State Route 74 Comprehensive Corridor Study
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STATE ROUTE 74 COMPREHENSIVE CORRIDOR STUDY i STATE ROUTE 74 COMPREHENSIVE CORRIDOR STUDY ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Stakeholder Committee Aileen Daney, Atlanta Hattie Portis-Jones, City of Lonnie Ferguson, City of Robb Pitts, Fulton County Regional Commission Fairburn Union City Commission Al Smith, Coweta County Jared Lombard, Atlanta Mark Sanders, South Fulton Ryan Sager, MARTA Commission Regional Commission CID Samir Abdullahi, Fulton Andrew Spiliotis, Atlanta Joan Young, Fayette County Mark Shugart, Saben LLC County/Select Fulton Regional Commission Development Authority Marlene V. Delgadillo Stanford Taylor, GDOT Audrey Johnson, Atlanta Joddie Gray, AICP, South Canizares, Georgia Stephanie Taylor , Georgia Regional Commission Fulton CID Department of Commute Options Transportation Cheryl Foster, City of Union Joe Robison, Fayette County Steve Rapson, Fayette City Jonathan Lynn, Town of Marty Ross, South Fulton CID County Board/US Foods Atlanta Daniel Studdard, Atlanta Tyrone Steven Gulas, Corridor Regional Commission Jonathan Rorie , City of Mike Warrix, City of Property Owner Peachtree City Don Williams, MARTA Peachtree City Tarika Peeks, City of Donna M. Gayden, City of Kalanos Johnson, City of Paige Muh, Fayette County Fairburn Chamber of Commerce Fairburn Union City Vanessa Fleisch, City of Edlin Regis, GDOT Keith Larson, Bike Fayette Pete Frisina, Fayette County Peachtree City Elizabeth Carr-Hurst , City Kim Schnoes, Fayette County Phil Mallon, Fayette County Vivian Canizares , of Fairburn Chamber of Commerce Phil Peevy, Georgia Georgia Department of Ellis Still, City of Union City Lankston Johnson, Department of Transportation Transportation Eric Dial, Town of Tyrone Georgia Department of William Edwards, City of Transportation Phillip Trocquet, Town of South Fulton Eric Maxwell, Fayette Tyrone County Commission Larry Owens, City of Senoia William H. Shell, City of Randy Padgett, City of Palmetto Harland Smith, GDOT Lester Thompson, City of Fairburn Senoia Fayette County Board Peachtree City Town of Tyrone City of Fairburn Of Commissioners Council Council Council Eric Maxwell, Chairman, Vanessa Fleish, Mayor Eric Dial, Mayor Elizabeth Carr-Hurst, Mayor District 1 Phil Prebor, Post 1 Linda Howard, Post 1 James Whitmore, Mayor Pro Randy Ognio, Vice Mike King, Post 2 Ryan Housley, Post 2 Tem Chairman, District 2 Keviv Madden, Post 3 Ken Matthews, Post 3 Linda J. Davis Steve Brown, District 3 Teddy Ernst, Post 4 Gloria Furr, Post 4 Alex Heath Charles D. Rousseau, Pat Pallend District 4 Hattie Portis-Jones Charles W. Oddo, District 5 Ulysses Smallwood ii Prepared by: with assistance from: In partnership with: iii STATE ROUTE 74 COMPREHENSIVE CORRIDOR STUDY TABLE OF CONTENTS introduction .............................................................................2 establishing a vision ................................................................6 existing corridor conditions ....................................................12 assessing future needs ...........................................................30 corridor plan ..........................................................................54 action plan .............................................................................74 iv APPENDICES a: community engagement b: traffic volume count data c: intersection analysis synchro output d: detailed development guidelines matrix e: future turning movement counts f: intersection control evaluation summaries v INTRODUCTION SR 74 is a primary north-south corridor, which carries approximately 36,000 vehicles a day and connects several communities including Fulton and Fayette Counties. The focus of this Comprehensive Corridor Plan includes the section of SR 74 between US 29 and SR 54, which passes through the communities of Fairburn, Tyrone, and Peachtree City. Twenty years ago, the majority of the corridor was rural and undeveloped with only Peachtree City on the southern end of the corridor having significant population and development. In those twenty years, Peachtree City and the overall region have continued to grow creating increased traffic demand on SR 74 which is the main connection for the area to I-85 and points beyond, including employment centers to the north in Atlanta. One of those major employment centers is the area including and surrounding the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, where a significant amount of corridor residents are employed. In addition to fueling residential growth, the airport is a source of employment growth along the corridor, with many area businesses relying on the convenience and connectivity to the airport for their for customers and business operations. 2 INTRODUCTION Study Corridor’s Position in Region 75 Cobb Co. 85 DeKalb Co. 20 Downtown Atlanta 20 Douglas Co. 285 285 Fulton Co. Hartsfield- Jackson Atlanta International Airport 75 85 Henry Co. Fairburn 92 29 Fayette Co. Coweta Co. Tyrone 54 Peachtree City 34 74 85 54 N 3 STATE ROUTE 74 COMPREHENSIVE CORRIDOR STUDY purpose Despite the ongoing growth along the corridor, there are still large tracts of land that are undeveloped allowing for scenic views, a relatively rural feel, and limited intersections. Recognizing the ongoing development of the area and accompanying traffic growth, the SR 74 Gateway Coalition was formed to include representatives from Peachtree City, Town of Tyrone, City of Fairburn, Fayette County, and the South Fulton Community Improvement District (SFCID). With assistance from neighboring communities who utilize the corridor (including the City of Senoia, Coweta County, and Fulton County), partnering agencies (such as the Georgia Department of Transportation and Atlanta Regional Commission), and civic organizations (such as the Fayette County Chamber of Commerce), the SR 74 Gateway Coalition supported the development of a comprehensive corridor study to proactively anticipate future growth and develop a corridor plan for SR 74. Emerging over the course of the study process, overall goals of the study included: »» Establish a Unified Vision for the Corridor »» Understand Long-Term Transportation Needs »» Address Congestion and Future Growth »» Provide Capacity to Maintain Corridor Mobility Beginning in the Summer of 2017, the SR 74 Comprehensive Corridor Study consisted of four overall phases to address these overall goals. 4 INTRODUCTION document organization The following plan document is structured similarly to the study process: establishing a vision The study process included a variety of outreach techniques to develop an overarching vision for the future of the corridor. This outreach included participation from a combination of corridor communities’ elected officials, staffs, and residents. The desire for increased mobility in the corridor emerged as the most important element for consideration for the future of the corridor, though other elements such as accessibility, active mode transportation, and aesthetics were viewed as important too. existing corridor conditions Building from the established Vision, the study team performed a comprehensive review of conditions along the corridor to understand travel demand, traffic operations, employment patterns, corridor access, and development regulations in the corridor’s jurisdictions. assessing future needs Having established existing conditions on the corridor, future conditions along the corridor were anticipated including future travel demand, likely future traffic operations, and consideration of other plans and studies in the area. This process culminated in the use of an Intersection Control Evaluation (ICE) analysis to identify alternatives. corridor plan The ICE analysis identified what is referred to as a superstreet concept for the SR 74 corridor. This concept is anticipated to accommodate future traffic demand without widening of the corridor through a series of innovative intersection designs. These intersection designs also interface with other expressed goals for the corridor including improving safety, addressing active mode transportation, managing parcel access equity, and will work hand in hand with suggested unified development regulations for the corridor. action plan Adding to the recommendations, the Action Plan identifies a series of next steps for advocacy to implement the recommended initiatives along the corridor. 5 ESTABLISHING A VISION The vision for the SR 74 corridor was a result of an extensive development process used by the project team. The first section of this chapter presents the various outreach activities conducted, and the following section discusses the vision that emerged from this process. outreach activities Community engagement for this corridor study included a stakeholder committee, engagement directly with the public, and connections with other groups in the area. More detailed summaries and materials from these various outreach activities are presented in Appendix A. listening session As part of developing a Stakeholder Committee, a listening session was conducted with the SR 74 Gateway Coalition on June 20th, 2017 to discuss goals for the corridor. A variety of topics were mentioned by Gateway Coalition members as important in developing a vision for the SR 74 Corridor. 6 ESTABLISHING A VISION stakeholder committee A Stakeholder Committee was developed to provide input and feedback regarding the corridor vision, needs, and study recommendations. Rooted in the members of the SR 74 Gateway Coalition, several additional organizations and representatives were invited to participate in the