North Carolina Department of Transportation Transportation Planning Branch Thoroughfare Plan Technical Report for the Caldwell County Urban Area 2005 Table of Contents Chapter Page I. Introduction & Executive Summary Overview 1-1 Summary of Recommendations 1-2 II. Recommended Thoroughfare Plan Intent of the Thoroughfare Plan 2-1 Thoroughfare Plan Recommendations 2-1 Major Thoroughfares 2-1 Recommended Major Thoroughfares on New Location 2-17 Minor Thoroughfares 2-20 Recommended Minor Thoroughfares on New Location 2-24 Purpose and Need for Funded Projects 2-26 Connelly Springs Road (SR 1001) – TIP R-3430 2-27 US 64/NC 18 – TIP R-2549 2-30 Pleasant Hill Road Extension – TIP U-3437 2-33 US 321 (Hickory Boulevard) – TIP U-4700 2-36 Smith’s Crossroads Interchange – TIP U-4435 2-39 Alternate Modes of Transportation 2-47 Public Transit 2-47 Greenway Administrative Process 2-47 Bicycle Routes 2-53 North Carolina Moving Ahead 2-54 Conversion of the Lenoir CBD to Two-Way Operation 2-54 III. Implementation of the Thoroughfare Plan State-Municipal Adoption of the Thoroughfare Plan 3-1 Methods Used to Protect the Adopted Transportation Plan 3-2 Future Street Line Ordinances 3-2 Subdivision Regulations 3-2 Collector Street Plan 3-5 Zoning Ordinances 3-5 Functional Designs 3-5 Roadway Corridor Official Maps 3-6 Dedication of Right-of-Way with Density or Development Rights Transfer 3-6 Advance Right-of-Way Acquisition 3-7 Development Reviews 3-7 Direct Construction 3-7 i Funding Sources 3-8 Local Programs 3-8 Local Capital Improvement Program 3-8 Federal Assistance 3-8 Impact Fees 3-8 Municipal Service Districts 3-8 Planned Unit Development (PUD) 3-9 Transportation Improvement Program 3-9 Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Program (CMAQ) 3-10 Enhancement Program Fund 3-10 Industrial Access Funds 3-13 National Highway System Program (NHS) Funds 3-13 Powell Bill Funds 3-13 Small Urban Funds 3-13 The North Carolina Highway Trust Fund Law 3-14 Other Funding Programs Available 3-14 Contingency/Discretionary Funds 3-14 North Carolina-Moving Ahead 3-14 IV. Analysis of the Caldwell County Urban Area’s Roadway System Existing Travel Patterns 4-1 Capacity Analysis of the Existing System 4-1 Level of Service 4-2 Crash Statistics 4-5 Traffic Capacity Analysis 4-9 Capacity Deficiencies 4-9 Bridge Conditions 4-15 V. Population and Land Use Factors Affecting the Future Roadway System 5-1 Population 5-1 Economy and Employment 5-11 Land Use 5-19 VI. Environmental Concerns Municipal Parks and Recreation Sites (Public) 6-1 Ambient Water Quality Monitoring Sites 6-2 Surface Water Intake 6-2 High Quality Water Zone 6-2 Wetlands (NWI) 6-2 Groundwater Recharge/Discharge Areas 6-3 Trout Streams 6-3 Water Supply Watershed Critical Area 6-4 Water Supply Watershed Protected Area 6-4 Water Supply I (WS-I) 6-4 ii Water Supply Watershed Protected Area (Continued) Water Supply II (WS-II) 6-4 Water Supply III (WS-III) 6-4 Water Supply IV (WS-IV) 6-5 Water Supply V (WS-V) 6-5 Class B Waters 6-5 Class C Waters 6-5 Threatened and Endangered Species (Natural Heritage Sites) 6-5 National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Sites (NPDES) 6-6 Water Distribution System – Water Treatment Plants 6-7 Air Quality Pollution Discharge Points 6-7 Historic Sites 6-7 National Historic Preservation Act 6-7 NC General Statute 121-12(a) 6-7 National Register for Historic Places 6-7 The State of North Carolina Historic Preservation Office Study List 6-8 Solid Waste Facilities 6-8 Hazardous Waste Facilities 6-9 Hazardous Substance Disposal Sites (Superfund) 6-9 Federally Owned Lands 6-9 Archaeology 6-9 Internet Website Resources 6-9 VII. Travel Demand Model Development The Study Area 7-1 The Base Year Network 7-1 Data Requirements 7-1 Traffic Counts 7-11 Socioeconomic Data and Projections 7-11 Dwelling Unit Projections 7-11 Employment Projections 7-12 Commercial Vehicles 7-12 Trip Generation 7-12 Cordon Station Travel 7-59 Through Trips 7-59 External-Internal Trips 7-59 Design Year External and Through Trips 7-59 Secondary Non-home Based Trip Development 7-61 Internal Data Summary (IDS) 7-61 Internal Trip Distribution 7-62 Trip Assignment 7-67 Model Calibration 7-71 Accuracy Checks 7-71 iii List of Tables Table 4-1 High Crash Locations in Caldwell County 4-5 Table 4-2 State System Bridges for the Caldwell County Urban Area 4-16 Table 5-1 Population Trends and Projections 5-2 Table 5-2 Average Persons Per Dwelling Unit 5-11 Table 5-3 Employment Stratification for the Caldwell County Urban Area (from IDS) 5-11 Table 5-4 Employment/Population Ratio by Industry for Caldwell County vs. NC 5-12 Table 5-5 Labor Statistics for Caldwell County 5-12 Table 5-6 Caldwell County’s Largest Employers 5-13 Table 7-1 Travel Data Summary 7-13 Table 7-2 Travel Model Input Variables 7-13 Table 7-3 Base Year Socio-economic Dwelling Unit Input Data 7-35 Table 7-4 Base Year Socio-economic Employment Input Data 7-41 Table 7-5 Design Year Socio-economic Dwelling Unit Input Data 7-47 Table 7-6 Design Year Socio-economic Employment Input Data 7-53 Table 7-7 Cordon Station Travel 7-60 Table 7-8 Friction Factor Report for the Caldwell County Urban Area 7-63 Table 7-9 Travel Curve Report – Percent of Trips Distributed 7-67 Table 7-10 Actual vs. Model Screenline Total 7-71 iv List of Graphs Graph 5-1 Population Trend of Study Area Municipalities 5-5 Graph 5-2 Population Trend of Caldwell County 5-7 Graph 5-3 Population Trend of North Carolina 5-9 Graph 5-4 Caldwell County Employment/Population Ratio by Industry 5-15 Graph 5-5 North Carolina Employment/Population Ratio by Industry 5-17 Graph 7-1 Caldwell County Persons per Dwelling Unit 7-14 Graph 7-2 Friction Factor By Purpose 7-65 Graph 7-3 Percent of Trips Distributed 7-69 List of Figures Figure 1.1 Geographic Location 1-7 Figure 2.1 Caldwell County Urban Area Mutually Adopted Thoroughfare Plan 2-3 Figure 2.2 Recommended Improvements Map 2-5 Figure 2.2a Recommended Improvements Map (Lenoir Area) 2-7 Figure 2.3 Smith’s Crossroads Interchange Preliminary Functional Design 2-43 Figure 2.4 Single Point Urban Interchange Photo with Traffic Pattern Schematic 2-45 Illustration Figure 2.5 Lenoir Greenway Map 2-51 Figure 3.1 Development Process for a New Road 3-3 Figure 3.2 Biennial STIP Update Process 3-11 Figure 4.1 Levels of Service 4-3 v Figure 4.2 High Frequency Crash Locations 4-7 Figure 4.3 Roadway Deficiencies 4-13 Figure 4.4 State System Bridge Map 4-17 Figure 5.1 Zone Map 5-3 Figure 5.2 Caldwell County Zoning Map 5-21 Figure 6.1 Caldwell Environmental Map 1 6-11 Figure 6.2 Caldwell Environmental Map 2 6-13 Figure 7.1 Zone Map 7-3 Figure 7.1a Zone Map with Roads Showing 7-5 Figure 7.2 Caldwell County Urban Area Transplan Network 7-7 Figure 7.3 Lenoir Area Inset Tranplan Network 7-9 Figure 7.4 Town of Cajah’s Mountain Traffic Count Location Map 7-15 Figure 7.5 Caldwell County Traffic Count Location Map 7-17 Figure 7.6 Town of Gamewell Traffic Count Location Map 7-19 Figure 7.7 Town of Granite Falls Traffic Count Location Map 7-21 Figure 7.8 Town of Hudson Traffic Count Location Map 7-23 Figure 7.9 City of Lenoir Traffic Count Location Map 7-25 Figure 7.10 Town of Sawmills Traffic Count Location Map 7-27 Figure 7.11 Caldwell County Urban Area Total Dwelling Units 7-29 Figure 7.12 Caldwell County Urban Area Dwelling Unit Projections 7-31 Figure 7.13 Caldwell County Urban Area Employment Projections 7-33 Figure 7.14 Screenline Map 7-73 vi Appendices A - Thoroughfare Planning Principles Benefits of Thoroughfare Planning A-1 Idealized Major Thoroughfare System A-1 Thoroughfare Classification Systems A-2 Urban Classification A-2 Major Thoroughfares A-2 Minor Thoroughfares A-2 Local Access Streets A-2 Rural Classification A-5 Rural Principal Arterial System A-5 Rural Minor Arterial System A-5 Rural Collector System A-5 Major Collector Roads A-5 Minor Collector Roads A-5 Rural Local Road System A-5 Objectives of Thoroughfare Planning A-11 Operational Efficiency A-11 System Efficiency A-13 Application of Thoroughfare Planning Principles A-13 Figure A-1 Ideal Small Urban Thoroughfare Plan A-3 Figure A-2 Rural Highway Network Functional Classification A-7 Figure A-3 Caldwell County Rural Functional Classification Map A-9 B - Thoroughfare Plan Street Tabulation Thoroughfare Plan Street Tabulation Index of Terms B-1 Thoroughfare Plan Street Tabulation B-3 C - Typical Cross Sections A Four Lanes Divided Freeway with Median C-1 B Seven Lanes with Curb and Gutter C-1 C Five Lanes with Curb and Gutter C-1 D Six Lanes Divided with Raised Median and Curb and Gutter C-2 E Four Lanes Divided with Raised Median and Curb and Gutter C-2 F Four Lanes Divided Boulevard with Grass Median C-2 G Four Lanes with Curb and Gutter C-2 H Three Lanes with Curb and Gutter C-2 I Two Lanes with Curb and Gutter and Parking on Both Sides C-2 J Two Lanes with Curb and Gutter and Parking on One Side C-2 vii K Two Lanes with Paved Shoulder C-2 L Six Lanes Divided Freeway with Grass Median C-3 M Eight Lanes Divided with Raised Median and Curb and Gutter C-3 N Five Lanes with Curb and Gutter Widened Curb Lanes C-3 O Two Lanes with Shoulder Section C-3 P Four Lanes with Raised Median, Curb and Gutter and Widened Curb Lanes C-3 General C-3 Figure C-1 Typical Thoroughfare Cross Sections C-5 D - Recommended Subdivision Ordinances Definitions D-1 Streets and Roads D-1 Rural Roads D-1 Urban Streets D-1 Specific Type Rural or Urban Streets D-2 Property D-2 Subdivision D-2 Roadway Design Standards D-3 Right of Way Widths D-3 Street Widths D-5 Geometric Characteristics D-5 Intersections D-9 Cul-de-sacs D-9 Alleys D-9 Permits for Connections to State Roads D-9 Offsets for Utility Poles D-9 Wheel Chair Ramps D-10 Horizontal Width on Bridge Deck D-10 Table D-1 Minimum Right-of-way Requirements D-4 Table D-2 Design Speeds D-6 Table D-3 Sight Distance D-6 Table D-4 Superelevation D-7 Table D-5 Maximum Vertical Grade D-7 E -Index for Secondary Road Names vs.