Duportail Street Bridge Project Richland, Washington Transportation Discipline Report Benton County, Washington Prepared by: Federal Highway Administration 711 South Capitol Way, Suite 501 Olympia, WA 98501 Submitted by: City of Richland Prepared for: Washington State Department of Transportation P.O. Box 12560 Yakima, WA 98909 AprilNovember 2011 2011 Review copy for WSDOT This page left blank intentionally for printing purposes. TABLE OF CONTENTS Acronyms............................................................................................................................................................... 4 Glossary of Technical Terms .................................................................................................................................. 6 Applicable Statutes and Regulations ................................................................................................................... 10 Executive Summary ............................................................................................................................................. 13 What is the purpose of this report? ................................................................................................................ 13 Why construct the Duportail Street Bridge? ................................................................................................... 13 Where is the project located? ......................................................................................................................... 13 How was traffic data evaluated for the Duportail Street Bridge Project? ........................................................................................................................................................... 14 What are the current road and traffic conditions within the Duportail Bridge vicinity? ............................................................................................................................................... 14 How does the project improve traffic in the future? ...................................................................................... 16 How will construction activities affect the project area? ................................................................................ 16 What measures are proposed to avoid or minimize effects on traffic during construction? ...................................................................................................................................... 17 What are the key points of this report? .......................................................................................................... 17 Chapter 1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................................... 18 Design Year and Opening Year ....................................................................................................................... 18 Chapter 2 Project Description ............................................................................................................................ 19 What is the purpose of the Project? ................................................................................................................ 19 How was the Project designed to provide these elements? ........................................................................... 19 Chapter 3 Alternatives ......................................................................................................................................... 21 What alternatives were considered before development of the Project alternative? ...................................................................................................................................................... 21 What alternatives are considered in this discipline report?............................................................................ 22 What is the Without Project Alternative? ........................................................................................................ 22 What is the With-Project Alternative? .............................................................................................................. 22 How will the stormwater system handle the runoff from impervious surfaces? .......................................................................................................................................................... 23 How would Project construction be sequenced and staged? ......................................................................... 24 Duportail Street Bridge Project 1 Transportation Discipline Report – Review Copy to WSDOT April 2011 What would happen if the bridge is not constructed? ................................................................................... 25 Chapter 4 Affected Environment ......................................................................................................................... 26 What are the general transportation features in the project area? ................................................................. 26 What is the study area for transportation and how was it defined? ............................................................... 26 How was information collected? .................................................................................................................... 29 What are the existing traffic volumes within the study area? ......................................................................... 29 What is the historical collision data in the study area? ................................................................................... 31 How did we evaluate traffic operations? ........................................................................................................ 31 How do we determine what level of congestion is acceptable? ..................................................................... 33 How does Duportail Street operate under existing (2008) conditions? ..................................................................................................................................................... 33 What transit service is currently available in the study area and how will it be affected? ........................................................................................................................................... 35 What pedestrian and bicycle facilities currently exist in the study area and how will they be affected? ....................................................................................................................... 35 How will this project affect parking in the area? ............................................................................................ 35 How will this project meet ADA requirements? ............................................................................................. 36 How will this project affect waterborne traffic? .............................................................................................. 36 How will this project affect rail traffic? ........................................................................................................... 36 How will this project affect air traffic? ............................................................................................................ 36 Chapter 5 Potential Effects .................................................................................................................................. 37 How was future traffic projected near the proposed Duportail Street Bridge? ............................................................................................................................................................ 37 How did we evaluate traffic operations? ........................................................................................................ 42 How do we expect the project area to operate under future without Project conditions? ......................................................................................................................................... 42 How do we expect the project area to operate under future With-Project Conditions? ................................................................................................................................ 45 What are the potential effects for pedestrians and bicyclists? ........................................................................ 50 What is the potential effect on safety in the project area? .............................................................................. 50 What are the potential effects on vehicular and non-motorized traffic due to construction? ....................................................................................................................................... 51 Duportail Street Bridge Project 2 Transportation Discipline Report – Review Copy to WSDOT April 2011 Chapter 6 Measures Taken to Avoid or Minimize Project Effects ........................................................................ 52 What mitigation measures are proposed to avoid and/or minimize operational impacts on vehicle traffic? ........................................................................................................... 52 What mitigation measures are proposed to avoid and/or minimize construction impacts on vehicle, pedestrian, and bicycle traffic? .................................................................. 53 Chapter