highway Functional Classification Principal Arterials. They typically accommodate a The Highway Functional Classification System is a vehicle trip of between three and five miles. Minor hierarchical grouping of roads based on a road’s function, Arterials include the following roads in the Region: service and traffic capacity level in the Region. This system is created from standards established by the • Route 724 American Association of State Highway and • Route 23 Transportation Officials (AASHTO) and is used by PENNDOT. This classification system can help • South Hanover Street governments prioritize roadway maintenance and • Hoffmansville Road improvement projects. The Classification system defines • Gilbertsville Road roads by the following terms: • Farmington Avenue Expressways • Industrial Highway (in certain areas) Expressways are any divided multi-lane limited- access highway. They are designed for mobility • Armand Hammer Boulevard rather than accessibility. Expressways include the • Keim Street following roads in the Region: Other roads in the Region include the following: • U.S. 422 Pottstown Expressway Collector roads • PA 100 (certain segments) These provide a mix of mobility (the ability to travel The primary function of “arterial” roads is to move through an area quickly) and accessibility (road traffic efficiently, with a minimal level of access from interconnectivity). They typically serve trips up to lower level streets and driveways. These roads are four miles. Examples include Sanatoga Road in divided into two classes: “principal arterials” and New Hanover, Bleim Road in Lower Pottsgrove, “secondary arterials”. Jackson Street in Pottstown, and Temple Road in North Coventry. Arterials Principal arterials are major highways that are not Local Roads expressways. These roads generally have two to These roads have relatively short lengths generally four through-lanes, serve major centers, and carry a not exceeding