Evaluation of the Conversion for Northbound Bus Route from SW 31st Road to SW 32nd Road Draft Final Report Prepared for Miami-Dade Transit Prepared by Larry Hagen, P.E., PTOE (PI) Pei-Sung Lin, Ph.D., P.E. (Co-PI) Sachin Rai, E.I. Center for Urban Transportation Research University of South Florida, Tampa December 20, 2005 “Evaluation of the Conversion for Northbound Bus Route from SW 31st Road to SW 32nd Road” BACKGROUND Miami-Dade Transit (MDT) is concerned about the noise and safety impacts of northbound Metro bus operations on SW 31st Road. The concern was originated from residents’ complaints regarding traffic noise generated by MDT buses along SW 31st Road, a narrow residential street, between the Vizcaya Metrorail Station and Coral Way. To resolve residents’ complaints, it has been requested that MDT investigate re-routing buses exiting Vizcaya Metrorail station, from SW 31st Road onto SW 32nd Road. In November 2004, a qualitative assessment report [1] for Coral Way at SW 32nd Road was conducted by Marlin Engineering. Based on the recommendation from Marlin Engineering, MDT has requested that the Center for Urban Transportation Research (CUTR) at the University of South Florida perform further analyses to evaluate bus operations with the conversion of SW 32 Road from a one-way to a two-way street, and provide necessary recommendations. Evaluation of the impacts of moving northbound bus routes from SW 31st Road to SW 32nd Road to reduce the impact of bus noise on the adjacent residential area involves environmental, traffic operations, bus safety, and bus routing issues. The CUTR project team will rely on input from Miami-Dade Transit, field observations, data collection, development of potential options, traffic impact analyses, microscopic traffic simulation, noise analysis, and thorough evaluations of proposed options in order to develop recommendations that will address the noise concerns of the citizens and still provide the required transit services. PURPOSE The purpose of this analysis is to provide policy makers in MDT, Miami-Dade County Public Works, and the City of Miami with an objective assessment of the traffic operations and safety of the proposed northbound bus route on SW 32nd Road between the Vizcaya Metrorail Station and Coral Way. Several recommended options for resolving bus noise issues on SW 31st Road will be proposed. The advantages and disadvantages of each option will be discussed with its supporting information. This report will provide policy makers with practical options to minimize the bus noise issue on SW 31st Road and maintain safe bus operation in the study area. The study mentioned above that was conducted by Marlin Engineering provided much of the data utilized in this study. That study also recommended that additional study be conducted in this area. The effort summarized in this report is that additional study. EXISTING CONDITIONS Currently, three transit bus routes (Routes 12, 17, and 24) use SW 32nd Road to enter the Vizcaya Station from Coral Way (SR 972) and use SW 31st Road to exit the station back to Coral Way, as shown in Figure 1. The map for each bus route is attached in ______________________________________________________________ 2 Center for Urban Transportation Research “Evaluation of the Conversion for Northbound Bus Route from SW 31st Road to SW 32nd Road” Appendix A. Coral Way is an urban minor arterial that runs in an east-west direction, as shown in Figure 2. Both SW 32nd Road and SW 31st Road are urban local roads that run in a north-south direction. The typical cross-section on Coral Way consists of four lanes with raised median and a speed limit of 40 mph. SW 32nd Road crosses Coral Way with an offset configuration, with north and south legs that are more than 100 feet apart. The SW 32nd Road south leg is a one-way southbound road as shown in Figure 3, with two lanes and a parking lane on each side. The width of this one-way segment of SW 32nd Road is about 57 feet. The Vizcaya Metrorail Station, as shown in Figure 4, is located at the end of the segment. The SW 32nd Road north leg is a two-lane, two- way undivided road with parking on both sides of the road. There is an existing traffic signal at the Coral Way and SW 31st Road intersection, just east of SW 32nd Road. The SW 31st Road south leg is a two-lane, one way northbound road, as shown in Figure 5, with a width of only 22 feet. The SW 31st Road north leg is a two-lane, two-way road. The traffic on Coral Way is generally heavy during peak hours. Heavy traffic heading eastbound and moderate traffic westbound was observed during AM peak hours. During the PM peak period, heavy traffic was observed westbound along Coral Way, and moderate traffic was observed in the eastbound direction. The traffic on both SW 31st Road and SW 32nd Road are light throughout the day due to residential areas. Left turns westbound from Coral Way entering the SW 32nd Road (south leg) experienced minimal delays during both AM and PM peak hours. However, the westbound through traffic experienced long delays during the PM peak hours and most vehicles were observed queuing and blocking SW 32nd Road (south and north legs) when stopping for a signalized intersection at the Coral Way and SW 12 Avenue intersection located further west. ______________________________________________________________ 3 Center for Urban Transportation Research “Evaluation of the Conversion for Northbound Bus Route from SW 31st Road to SW 32nd Road” Figure 1. Existing bus routes entering and exiting the Vizcaya Station ______________________________________________________________ 4 Center for Urban Transportation Research “Evaluation of the Conversion for Northbound Bus Route from SW 31st Road to SW 32nd Road” Eastbound Coral Way Westbound Coral Way Figure 2. Coral Way near the Vizcaya Metrorail Station ______________________________________________________________ 5 Center for Urban Transportation Research “Evaluation of the Conversion for Northbound Bus Route from SW 31st Road to SW 32nd Road” Southbound SW 32nd Road (one-way segment) SW 32nd Road approaching the Vizcaya Metrorail Station Figure 3. One-way southbound SW 32nd Road ______________________________________________________________ 6 Center for Urban Transportation Research “Evaluation of the Conversion for Northbound Bus Route from SW 31st Road to SW 32nd Road” Entrance to the Vizcaya Metrorail Station Transit Bus stopped for passenger boarding at the Vizcaya Metrorail Station Figure 4. Vizcaya Metrorail Station and transit bus ______________________________________________________________ 7 Center for Urban Transportation Research “Evaluation of the Conversion for Northbound Bus Route from SW 31st Road to SW 32nd Road” Northbound SW 31st Road (one-way segment) Northbound SW 31st Road (one-way segment) with a transit bus Figure 5. One-way northbound SW 31st Road ______________________________________________________________ 8 Center for Urban Transportation Research “Evaluation of the Conversion for Northbound Bus Route from SW 31st Road to SW 32nd Road” The field survey indicated the background noise level is around 62 to 66 dBA on both SW 31st and SW 32nd roads during the day time. This level is slightly higher than general residential areas due to short segments of both roads (less than 1000 feet) between Coral Way and the Vizcaya Metrorail Station. The noise level measured at the curb of the roads would reach to 84 to 88 dBA when buses pass the sound meter instrument without acceleration and deceleration. The maximum noise level measured in the field was from 96 to 100 dBA during bus acceleration and deceleration periods. The relationship between sound level and distance to a vehicle based on data collected in the field is shown in Figure 6. The sound level is gradually reduced with the distance to a sound source. As expected, the bus noise while traveling is higher than that while idling. The bus noise measured while it is traveling is about 10 to 12 dBA higher than that of passenger cars. Sound Level Vesus Distance 120 100 80 60 Background Noise 40 Idle (Bus) Travel (Bus) Sound Level (dBA) Sound Level 20 Travel (Car) 0 0 1020304050 Distance to a Vehicle (ft) Figure 6. Relationship between sound level and distance to a vehicle ______________________________________________________________ 9 Center for Urban Transportation Research “Evaluation of the Conversion for Northbound Bus Route from SW 31st Road to SW 32nd Road” PONTENTIAL ISSUES OF CONVERSION FOR NORTHBOUND BUS ROUTES The conversion of the SW 32nd Road from a one-way to a two-way road will allow buses to enter and exit the Vizcaya Station using SW 32nd Road to minimize the noise impact to the surrounding residential areas. The roadway surface of SW 32nd Road is much wider than that of SW 31st Road (57 feet vs. 22 feet). The number of houses on SW 32nd Road is about 44 percent of the number of houses along SW 1st Avenue and SW 31st Road (existing bus route). The conversion of northbound bus routes from SW 31st Road to SW 32nd Road can significantly reduce the impact of bus noise for residents on SW 31st Road; however, some potential issues should be considered before the decision of conversion is made. These potential issues include the following: 1. Will there be a signal warranted at the Coral Way and 32nd Road intersection to allow buses safely to make left turns? 2. What is the number of bus stops affected by northbound route conversion? 3. What is extra distance buses will travel based on northbound route conversion? 4. What are the safety and operational issues for northbound route conversion? 5. What will be the effect to the existing intersection level of services based on northbound route conversion? SIGNAL WARRANT ANALYSIS A signal warrant analysis is needed to examine whether the Coral Way and SW 32nd Road intersection will be warranted for a traffic signal after the conversion of northbound bus routes from SW 31st Road to SW 32nd Road.