Mike on Traffic

MnDOT Traffic Study Guidelines

MnDOT's website describes their access/driveway policies relating to their highways.  They recently added Traffic Impact Study Guidance to their access policies.  The outlined process, if followed, requires five meetings/consultations with MnDOT staff in order to get through a traffic study.

My first experience working under this policy started about a year ago.  In January 2007 I started a traffic study for the 2,300 acre Elk Run development in Pine Island, MN (the total study area is about 5,200 acres).  MnDOT requested I work under the guidelines, which were a draft at the time.  The developer agreed because they are committed to making sure we comprehensively plan for when this large development is built out.  This is a great development that has the potential of creating 1,000s of new bio-science related jobs in the state.  Unfortunately, MnDOT's new process added nine months to the development timeline without resolving the major issues. 

MnDOT has a large responsibility in providing a sound transportation system for the state.  I hope we can work through the new guidelines and cut down on the amount of time it takes to get through the process.  Otherwise, we could end up inadvertently killing some good developments.  Transportation systems are a means to an end, not the end in itself.  We can't lose sight of our transportation system's primary purpose - to facilitate commerce. 

They are going to close my median access - help me stop them!

I get several calls a year from lawyers who want me to fight for their client.  The government is going to close a median, their driveway, or cut-off their access in some other way.  Usually, I can't help the lawyer in these cases because the government has the right to do this (they need an appraiser to determine if it will damage the parcel and how much).   Once in a great while there is a viable alternative to reducing the access.

I attended an interesting meeting on access management this morning.  Brian Gage from MnDOT and Kristi Sebastian from Dakota County both gave solid presentations on how their agencies deal with access management from a policy and implementation standpoint respectively.  It is well documented that limiting access on arterial roadways reduces crashes and improves the throughput of the road.  From society's standpoint access management is a good deal.

Of course access management affects business and property owners differently, at least that is what they always say when confronted with limited access.  David Plazak from Iowa State's Center for Transportation Research and Education discussed his research on the economics of access management.  To summarize his very interesting findings:

• Limiting access during construction does hurt business operations.
• After construction:
  • About 5% of the businesses studied didn't rebound.
• About 35% of the businesses wouldn't/couldn't say if they were up or down.
• About 25% of the businesses were about the same as before.
• About 35% saw business increase!
• Businesses along access controlled roads are more profitable than comparable businesses on less access controlled roads.
• Tenant turnover is less along access controlled roads than comparable businesses on less access controlled roads.
• Redevelopment typically goes to a "better and higher use" along access controlled arterials - small commercial/retail is usually replaced with taller office buildings.  The office buildings then support nearby restaurants and gas stations.
• The logic behind these improvements:  Even though it may take several hundred extra feet to get into the business, people's overall trips are shorter because the arterial is moving so much better.  Also, by having better throughput you are expanding the geographical range of your customers base (they care about how long it takes to get to the business, not how far it is).

Crosswalk Guidelines

Thomas Jones and Patrick Tomcheck published an eye opening study in the September, 2000 ITE (Institute of Transportation Engineers) Journal.  Their study of crosswalks in Los Angeles found there was a 61% reduction in pedestrian crashes at uncontrolled intersections when the crosswalks were removed.  Question - So crosswalks don't protect us?  Answer - They don't physically stop a car from running into you.

The North Central Section of ITE is working on a set of guidelines about installing crosswalks.  They lay out how an engineer should study each situation.  The guidelines also give basic criteria for when and when not to install a marked crosswalk.

On a similar note, Chicago did a thorough testing of using yellow-green crosswalk markings in 2006.  They found no statistical improvement in crash rates or lowering vehicles speeds.  No magic bullets yet!

Eyes on the road - road safety audits

This post is geared to city engineers/public works directors, but please note everyone should be contacting cities about these issues.

Cities have a lot of staff, elected officials, and volunteers who drive their streets getting from point A to point B.  Typically, people are zoning out, often just listening to the radio.  This is a huge untapped resource.  Ten minutes of training and every employee of the city could be performing traffic audits for you.  Here are the top 10 things you should have them looking for (basically, everyone knows what is normal and when something stands out as not being quite right):

1. Trees blocking signs or hanging down onto walking paths/sidewalks.
2. Signs that should be replaced because they are faded or beat up.
3. Things on corners that block motorists views - hedges, trees, landscaping walls, signs, etc.
4. Burnt out traffic signal indications.
5. Street lights - burnt out bulbs, on during the day, off at night, etc.
6. Traffic backing up between intersections or spilling out of turn lanes.
7. Bad potholes or bumpy roads.
8. See people illegally running stop signs or signals.
9. A road where everyone is speeding.
10. Detours or construction zones that are wrong.

Turn everyone into an extension of your engineering staff.  You could even give an annual award to your most prolific reporter!