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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTransportation Packet March 2011 - Special MeetingG:\Pub-Wrks\Eng\Dept-Admin\Transportation Commission\Agendas\2011\3 31 11 TC Agenda.Doc TTRRAANNSSPPOORRTTAATTIIOONN CCOOMMMMIISSSSIIOONN TThhuurrssddaayy,, MMaarrcchh 3311,, 22001111 CCoouunncciill CChhaammbbeerrss,, 11117755 EEaasstt MMaaiinn SSttrreeeett Agenda I. CALL TO ORDER: 6:00 PM II. PUBLIC FORUM III. ACTION ITEMS A. Proposed Road Diet on North Main Street IV. COMMISSIONER COMMENTS V. ADJOURN: 8:00 PM Next meeting scheduled for April 21, 2011 @ 6:00 pm Next joint meeting scheduled for April 26, 2011 @ 6:00 pm Note to Commissioners: Call Nancy Slocum at 552-2420 or slocumn@ashland.or.us if you can not attend the meeting. In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, if you need special assistance to participate in this meeting, please contact the Public Works Office at 488-5587 (TTY phone number 1 800 735 2900). Notification 48 hours prior to the meeting will enable the City to make reasonable arrangements to ensure accessibility to the meeting (28 CFR 35.102-35.104 ADA Title I). Road Diet Frequency Asked Questions Sheet March 2011 Kittelson & Associates, Inc. 1 Why try a temporary road diet? - Why would the City want to reduce the number of lanes on N. Main Street? IMPROVED SAFETY - -- 1 – - - - - - - - - 1 American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO). Highway Safety Manual. 2010. Road Diet Frequently Asked Questions Sheet March 2011 2 REDUCED TRAVEL SPEEDS -- 2 What about emergency vehicles? - - -- - 2 Road Diet Handbook: Setting Trends for Livable Streets, Second Edition. 2007. Road Diet Frequently Asked Questions Sheet March 2011 3 What about 25 years from now when traffic volumes increase? - How will the road diet affect heavy truck traffic on Hersey Street? - - - - - - How will the road diet improve safety for bicyclists? - -3 3 American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO). Highway Safety Manual. 2010. Road Diet Frequently Asked Questions Sheet March 2011 4 Why test this during the summer? - Why doesn’t ODOT add bike lanes by widening the highway? -- - -- -- -- Engineering Tel: 541/488-5347 20 E. Main Street Fax: 541-/488-6006 Ashland, Oregon 97520 TTY: 800/735-2900 www.ashland.or.us G:\pub-wrks\eng\11-24 N Main Road Diet\N MAIN RD DIET NEIGHBOR INVITE LTR 3 11.doc March 24, 2011 RE: DISCUSSION OF NARROWING NORTH MAIN STREET TO THREE LANES Dear Ashland Neighbor: As you may have heard, the Transportation Commission, the Planning Commission and the Public Works Department are currently updating the City’s Transportation System Plan (TSP). The update includes a proposal to temporarily narrow North Main Street from Helman Street north to Jackson Road from four lanes to three lanes. The proposal, commonly referred to as a “road diet,” is being considered because nationally published research has found that road diets can reduce crashes 24% to 33% and have been found to reduce travel speeds. The proposal also creates the opportunity to add bike lanes on both sides of the street. (Please see the attached Road Diet Fact Sheet for more information.) The proposed North Main Road Diet Striping plan can be viewed online at http://www.ashlandtsp.com/statics/draft_documents. Before the City Council makes a decision on the proposal to conduct this pilot program, the Transportation Commission will take public testimony and make a recommendation to the City Council. If you would like to comment on the proposal, please feel free to attend the meeting on Thursday, March 31st beginning at 6:00 pm. The meeting will be held at the Council Chambers, 1175 East Main Street. Comments can also be emailed to olsonj@ashland.or.us. This notice was mailed to property owners only. If your property is leased to a third party, please feel free to forward this information to them. If you wish additional information, please call our office at 541 488-5347. Sincerely, James H. Olson Transportation Commission Staff Liaison cc: file Road Diet FAQ Sheet Why would the City want to reduce the number of lanes on N. Main Street? Improved safety Nationally published research (American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. Highway Safety Manual, 2010) indicates converting a four-lane roadway such as North Main Street to a three-lane cross- section reduces the total number of crashes along the roadway by 25% to 33%. This section of North Main Street includes one of the top candidate intersections in Ashland for reducing crashes – the Hersey Street- Wimer Street/North Main Street intersection. The crashes that occur at and near that intersection as well as others along North Main Street tend to be related to vehicles making left-turns from North Main Street to the side streets and from the side streets on to North Main Street. The existing 4-lane configuration (2 lanes in each direction) requires vehicles turning left off of North Main Street to stop in a through lane to wait for a gap in traffic to turn left. This increases the risk for rear-end crashes as well as turning crashes when drivers rush to fit into a gap in traffic that is too short. Vehicles turning off of North Main Street onto a side street also have to look for a gap in two lanes of on-coming traffic, which can result in misjudgments. Vehicles turning left from the side streets on to North Main Street must watch four lanes of traffic to determine when it is safe to turn left. Misjudgments result in angle and turning crashes. The three lane configuration will provide left-turn lanes for vehicles turning left off of North Main Street to reduce the likelihood of rear-end crashes. Vehicles turning off of Main Street will also only need to look for gaps in one lane of on-coming traffic reducing the risk of misjudging gaps. The three lane configuration will also make it easier for vehicles turning left on to North Main Street from the side street to determine if there is an adequate gap since drivers will be concerned with fewer lanes of traffic compared to today. Reduced Travel Speeds North Main Street currently has a posted speed limit of 35 mph south of the Southern Pacific Railroad overcrossing and 25 mph south of Grant Street. However, it is believed that the four lane cross section results in travel speeds in excess of the posted speed limit. This will be verified as part of the on-going traffic analysis for the road diet. Narrowing the cross-section to three lanes and adding features such bike lanes creates a “tunnel effect” that naturally reduces travel speeds. Case studies from previous road diets in the United States indicate in some cases vehicle speeds reduced by 18% and vehicles over the speed limit reduced by 32%. What will a “road diet” do to traffic congestion? Traffic congestion will increase slightly in some areas, primarily at the north and southbound approaches to the signalized intersections, but the amount of time it takes to travel the length of the corridor under consideration for the road diet will remain relatively the same. A 25 year traffic analysis was conducted at the Maple Street and Wimer-Hersey Street intersections to determine the impact of the road diet on existing and future (year 2034) traffic conditions. Preliminary results indicate that congestion along North Main Street will not increase significantly over the 25 year study period. Why test this during the summer? Testing the Road Diet during the summer months allows us to see if the three-lane configuration will work for Ashland year round. If we, the community, like how it works during the summer we can feel confident that it will work year round because the summer is when we experience the highest traffic volumes on North Main Street. In addition, in order to do this project as a test we need to be able to remove it before the weather becomes wet in the fall. The project consists primarily of restriping which can only be done in dry weather. We need to evaluate the new configuration for several months and ensure we have the opportunity to return it to four lanes before the rainy season. Why doesn’t ODOT add bike lanes by widening the highway? For most of this corridor, there is no right-of-way available to widen the roadway for bicycle lanes or to add a center left-turn lane and keep the existing four lanes. ODOT standards require that they add bicycle lanes when they are modernizing a roadway; however, ODOT would not be widening this segment of Main Street to provide additional vehicle capacity in the foreseeable future because the additional capacity is not warranted and the right-of-way is not available to do so. Even if purchasing right-of-way were to be considered, several properties along the corridor are nationally registered historic sites and many are identified by the city as historically significant and not feasible to obtain additional right-of-way. An expanded fact sheet can be found at http://www.ashlandtsp.com/statics/draft_documents.