West End Transitway AA Report
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–– ALTERNATIVES ANALYSIS REPORT – FINAL JULY 2016 This page intentionally left blank Table of Contents Executive Summary ............................................................................................................................. 1 1. INTRODUCTION AND PROJECT PURPOSE ............................................................................. 6 2. ALTERNATIVES DEVELOPMENT ............................................................................................. 12 3. ALTERNATIVES EVALUATION ................................................................................................. 26 4. ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATIONS ................................................................................... 33 5. FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS ................................................................................................ 35 6. ALTERNATIVES ANAYSIS SUMMARY .................................................................................... 37 7. CITY APPROVAL AND NEXT STEPS ....................................................................................... 39 Figures Figure 1: Project Study Area .................................................................................................................. 1 Figure 2: Purpose and Need .................................................................................................................. 2 Figure 3: Alternatives Analysis Summary .............................................................................................. 3 Figure 4: Project Study Area .................................................................................................................. 6 Figure 5: Transportation Master Plan Corridors .................................................................................. 12 Figure 6: Landmark/Van Dorn Transit Boulevard Cross Section ........................................................ 13 Figure 7: Transitway Feasibility Study Corridors ................................................................................. 14 Figure 8: Beauregard Small Area Plan Transitway Recommendations .............................................. 15 Figure 9: Build Alternative Configuration ............................................................................................. 19 Figure 10: Weekday Peak and Midday Route Patterns and Frequency (TSM and Build Alternatives) .............................................................................................................................................................. 20 Figure 11: Weekday Evening and Weekend Route Pattern (TSM and Build Alternatives) ................ 21 Figure 12: Framing the Alternatives in the Context of the Corridor Long-Term Vision ....................... 22 Figure 13: Build Alternative to Mature Corridor Transition .................................................................. 23 Figure 14: FTA New Starts Framework ............................................................................................... 27 Figure 15: Alternatives Evaluation Scoring Summary ......................................................................... 32 Alternative Analyis Report – Final July 2016 ALEXANDRIA WEST END TRANSITWAY PROJECT Tables Table 1: Corridor Issues and Needs ...................................................................................................... 8 Table 2: Overview of Alternatives ........................................................................................................ 10 Table 3: Summary of Key Project Refinements................................................................................... 17 Table 4: Summary of System Operations, Infrastructure and Service Elements ................................ 23 Table 5: West End Transitway Evaluation Criteria .............................................................................. 28 Table 6: Transit Criteria Evaluation Summary ..................................................................................... 29 Table 7: Other Transportation Criteria Evaluation Summary .............................................................. 30 Table 8: Land Use and Economic Development Criteria Evaluation Summary .................................. 31 Table 9: Capital Cost Summary ........................................................................................................... 35 Table 10: Operational Cost Summary ................................................................................................. 36 Appendices Appendix A: Purpose and Need Technical Memorandum Appendix B: System Plan and Operational Summary Appendix C: Development Potential Analysis Technical Memorandum Appendix D: Alternatives Evaluation Technical Memorandum Appendix E: City Council Resolution (March 29, 2016) Alternatives Analysis Report – Final July 2016 ALEXANDRIA WEST END TRANSITWAY PROJECT Executive Summary Introduction and Alternatives Analysis (AA) Overview The City of Alexandria is proposing transit improvements along portions of Eisenhower Avenue, Van Dorn Street, Sanger Avenue, Mark Center Drive, and Beauregard Street in the City’s West End. The corridor and the project study area are shown in Figure 1. The Transitway Corridors Feasibility Study, completed in the fall of 2012, analyzed multiple alignments, termini, transit modes (including bus and rail), cross sections (side-, center-, and median-running), operational (dedicated and shared lane), and service options for the West End Transitway (then referred to as Corridor C). The Alexandria City Council, on November 17, 2012, approved the Planning Commission’s recommendation to approve the alternative of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) in dedicated lanes from the Van Dorn Street Metrorail Station to the Pentagon. This decision established a Locally Preferred Alternative (LPA) as part of the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) project development process. This enables the metropolitan planning organization to adopt the LPA as part of the long-range transportation plan. The West End Transitway Build Alternative represents a refined version of the Planning Commission’s recommendation developed in coordination with the public and local stakeholders. Figure 1: Project Study Area Alternatives Analysis Report – Final Page 1 of 40 July 2016 ALEXANDRIA WEST END TRANSITWAY PROJECT The current phase of the project includes an environmental analysis to meet National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requirements. In addition to the environmental documentation, the City of Alexandria chose to pursue the preparation of an Alternatives Analysis (AA) document for the West End Transitway, recognizing the value of the structure and requirements of the formerly required AA process for federal and local decision-making. The AA process effectively concluded on March 29, 2016 when City Council unanimously approved (Appendix E) a re-concurrence of the LPA identified by City Council in 2012. This AA document provides an overview of the AA process including the project background, project purpose and need, alternatives development and evaluations, and financial considerations. Purpose and Need The West End Transitway responds to issues within the corridor and advances work that upholds and promotes City policies, goals, and plans. The purpose and need of the project is summarized below in Figure 2 and provided in detail in Appendix A. The main objectives of the West End Transitway project are to: Support and help catalyze the City’s land use and economic development policies and plans Manage increase in traffic congestion by providing a high quality, competitive, and reliable transit service Improve the quality and effectiveness of transit service Figure 2: Purpose and Need Alternatives and Evaluation The AA process looks at three alternatives: The No Build Alternative The Transportation System Management (TSM) Alternative The Build Alternative The Build Alternative, as defined in this AA report, was originally based on the Corridor C recommendation from the Transitway Corridors Feasibility Study (2012). While the Transitway Alternatives Analysis Report – Final Page 2 of 40 July 2016 ALEXANDRIA WEST END TRANSITWAY PROJECT Corridors Feasibility Study was specific in many regards for Corridor C, it left several features for consideration in the current AA. This phase of the project addressed many of the outstanding coordination issues and evaluated the Build Alternative as well as the No Build Alternative and a TSM Alternative. The alternatives evaluated in the West End Transitway AA are listed below. Each alternative is defined in greater detail in Chapter 2: In order to assess each alternative based on its performance, a set of evaluation criteria was developed. While the criteria were developed based on satisfying the project’s purpose and need, each evaluation criterion also relates to one of the Federal Transit Administration’s (FTA) Project Justification Criteria. FTA uses a defined set of criteria to measure project benefits as part of its New and Small Starts funding application process that could be a potential source of funding for the project. The criteria were broken down into three main categories: transit, other transportation, and land use and economic development. Multiple sub criteria within these categories were evaluated and the scores were averaged for each category. The category scores were summed to a composite score for each alternative. The summary of the analysis is shown below: Figure 3: Alternatives