Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
77 <br />Carolina Friends Schooi <br />Traffic Impact Analysis <br />Vli, Site Access <br />The Carolina Friends School site plan indicates that there will be two accesses to <br />the facility, the existing one on Friends School Road and a new access on Mt. <br />Sinai Road. The access on Mt. Sinai is primarily for construction access and <br />access to the baseball field as shown on the plan. The drop of and pick up <br />pattern will remain as is it now, with access only from the driveway on Friends <br />School Road. Therefore, since there should very limited usage of the driveway <br />utilizing the Mt. Sinai Road access during the peak hours, the only access <br />included in this study is the primary access on Friends School Road. <br />V101. Traffic Analysis <br />Capacity analyses were performed for the roadway network in the project study <br />area. The traffic analysis program Synchro© Version 7 was used to analyze all <br />intersections according to methods put forth by the Transportation Research <br />Board's Highway Capacity manual (HCM)3. The Highway Capacity Manual <br />defines capacity as "the maximum rate of flow at which persons or vehicles can <br />be reasonably expected to traverse a point or uniform section of a lane or <br />roadway during a specified time period under prevailing roadway, traffic, and <br />control conditions, usually expressed as vehicles, per lane per hour." <br />Level -of- service (LOS) is a term used to describe different traffic conditions and is <br />defined as a "qualitative measure describing operational conditions within a <br />traffic stream, and their perception by motorists/ or passengers." LOS varies from <br />Level A, representing free flow, to Level F where traffic breakdown conditions are <br />evident. Traffic conditions with LOS of E or F are deemed unacceptable and <br />represent significant travel delay, increased accident potential, and inefficient <br />motor vehicle operation. At an unsignalized intersection, the primary traffic on <br />the main roadway is virtually uninterrupted. Therefore, the overall delay for the <br />intersection is usually less than what is calculated for the minor street movements. <br />The overall intersection delay and the delay for the intersection's minor street(s) <br />March 2011 Page 11 <br />OTS <br />