Appendix G Transportation Policy and Design Strategies CONTEXT SENSITIVE SOLUTIONS To address the need to describe freight systems which account for the population distress which may result, an analysis of environmental justice (EJ) census blocks may be conducted. Historical assignment of freight activities has proven to be in these areas. These areas typically lack the ability to offset, reduce, or eliminate this assignment due to economic or other factors. Existing EJ blocks are reviewed in association with where freight activity exists and proposed routes associated with freight movement occur. Having a better understanding of these patterns, future planning of freight corridors can work to minimize the continued effects the presence of these movements in these areas generate. In 2010, the Atlanta Regional Commission proposed, and was adopted by a multi jurisdictional board, a comprehensive, non interstate oriented truck route system. The system provided assigned routes on existing roadways for future commercial vehicle travel. This travel being further defined as crossregional movements, seeking to control not the final mile, but the movement from one area of freight activity to another within the metropolitan area. The analysis incorporates two distinct identification practices. These describe parcels within Environmental Justice (EJ) Census Blocks and Land Use Designations. All parcels within a one mile buffer, one half mile on either side of the proposed roadway are reviewed in light of these two assignments. The outcome of this analysis is to evaluate the presence of each, within individual jurisdictions, and provide general assignment of route segments into one of four values: EJ Presence Imbalanced EJ Neutral Balanced EJ Imbalanced Freight Intensive Level of Freight Presence Figure D 1. Four Box Assessment for Retention, by EJ and Freight Intensity Balanced EJ: Segments with EJ Census Block presence with moderate or high Freight Intensive Land Use designations. This retains a low potential for removal. Imbalanced EJ : Segments with EJ Census Block presence with limited or no Freight Intensive Land Use designations. Potential is highest for removal. Imbalanced Freight Intensive: Segments with no EJ presence with moderate or high Freight Intensive Land Use designations. This has the least potential for removal. Neutral: Segments with no EJ presence with limited or no Freight Intensive Land Use designations. These present minimal obstacle to truck route placement G 1
Examined within the context of the Atlanta Strategic Truck Route Master Plan (ASTRoMaP) purpose, these four values assess the degree of potential removal of the roadway from the ASTRoMaP. With truck access to local roads governed by need, areas with higher freight presence will continue to receive higher levels of truck volume with or without incorporation within the truck route network. This does not automatically exclude the possibility of removal of a given segment based on EJ association. The potential for non incorporation occurs where an alternative roadway may exist, satisfying the needs of access and not traversing through an already designated EJ census block. The alternative must be closely evaluated, so as not to generate two routes; the original corridor which is still required to perform the final mile delivery role and the alternative that is in close proximity for through movement but still requires the final mile route selection. A reasonable approach dictates that where there is the possibility of environmental issues, the network should be cognizant of this eventuality. Route designation should reflect the desire to mitigate the invasive nature of truck traffic by establishing alternative routes to the proposed RPFHN network. At the lowest level of Freight Intensive activity and presence of EJ, Balanced EJ, the corridors or segments of roadway have the most likely opportunity to be removed. The opposite end of the spectrum, Imbalanced Freight Intensive, where Freight Intensive activity is most dense and EJ blocks are not present, the possibility of removal is at its lowest. All land use designated parcels carry the possibility for freight induced traffic. Residential, of all types, generate not only household goods movement, but also supporting parcel and light truck deliveries, with seasonal influences such as holidays and periods of non academic activities increasing flow volumes. In addition, other parcels such as specialty or green areas, i.e. cemeteries and parks, would be low level freight generators. To view an illustration, Figure D 2 provides the legend for each activity level by land use. Figure D 2. Land Use Activity Levels and Land Use Designation Legend G 2
LAND USE DESIGNATIONS Commercial Industrial Transportation, Communications, Utilities Industrial, Commercial Complexes Urban Other Agriculture Forest Mixed Rivers Reservoirs Wetlands Exposed Rock Quarries/Pits/Mines Transitional Residential Low Density Residential Medium Density Residential High Density Residential Multi Family Residential Mobile Home Park Institutional Intensive Limited Access Highways Golf Courses Cemeteries Parks FREIGHT INTENSIVE G 3
A graphic overlay of the proposed routes within each county in the region, with EJ census block information and land use designations are produced. An example is illustrated in Figure D 3. The color representation of land uses in areas not within an EJ census block are subdued. The vibrant areas allow the planner to recognize the presence of EJ census blocks and evaluate those areas for moderate to high levels of freight activity. Figure D 3. Barrow County, EJ Census Block and Land Use Designation With these portions of the corridors known, the planner may more readily address corridor assignment for goods movement. G 4
ACCESS MANAGEMENT Access management is an increasingly popular set of techniques used by state and local agencies to control access to major thoroughfares. The result is a more safe and efficient roadway network for users. Without access management, roadways could see an increase in traffic congestion, accidents, and pollution from vehicle emissions. In order to create a sample access management policy for the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) for use by its member jurisdictions, research of other access management strategies in various states and locales that already have access management plans in place revealed some best and worst practices. Many states currently have access management policies that are used to regulate and control access to thoroughfares. Most, if not all, of these policies are derived from the Transportation Research Board s (TRB) Access Management Manual, which was published in 2003. According to TRB s website (http://www.trb.org), TRB annually engages more than 7,000 engineers, scientists, and other transportation researchers and practitioners from the public and private sectors and academia, all of whom contribute their expertise in the public interest by participating on TRB committees, panels, and task forces. TRB describes ten (10) principles of access management, which were derived from their expertise in transportation. They include the following: 1. Provide a Specialized Roadway System: Design and manage roadways according to their primary functions. 2. Limit Direct Access to Major Roadways: Roadways that serve higher volumes of through traffic need more access control to preserve their function. 3. Promote Intersection Hierarchy: An efficient transportation network provides appropriate transitions from one functional classification to another. This results in a series of intersection types that range from the junction of two freeways or a freeway and a major arterial to a driveway connecting to a local street. 4. Locate Signals to Favor Through Movements: Long, uniform spacing of intersections on major roadways enhances the ability to coordinate signals and to ensure continuous movement of traffic at the desired speed. 5. Preserve the Functional Area of Intersections and Interchanges: The functional area of an intersection or interchange is the area that is critical to its safe and efficient operation. Access connections too close to these intersections or interchange ramps can cause serious traffic conflicts. 6. Limit the Number of Conflict Points: A less complex driving environment is accomplished by limiting the number and type of conflicts between vehicles, vehicles and pedestrians, and vehicles and bicyclists. (Figure D 4) 7. Separate Conflict Areas: Separating conflict areas helps to simplify the driving task and contributes to improved traffic operations and safety. 8. Remove Turning Vehicles from Through Traffic Lanes: Turning lanes reduce the severity and duration of conflicts between turning vehicles and improves the safety and efficiency of intersections. 9. Use Nontraversable Medians to Manage Left Turn Movements: Nontraversable medians and other techniques that minimize left turns are effective in improving roadway safety and efficiency. (Figure D 5) G 5
11. Provide a Supporting Street and Circulation System: Well planned communities provide a supporting network of local and collector streets to accommodate development, as well as unified property access and circulation systems. Interconnected street and circulation systems support alternative modes of transportation and provide alternative routes for bicyclists, pedestrians, and drivers. Figure D 4. Typical Points of Conflict, Intersection Source: TRB Access Management Manual, 2003 Figure D 5. Illustration of Directional Median Opening for Left turn and U turn Source: TRB Access Management Manual, 2003 G 6
FUNCTIONAL CLASS ASSIGNMENT Many metropolitan areas, without formally designated truck route systems, possess the need to review roadway designation or assigned functional classes where commercial traffic is present. Functional class assignment is based on the intended use of the roadway, which in turn, is reflected in design and construction. Though few commercial vehicle (CMV) operators are attuned to functional class, segments of the truck routing software industry assignment levels of preference based on this classification system. In review of potential bottlenecks in Indianapolis IN examples of functional class review proved informative. Figure D 6 illustrates the local roads providing access to a freight generating facility and the associated functional classes for the roadways adjacent and leading to the facility. It is important to note that the highlighted section of S Keystone Avenue is classified as Other Principal Arterial. This functional class is typically anticipated to carry a greater load of commercial vehicles. G 7
Figure D 6. Road Map and Functional Class Associated with Warehousing Activity, Indianapolis IN Source: Google Maps, INDOT, Wilbur Smith Associates G 8
Figure D 7 provides a street level view of that segment. Figure D 7. Street Level View of S Keystone Avenue, as Noted in Figure D 6 Source: Google Maps Though a strategy for the implementation of a functional class review is not developed, recognition of such review needs provides Indianapolis and other metropolitan areas the basis for justifying such a process. G 9
SIGNAGE PRACTICES A low cost solution to those issues generating bottlenecks where truck traffic enters non friendly roadway design is the failure to provide adequate advance notice, for the truck driver, to special considerations adjacent to or on the roadway and provide sufficient time for decision making. Each opportunity to communicate conditions to the truck driver requires increased separation between the vehicle and the event than for the average automobile. Where conditions require alternative route selection or driving action, an additional consideration is that the truck driver must have adequate roadway and an adequate traffic interaction zone to remedy a poor decision. Restricted or posted weight limits on bridges, left turn exits, prohibited routes and minimum vertical clearances are the more common scenarios faced by drivers unfamiliar with local road conditions. In each case where inadequate placement has reduced reaction time, once recognized, the driver is presented with either radical vehicle movement or continuing on, possibly into areas not truck friendly. Each of these alternatives may present a regularly recurring episode and thus open to mitigation condition. Public and private sector interaction may generate ordinance development and promote awareness where the shipper or receiver may not have adequately signed a property. The lack of visibility to signs erected by a warehousing or manufacturer may contribute greatly to a given bottleneck are Figure D 8. As truck traffic slows to avoid missing an intended turn in, all traffic is slowed. The greater the truck traffic utilizing a specific entrance, in conjunction with significant general traffic volumes, the greater the issues of congestion and safety. Figure D 8. Truck Entrance Identification to a Local Indianapolis Business Source: Google Maps G 10
The Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) 2009 provides guidance not only for the type and size of signage, but also on placement. To illustrate where signage placement adheres to this guidance, yet may not be adequate for larger commercial vehicles, a less than adequate minimum vertical clearance exists where VA 5 diverges from US 60 (East Main Street) (Figure D 9). Figure D 9. Minimum Vertical Clearance, VA 5 near US 60 Section 2C.27 of the MUTCD discusses conditions and placement of the Low Clearance sign. Sub section 03 notes: The placement itself, as seen in Figure D 10, does not provide visibility to the sign, until a vehicle has begun to enter the intersection. G 11
Figure D 10. View Southeast on E. Main Street The sign is placed immediately upon entering the travel lane leading to the low clearance, providing a shorter vehicle reaction time to safely shift from that direction, thus avoiding the obstacle. A longer and larger vehicle, more apt to be impacted by the obstacle, and subsequent placement, may have already begun to execute the turn. To immediately correct direction, the driver will either stop or rapidly change direction; both will delay the flow of traffic and possibly generate unsafe driving responses from other vehicles. Should the truck not execute these and choose to continue until safely passing through the intersection, inadequate space is provided for turning around, leaving only the unsafe backing, into the intersection, to rectify the decision. G 12
FREIGHT ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT Areas of greater freight activity do occur where other forms of vehicles operate frequently. Retail outlets and large employment facilities are examples of locations which attract greater than normal commercial vehicle traffic. This traffic supplies the goods and services necessary for the sustainment of these companies. The employed work force, though in many situations mass transit is available and utilized, contributes to the traffic volumes with personal vehicles. Many solutions to mitigate the effects of this greater traffic volume require a level of density or collection of these activities in a common area. One attraction of mass transit utilization is taking people where they want to go. As establishments, e.g employment, residential, shopping, are dispersed, the cost to provide mass transportation increases. With this comes elongated transport times, which detracts for the rider experience and lessens the likelihood of use. Freight or goods movement solution are typically faced with similar needs. The concept of City Logistics, further encompassing freight villages or collective freight communities, is dependent on the congregation of industrial, manufacturing, and other heavy freight intensive locations to be co located. This minimizes the number of corridors needed to support these activities. MetroPlan Orlando, the Orlando FL MPO, has promoted a number of efforts oriented toward the establishment of the freight village concept. Extracted from the MetroPlan Orlando 2030 LRTP, a freight village is a facility where access is provided to rails, trucks, ports, and/or airports. These facilities enhance the integration and connectivity of the transportation system for people and freight as well as large scale manufacturing. Freight villages serve as economic drivers by offering lower logistics costs and creating jobs in warehouses, distribution centers, manufacturing, packaging plants, and other value added businesses. Many sites have been promoted throughout the MPO. G 13
TYPES OF DELAYS Two forms of delay exist, non recurring and recurring. Non recurring are delays caused by single episode events. These may be a crash completely or partially blocking a given length of roadway until clean up efforts are concluded; or a special event such as a weather delay or sporting event. Each delay can be somewhat unique. This uniqueness may not allow for the road user to adapt their route selection to avoid and thus delay is incurred. Recurring delays are typically not representative of a single event. These are conditions that exist repetitively and are predictable to some degree. Common illustrations are infrastructural; lane reduction, inadequately timed signals, and restrictive turning radii, as they relate to truck navigation of an intersection. These are also inclusive of non concrete causes; rush hour, presence of schools or residential areas, and industrial or commercial zones, where the arrival and departure of work shifts can disrupt otherwise navigable travel. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) describes the contribution to delays or congestion by recurring conditions as 45 percent. This includes five percent as poor signal timing and forty percent as bottleneck, Figure D 11. Figure D 11. Sources of Congestion (National Summary) 2002 Source: U.S. Department of Transportation, July 30, 2010, http://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/congestion_report/chapter3.htm G 14