Chapter 9 Transportation and Circulation Plan Introduction The transportation and circulation network available to residents and businesses affects the character of and efficiency of the movement of people and goods within Kennett Township. Retaining and enhancing the Township’s attractiveness as a place to live, visit, work, and shop is another important consideration in transportation planning. The transportation and circulation network in the Township entails both vehicular (automobile and truck traffic) and pedestrian (sidewalks, paths, trails, and road cycling) modes of travel. This Chapter describes the existing transportation and circulation system infrastructure and provides recommendations to address system needs and enhancements. Chapter Organization: Existing Circulation System p. 9-1 Land Use and Road Network Pattern Work/Worker Commuting Pattern Modes of Transportation Transportation Improvement Projects Planning Implications p. 9-8 Recommendations p. 9- 9 Existing Circulation System Land Use and Road Network Pattern Kennett Township is a rural suburbanizing municipality. Higher intensities of development and a mixing of uses occur around Kennett Square Borough and along the Route 1 and 52 corridors, with the remainder of (and majority of land area in) the Township in residential, larger-scale homestead, and agricultural uses. Existing land uses are shown on Map 7-1. Being located within a broader developed and developing area, through-traffic is an issue within the Township and the Kennett Region overall. The Township contains approximately 73 linear miles of public roadways. The overall road network in the Township consists primarily of narrow, winding country cartways, bounded by tree masses and steep banks. The rural quality of the network highly contributes to the defining character of the Township, and as such is an important community resource and feature. This network was not designed to support high volumes of traffic nor high rates of speed. It was instead built to serve a historically farming-based community. However, continuing development of the Route 1 corridor and northern DE has led to development pressure in southern Chester County, including Kennett Township. This has resulted in the road network being used for higher volumes of traffic than originally intended. There has been discussion in the Township about widening roads to accommodate modern farm trucks; through any road widening has Township character changing and environmental/stormwater runoff effects related to increased Page 9-1 7-2015 Chapter 9 –Transportation Kennett Township Comprehensive Plan impervious surface. Current road density in the Township is approximately 4.7 linear miles of public roadway per 1 square mile of Township land area. Kennett Pike/Route 52 provides the primary north-south roadway in the Township that directly accesses Wilmington, from whence a considerable amount of the Township’s development pressure originates. Route 1/Baltimore Pike provide the primary east-west roadway in the Township that access Route 202 and Delaware County. The orientation of the Township within close proximity to DE and the abundant employment and regional shopping opportunities in northern DE that are thus within minutes of the Township, has placed an increasing demand on those roads in the Township that provide a link to DE. This Plan, as well as the 2004 Township Comprehensive Plan, strives to establish a balance between the provision of safe and efficient circulation and the protection of scenic/rural resources, including roadways, in the Township. Work/Worker Commuting Pattern The U.S. Census’ Center of Economic Studies provides data about work/worker commuting patterns to primary jobs for both 1) Township residents (working within and outside the Township) and 2) non- Township residents working within the Township. ‘Primary job’ refers to a worker’s main job only, and does not include second jobs or other income. 1 Primary Jobs Located in the Township Table 9-1 shows the top 10 specific locations Table 9-1: Top Locations where Persons Employed at Primary Jobs where primary jobholders in the Township in the Township Commute From/Reside commute from. Kennett Square Borough has YEAR LOCATIONS been the largest single commuter origin, 2002 2004 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 followed by the Township itself, New TOTAL PRIMARY JOBS Garden, and North Central DE. 3,639 3,718 3,400 4,101 4,355 4,066 3,345 IN THE TOWNSHIP KENNETT SQUARE BOROUGH 13.4% 10.5% 11.9% 10.8% 10.3% 11.1% 9.7% In looking at the generalized trend for all KENNETT TOWNSHIP 7.1% 7.8% 7.2% 6.0% 6.2% 6.5% 5.9% commuting patterns for primary jobs in the NEW GARDEN TOWNSHIP 4.4% 6.1% 5.9% 5.7% 4.8% 5.2% 5.5% Township in 2010 (Figure 9-1), the majority of NORTH CENTRAL, DE 5.4% 5.9% 5.9% 5.5% 5.7% 5.3% 5.3% primary jobholders come from west and south of the Township, with the next biggest EAST MARLBOROUGH TOWNSHIP 3.8% 3.6% 5.0% 4.0% 4.2% 3.5% 3.2% groups traveling from the northeast. In 2010, PHILADELPHIA 2.1% 3.2% 2.0% 3.1% 2.9% 2.2% 2.8% over two-thirds of individuals who work at LONDON GROVE TOWNSHIP 2.8% 2.0% 3.4% 2.8% 2.0% 2.3% 2.5% primary jobs in the Township come from EAST NOTTINGHAM TOWNSHIP 1.6% 1.8% 1.6% 1.7% 2.4% 2.0% 2.2% locations within Chester and New Castle WILMINGTON, DE 2.8% 2.1% 1.9% 2.2% 1.9% 2.3% 2.0% Counties. Overall, the vast majority (80 NEWARK AREA, DE 1.8% 1.7% 1.3% 1.6% 1.8% 1.5% 1.9% percent) of primary jobholders in the Source: U.S. Census Bureau Center of Economic Studies ‘OnTheMap’, 2010 Township commute less than 25 miles, with a little over half of those workers commuting less than 10 miles. The majority of people who work in the Township are not Township residents and likewise the majority of Township residents commute elsewhere for work. In 2010, about 6 percent (197 persons) of persons employed at jobs in the Township were also Township residents, which is a decrease (number and share) from past years. 1 This data is primarily from the Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics (LEHD) Program, a relatively new cooperative effort of the U.S. Census Bureau and PA Department of Labor and Industry (PAL&I). This data is not comparable to job data from prior comprehensive plans. Page 9-2 7-2015 Kennett Township Comprehensive Plan Chapter 9 - Transportation Figure 9-1: General Areas where Persons Employed at Primary Jobs in the Township Commute From/Reside, 2010 Daily work commuting patterns show a great deal of travel into and out of the Township for primary job employment. Overall, in 2010, there was a positive workforce in-flow into the Township (meaning more workers came into the Township for their primary jobs than left). This indicates the Township is not simply a ‘bedroom community’ where people reside and travel to other places for employment, but rather is also a location of substantive primary jobs for the larger regional work force. Primary Jobs of Township Residents Table 9-2 shows the top 10 specific destinations Table 9-2: Top Primary Job Work Destinations of Township residents for their primary jobs. of Employed Kennett Township Residents Wilmington has largely been the major single YEAR work destination, followed by Township LOCATIONS residents remaining in the Township to work. 2002 2004 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 TOTAL PRIMARY JOBS 2,188 2,694 2,871 3,074 3,109 3,186 3,097 Looking at the trend for all commuting patterns OF TOWNSHIP RESIDENTS for primary jobs held by Township residents in WILMINGTON, DE 10.2% 12.9% 11.5% 9.6% 10.0% 10.3% 7.7% 2010 (Figure 9-2), the majority of employed KENNETT TOWNSHIP 11.8% 10.8% 8.6% 8.0% 8.7% 8.3% 6.4% Township residents travel southeast, with the NORTHEAST NCC, DE 2.7% 3.7% 4.1% 4.4% 3.5% 4.3% 5.4% next biggest group travelling to the northeast. KENNETT SQUARE BOROUGH 7.5% 5.8% 4.9% 5.1% 4.6% 4.1% 5.3% In 2010, two-thirds of employed Township PHILADELPHIA 4.4% 3.7% 4.8% 4.4% 3.6% 4.4% 4.5% residents worked at jobs within Chester and NEW GARDEN TOWNSHIP 4.9% 5.3% 6.5% 5.7% 4.4% 5.0% 4.1% New Castle Counties. In 2010, the majority (76.5 NORTHWEST NCC, DE 3.7% 5.1% 3.7% 2.9% 4.1% 4.5% 4.0% percent) of employed Township residents WEST GOSHEN TOWNSHIP 3.2% 2.5% 2.8% 2.7% 2.9% 2.4% 3.3% commute less than 25 miles to their primary NEW CASTLE AREA, DE 2.2% 2.2% 2.9% 3.8% 3.2% 3.2% 3.0% jobs, with over half of those workers NEWARK AREA, DE 2.7% 2.3% 2.6% 3.1% 3.1% 3.7% 2.8% commuting less than 10 miles away, while 9.7 percent have a lengthy commute of more than Source: U.S. Census Bureau Center of Economic Studies ‘OnTheMap’, 2010 50 miles. In comparison, 78.6 percent of Chester County residents have an average work commute of less than 25 miles while only 7.8 percent travel more than 50 miles. Figure 9-2: General Primary Job Work Destinations Means of Commuting to Work of Employed Township Residents, 2010 The U.S. Census American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year Estimates provides data about the means by which the labor force travels to work.