Spalding DeDecker Associates, Inc.
Transcription
Spalding DeDecker Associates, Inc.
Improving Traffic Flow for Efficiency and Safety Established in 1954 70 employees Specialization and Expertise ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ Land Surveying Land Development Pavement Management Transportation Municipal Engineering / GIS Construction Engineering (248) 844-5400 www.sda-eng.com Thomas J. Sovel, PE [email protected] Vice President / Land Development Senior Project Manager Licensed Professional Engineer in 40 States plus Washington DC “THE KNACK” (248) 844-5400 www.sda-eng.com THE QUESTIONS: ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ Who is happy with the traffic flow on all of their properties? No complaints, no conflicts, no near misses? No traffic backups or angry parents? Who thinks their problems are worse than everybody else’s? (248) 844-5400 www.sda-eng.com THE PROBLEMS ◦ The majority of schools are at least 20-30 years old and were likely not built to handle the student population that now exists ◦ Fewer and fewer people allow their kids to ride the bus or walk to school. ◦ Schools of choice add significant traffic ◦ Walk zones have expanded to reduce transportation costs ◦ Traffic on adjoining streets may be congested with non-school traffic ◦ Limited ingress/egress points into a school property ◦ Nobody wants to follow the rules (248) 844-5400 www.sda-eng.com This video may accurately reflect the mentality and maturity level of the parents that drop off or pick up their kids: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dV3yJdvRolo (248) 844-5400 www.sda-eng.com This video is all too common, reflecting heavy traffic on the main roads and bad behavior: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjRB1FdfzgA (248) 844-5400 www.sda-eng.com This video shows a problem with inadequate ingress/egress routes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZX-lxcvM_3Q (248) 844-5400 www.sda-eng.com SO WHAT DO YOU DO ABOUT IT??? (248) 844-5400 www.sda-eng.com ANALYSIS ◦ This is not a traffic study ◦ Review traffic flow. Include school personnel (very important) ◦ Note number of buses ◦ Note number of parent drop-off/pick-ups ◦ Note number of student drivers (high schools only) ◦ Note areas of pedestrian movement ◦ Review specific conflict areas and areas of concern (248) 844-5400 www.sda-eng.com PRIORITIES: ◦ Safety, safety, safety ◦ Separate the different types of traffic to the greatest extent possible: buses, cars, pedestrians ◦ Improve efficiencies wherever possible (248) 844-5400 www.sda-eng.com BUS OPTIONS ◦ Bus drivers may be difficult to deal with, but it will be easier to make them change than to make parents change ◦ Select appropriate bus staging area based on available space (248) 844-5400 www.sda-eng.com BUS STACKING OPTIONS ◦ Parking Spaces ◦ Single File Queue ◦ Double Lane Stacking (248) 844-5400 www.sda-eng.com BUS PARKING SPACES ◦ Ideal for large number of buses where a wide area is available. ◦ All buses exit at the same time after all students have loaded. ◦ 20 buses requires approximately a 275’ long parking field (248) 844-5400 www.sda-eng.com SINGLE FILE QUEUE ◦ Better suited to a small number of buses ◦ Buses require a minimum of 45’, so 20 buses would require 900’ of queue length. (248) 844-5400 www.sda-eng.com DOUBLE LANE STACKING ◦ Space saver for a large number of buses where there is insufficient space for bus parking ◦ 20 buses would require approximately 500’ queue length ◦ Driveway should be wide enough for three buses to allow for one through lane. ◦ All buses leave at the same time (248) 844-5400 www.sda-eng.com VEHICLE PICK-UP AND DROP-OFF OPTIONS ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ Single File Queue Double Lane Stacking Park and Walk Offsite Drop Area / Shuttle (248) 844-5400 www.sda-eng.com SINGLE FILE QUEUE ◦ Requires a long queue length (25’ min. per car) ◦ Can be dangerous, as students race to their parent’s car and as vehicles leave haphazardly once they have their child. (248) 844-5400 www.sda-eng.com DOUBLE LANE STACKING ◦ Requires half the queue length. ◦ Teachers must control the release of vehicles in stages. ◦ Heavy involvement of teachers or parent helpers is required (248) 844-5400 www.sda-eng.com Park and Walk ◦ Parents park and walk their children in and out of school. ◦ Not well suited for a large number of parents picking up or dropping off. ◦ May want to use this for lower grade levels with their own access area. ◦ Best to avoid this situation in conjunction with a drop-off lane due to pedestrian-vehicle conflict (248) 844-5400 www.sda-eng.com Remote Drop-off / Pick-up Area ◦ Force parents to drop off kids at a remote lot ◦ Buses would be utilized to shuttle kids to/from school, unless the separate lot is close enough to the school. ◦ Significantly reduces traffic at the school and improves safety. ◦ May require agreement with property owner if offsite area is not owned by the District. ◦ This is especially useful if it is a school of choice situation. (248) 844-5400 www.sda-eng.com CASE STUDIES ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ Doherty Elementary School Pierce Elementary School Amerman Elementary School Northville High School. Royal Oak Middle School Midland – New Elementary School (248) 844-5400 www.sda-eng.com DOHERTY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL ORIGINAL CONDITIONS (248) 844-5400 www.sda-eng.com DOHERTY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CONCEPT PLANNING TRAFFIC LIGHT ADDITIONAL INBOUND AND OUTBOUND LANES (248) 844-5400 www.sda-eng.com DOHERTY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CONCEPT PLANNING TRAFFIC LIGHT ALTERNATE ENTRY/ EXIT DRIVE TO THE SOUTH ADDITIONAL INBOUND AND OUTBOUND LANES (248) 844-5400 www.sda-eng.com DOHERTY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL FINAL LAYOUT TRAFFIC LIGHT ADDITIONAL INBOUND AND OUTBOUND LANES (248) 844-5400 www.sda-eng.com PIERCE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL ORIGINAL CONDITIONS TRAFFIC LIGHT ADDITIONAL INBOUND AND OUTBOUND LANES (248) 844-5400 www.sda-eng.com PIERCE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CONCEPT PLANNING TRAFFIC LIGHT ADDITIONAL INBOUND AND OUTBOUND LANES (248) 844-5400 www.sda-eng.com PIERCE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CONCEPT PLANNING – PREFERRED OPTION TRAFFIC LIGHT ADDITIONAL INBOUND AND OUTBOUND LANES (248) 844-5400 www.sda-eng.com PIERCE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL FINAL LAYOUT TRAFFIC LIGHT ADDITIONAL INBOUND AND OUTBOUND LANES (248) 844-5400 www.sda-eng.com AMERMAN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL ORIGINAL CONDITIONS TRAFFIC LIGHT ADDITIONAL INBOUND AND OUTBOUND LANES (248) 844-5400 www.sda-eng.com AMERMAN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CONCEPT PLANNING - DRAFT TRAFFIC LIGHT ADDITIONAL INBOUND AND OUTBOUND LANES (248) 844-5400 www.sda-eng.com AMERMAN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CONCEPT PLANNING - FINAL TRAFFIC LIGHT ADDITIONAL INBOUND AND OUTBOUND LANES (248) 844-5400 www.sda-eng.com AMERMAN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL FINAL CONSTRUCTION TRAFFIC LIGHT ADDITIONAL INBOUND AND OUTBOUND LANES (248) 844-5400 www.sda-eng.com NORTHVILLE HIGH SCHOOL ORIGINAL CONDITIONS TRAFFIC LIGHT ADDITIONAL INBOUND AND OUTBOUND LANES (248) 844-5400 www.sda-eng.com NORTHVILLE HIGH SCHOOL CONCEPT PLANNING TRAFFIC LIGHT ADDITIONAL INBOUND AND OUTBOUND LANES (248) 844-5400 www.sda-eng.com NORTHVILLE HIGH SCHOOL CONCEPT PLANNING TRAFFIC LIGHT ADDITIONAL INBOUND AND OUTBOUND LANES (248) 844-5400 www.sda-eng.com NORTHVILLE HIGH SCHOOL CONCEPT PLANNING TRAFFIC LIGHT ADDITIONAL INBOUND AND OUTBOUND LANES NORTHVILLE HIGH SCHOOL FINAL LAYOUT TRAFFIC LIGHT ADDITIONAL INBOUND AND OUTBOUND LANES ROYAL OAK MIDDLE SCHOOL ORIGINAL CONDITIONS TRAFFIC LIGHT ADDITIONAL INBOUND AND OUTBOUND LANES (248) 844-5400 www.sda-eng.com ROYAL OAK MIDDLE SCHOOL CONCEPT PLAN TRAFFIC LIGHT ADDITIONAL INBOUND AND OUTBOUND LANES (248) 844-5400 www.sda-eng.com ROYAL OAK MIDDLE SCHOOL FINAL PLAN TRAFFIC LIGHT ADDITIONAL INBOUND AND OUTBOUND LANES (248) 844-5400 www.sda-eng.com MIDLAND – NEW CENTRAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL EXISTING CONDITIONS TRAFFIC LIGHT ADDITIONAL INBOUND AND OUTBOUND LANES (248) 844-5400 www.sda-eng.com MIDLAND – NEW CENTRAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CONCEPT PLAN TRAFFIC LIGHT ADDITIONAL INBOUND AND OUTBOUND LANES (248) 844-5400 www.sda-eng.com MIDLAND – NEW CENTRAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL SUGGESTED MODIFICATION TRAFFIC LIGHT ADDITIONAL INBOUND AND OUTBOUND LANES (248) 844-5400 www.sda-eng.com EDUCATING THE USERS ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ Mailer detailing modifications to the traffic flow Email distribution with posting to the website Social media links. Youtube demonstration videos: Salem H.S. (Salem,VA) instructional video Willowgrove School - (Saskatoon) instructional video ◦ THERE WILL BE A LEARNING CURVE! (248) 844-5400 www.sda-eng.com FINAL COMMENTS ◦ Safety is Critical. Efficiency is important but usually not the driving force. ◦ Doesn’t always require a lot of money to modify traffic flow – sometimes it’s as easy as restriping. ◦ When it does cost money – how much do you throw at a problem that lasts for 15-20 minutes each day? This needs to be considered unless you are dealing with a safety issue. ◦ Easiest to implement changes as part of a paving improvement project. (248) 844-5400 www.sda-eng.com QUESTIONS? (248) 844-5400 www.sda-eng.com