Agenda - 03-13-2012 - 8d - Laserfiche WebLink

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NC 54/ I-40 CORRIDOR STUDY TRANSPORTATION-LAND USE MASTER PLAN be needed in the corridor even without the development. 54/1'arrington Road intersection, where development The traffic projections for the MPO's adopted 2035 depends on highway visibility. Conversely, rail transit is Long Range Transportation Plan — without the nodal likely to result in more compact development clustered development plan in the NC 54 corridor — show that within walking distance of the station,and opens up new major capacity improvements to NC 54 and 1-40 will opportunities for how people choose to live and travel. be needed. Higher densities also enable developers to incorporate a greater percentage of workforce housing The response is also strongly influenced by the land into the development program, helping to shorten trip use policy and planning context — for example, when lengths and creating more purchasing power for those the predominant mode of travel is the automobile, rail residents who can effectively lower both housing and transit needs to be accompanied by strong land use transportation costs. policies in order to concentrate development in station areas. This type of strategy in the NC 54 corridor is Transportation has a profound influence to shape growth necessary to avoid a future scenario where rising levels in a region and along a corridor.The parking constraints of congestion will occur due to regional growth forecasts, on the UNC campus and elsewhere in the Town of Chapel and the demands placed on the NC 54 corridor and Hill have certainly influenced the use of transit, and, its interchange with 1-40 will lack any financial support at least to a certain extent, where people choose to from planned development. live. Developers and their clients (businesses, residents) respond to transportation conditions when they decide The timing of the nodal development plan is dependent on the schedule for light rail in the corridor.If the funding where to build, live, or locate their business. A new or improved roadway or transit project can make access to mechanism is approved and the light rail plan moves a location easier—making it more attractive to develop. forward, detailed station area plans would guide the A transportation improvement can also improve visibility development for the areas around each station in the —an important consideration for commercial developers. corridor. Due to the roadway capacity constraints of this Many businesses rely on being seen by"pass-by"traffic corridor,only relatively modest increases in development and want to locate where there is a lot of vehicle and/ intensity can be supported until the light rail system is or pedestrian traffic. This has been the case at the NC operational. Transportation Strategy Table ES-2 presents the phased m ultimodal transportation and unconventional intersection designs commonly recommendations associated with the recommended referred to as "superstreets." Together these strategies nodal development plan. The recommendations are will reduce delay and support anticipated traffic growth divided into short-term, mid-term and long-term in the corridor. strategies. These are described in detail in the full report,with supporting data in a series of appendices. Longer term,with the recommended nodal development, In general,the short-term roadway strategies consist of a redesign of the US 15-501 interchange at NC 54 will a series of local street connections including the collector be needed, and can enhance bicycle and pedestrian streets to provide alternate routes for local trips and safety in the future Hamilton Road light rail station area. improve traffic flow and operational efficiency. Transit is an integral part of this overall strategy. In The interim components include reconstruction of the I-40 addition to the planned light rail system, a network interchange,where the critical intersection of Farrington of premium Bus Rapid Transit lines, expanded local Road and NC 54 causes significant congestion due to its bus service, and additional park-and-ride lots are proximity to the I-40 interchange, grade separation to recommended for the corridor. The key park-and-ride eliminate traffic signals at the most critical intersections, strategy is the implementation of multiple facilities north and east of the NC 54/1-40 interchange to capture trips DECEMBER 2011 E-5