Agenda - 05-15-1990 (2) - Laserfiche WebLink

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As is typically the case, Hillsborough's system of radial facilities are well - established, but no loop system has been delineated. The northern part of the study area has a number of roads which could be made more continuous and circumferential. The eastern, southern, and western portions of the study area have several environmental and physical constraints making the establishment of loop facilities considerably more difficult. The need to protect the Eno River and Duke Forest, as well as several existing and potential water supplies and historically significant areas pose formidable constraints to improving the area's thoroughfare system. The need to implement a satisfactory thoroughfare plan in a Cost-effective way is a challenging task. The remainder of this report details recommendations for doing so. In Table 3, roadways that are beyond their practical capacities or approaching practical capacity have been listed for the base year 1985 and the design year 2010. TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS Traffic accident data analysis is beneficial in highway system improvement decisions. A continual struggle exists between acceptable levels of traffic movement and permissible accident rates. While no accidents are desired, a certain number are unavoidable if satisfactory transportation is to continue. Accident data for the period from 1980 to 1985 was analyzed as part of the development of Hillsborough's thoroughfare plan. Locations having 5 or more accidents within 200 feet of the inter- section are listed in Table 4. The severity index is used to equate accidents with different levels of injury or severity. Each accident is classified by its highest level of injury and weighted accordingly. This total, the numerator of the formula, is the equivalent number of property damage only accidents that would be required to have the same total economic loss as does the mixture of real accidents at different injury levels. This number is then divided by the total number of accidents to get the severity index. SI = 7 + + + + T where: F = Fatal injury accidents A,B,C = Accident injury types PDO = Property damage only accidents T = Total accidents Improvements along Churton street, US 70, NC 86, and NC 57, coupled with other proposed improvements will aid in traffic flow and improve the intersection movements. A reduction of downtown congestion should result. The likely effect of these reductions in traffic congestion would be a concomitant reduction in accidents at several of the intersections listed in Table 4.