SECTION 9
TRANSPORTATION AND CIRCULATION
People and goods are circulated to, from, and through a city by various
transportation modes. An efficient transportation network is crucial to the
well being of the city. A well planned transportation system will benefit
the city economically, environmentally, and socially.
There is a complex relationship between transportation and the land use in
an area. It is a reciprocal relationship where land use patterns affect
travel patterns and travel patterns affect land use patterns. Also, both
business and family travel patterns can change due to other reasons such as
changing values and cultural norms. Therefore, each transportation decision
should take into account local land use and cultural influences.
Motor vehicle traffic is a predominant means of travel within Moscow. The
city street system, therefore, is an important component of circulation, and
will be dealt with in detail in this section. Bicycles are frequently used
modes of transportation in Moscow. Many people also walk to their
destinations. These methods of travel have many advantages both for the
bicyclists and pedestrians as well as for our entire community. The city
should encourage and facilitate the use of these transportation modes
whenever possible.
Connections in and out of Moscow, to the surrounding area, and ultimately
the rest of the world are also crucial. Moscow is a small city in a rural
area and the efficient transportation of people and goods in and out is
necessary for our economic viability.
Transportation and Circulation Goal
To provide a system of transportation and circulation within and around the
City of Moscow that will make it possible for all people utilizing various
modes of transportation to reach their destination as safely and as easily
as possible with the least disturbance to adjacent uses.
Transportation and Circulation Objectives
1. Ensure a complete and logical circulation pattern throughout the Moscow
area in the future.
2. Provide a circulation pattern that will adequately serve adjacent land uses.
MOTOR VEHICLE CIRCULATION
Three types of traffic use Moscow's circulation system. Local traffic
involves short trips having both their origin and destination within Moscow
and the immediate area. Inter-city traffic consists of traffic between
Moscow and another area. Through traffic consists of trips where Moscow is
neither the origin nor the destination, but is along the route.
Motor Vehicle Inventory
The location of major traffic generating activity centers influence the
pattern of the city's local traffic. Activity centers in Moscow include the
Palouse Empire Mall, the southeast Moscow business area, downtown, and the
University of Idaho.
Traffic has become heavier within Moscow. Between 1983 and 1990 the average
traffic volume within Moscow increased by 15.6 percent. The change appears
to be primarily due to within city driving rather than through-city traffic.
Although traffic increased on the Moscow-Pullman Highway by 16%, (on
average, at the state line), the other routes in and out of Moscow did not
increase as significantly.
Vehicles per Day in Downtown Moscow and Near Campus
Streets 1983 1990 % Increase
Jackson from 'A' to 6th 7,962 9,776 + 23 %
Main from 6th to 'A' 5,091 5,343 + 5 %
Washington from 6th to 'A' 7,668 8,924 + 16 %
6th between Line and Perimeter 1,401 6,957 + 397 %
Line between 6th and Hwy. 8 1,688 5,315 + 215 %
(Moscow Engineering Dept.)
Within downtown, traffic volumes increased. The largest increases are
around campus, especially Line Street, and Sixth Street between Line and
Perimeter Drive.
East-West Arterials and Collector Streets
With the majority of residential areas lying to the east of Main Street and
most of the major centers of shopping and employment lying to the west in
the central business district, the university, and along west Third Street
and Pullman Road, local traffic movement is largely in an east-west
direction. This has resulted in congestion along Pullman Road.
Moscow's east-west designated arterial streets must carry heavy amounts of
traffic which pass through low density residential areas. Efforts need to
be made to distribute the east-west traffic more equally over the available
routes as growth occurs in the various areas of the city. The northeastern
and southeastern areas of existing development are especially in need of new
east-west arterial circulation. The availability of vacant land in the
western part of the city and its proximity to the university may stimulate
development here in the future. Better arterial circulation will be needed
to connect development as directly as possible with the campus area.
Pullman Highway (State Highway 8) is Moscow's major east-west arterial on
the west side of town. The portion of the highway from the state line to
Line Street is scheduled to be rebuilt in 1997, to accommodate heavy traffic
in this segment. Third Street from Line Street to Washington is a major
traffic bottleneck, but there are no obvious design changes that would
accommodate this traffic downtown -- suggesting that alternatives which
would divert cross-town traffic around downtown should be pursued.
The primary purpose of State Highway 8 west of town (Washington State
Highway 270), is to connect Pullman and Moscow. These two cities are
closely interconnected economically and socially. Many people live in one
city and work in the other. In addition, the two universities are
complementary in many ways, and departments collaborate on research as well
as offering cross-linked courses. Therefore, it is imperative that a safe
and efficient means of transportation is maintained between Pullman and
Moscow. Since State Highway 8 is the only direct link between the cities,
it must be maintained for this purpose. Other uses of the highway should
not interfere with the transportation function of the highway. If
businesses are built, they should be connected to the highway with an access
road rather than with multiple additional drives off of the highway.
The Moscow-Pullman corridor is increasingly used by commuting cyclists.
Therefore, a wide shoulder or bike lanes should be maintained for these
users. This bikeway should be in addition to the recreational path to be
constructed along the Paradise Creek. This is because commuting cyclists
travel much faster than recreational walkers or cyclists who would be using
the recreational path. Commuting cyclists also prefer shoulder bikeways
because they are usually better maintained with fewer potholes and loose gravel.
State Highway 8 follows the Troy Highway to the east. Following redesign
and construction at its intersection with US 95, this route should be
generally adequate for existing traffic. Traffic volumes may soon require a
traffic signal at the intersection with White/Styner Avenue, of State
Highway 8 from U.S. Highway 95 to White Avenue. Upgrading the intersection
with Mountain View to allow traffic flow south on Mountain View should be a
priority. The absence of two-way traffic diverts vehicles to a more
circuitous route and perhaps onto minor streets.
Sixth Street is also a major east-west arterial, presently continuous from
Perimeter Drive west of the University of Idaho (UI) campus, east to
Mountain View Road. Where it passes through campus, it encounters heavy
pedestrian and bicycle traffic, suggesting that further increases in through
traffic should be discouraged in that segment. One method suggested by UI
is to create more parking on the east side of campus. This will decrease
the amount of traffic coming from the eastern residential areas and
traveling through campus to reach parking on the west side of campus.
East of downtown, Sixth Street is a major corridor for cross-town local
traffic, although the steep grade of the Sixth Street hill is a problem,
especially in winter. It should be a priority to continue Sixth Street
directly to the east of Mountain View Road, to serve developing residential
areas, and to continue on to a connection with other future arterials.
While it might be desirable to continue Sixth Street to the east where it
could attach to some north-south arterial, a more practical route is for
Sixth to curve to the north where it will cross 'D' Street extended, and
eventually connect with Mountain View Road.
Third Street east of downtown is also a major carrier of east-west local
traffic. Its desirability as a traffic corridor is limited by its proximity
to the high school campus, by narrow widths in the section east of Hayes
Street, by the lack of a bridge over Paradise Creek, and by a lack of
parking for a two block portion. While neither Sixth nor Third Street are
ideal for heavy traffic, if both are treated as arterials, they can better
handle the distributed traffic. Grades are more moderate on Third Street,
which is especially important for bicyclists. Third Street should be
continued east, bridging Paradise Creek, crossing Mountain View, and
continuing east to connect with Sixth Street extended.
'A' Street, between Line and Main, presently serves as an important
east-west route, especially for traffic from northeast Moscow trying to
avoid the congestion of Third Street downtown. The present design of the
couplet, and the narrow width of 'A' Street east of Main precludes its use
as an arterial to the east.
Traffic added on the newly constructed western portion of 'A' Street will
create a need to improve the section between Peterson Drive and Washington
Street. 'A' Street should be continued behind the Palouse Mall, connected
to the partially completed segment behind Wal-Mart, and continued to the
state line. The alignment should be chosen to allow for eventual
construction on the Washington side of the line which would extend 'A'
Street either to the southwest to connect with the Pullman Highway, or to
the west to intersect with Airport Road.
'D' Street east of Main also handles large volumes of local east-west
traffic. It too has problems with pedestrian traffic, especially
immediately east of downtown where it lacks sidewalks, near St. Mary's
School, Moscow Junior High, and McDonald School. Near its eastern end 'D'
Street needs major reconstruction to handle existing and projected traffic.
'D' Street should be extended to the east, connecting with the projected
Sixth Street extension, and eventually connecting with Robinson Lake Road
west of Syringa Mobile Home Park.
The lack of east-west arterials, and the topographic difficulty of providing
them is a major problem in Northeast Moscow, especially in light of major
residential growth occurring along the corridors defined by North Polk
Street, Orchard Avenue, and Mountain View. Presently the northernmost
arterial collector between Mountain View and North Main is 'D' Street. The
possibility of east-west connections to the north of 'D' Street is severely
constrained by existing development and several very steep north-south
ridges. One projected east-west route that should be planned will use Trail
Road east of Orchard, north on Orchard for a short distance to near its
present end, west across the ridge to North Polk, south for a short distance
on North Polk, and west across the ridge to North Main.
It is over a mile between 'D' Street and this more northerly east-west
collector which may be constructed at some uncertain future date. An
east-west connection closer to 'D' Street would serve present and near
future needs. Future development in this area should be designed to
facilitate future east-west connections.
White Avenue will eventually develop into a major carrier of east-west
traffic in Moscow. At its west end, it has a direct tie into Styner Avenue,
which in turn aligns with Lauder Avenue providing an important link to the U
of I campus. West bound traffic also has the option of turning onto Troy
Highway with its links to U.S. 95 and the campus. The importance of White
Avenue will be realized after it has been extended from its current eastern
terminus near the animal shelter to the northeast, making a connection with
Robinson Park Road. The current flow of traffic from Robinson Park Road
onto Joseph Street will not be appropriate as land east of town develops and
traffic volumes increase. After the traffic gets to Mountain View Road it
must either proceed west onto local streets or turn onto Mountain View Road.
A re-alignment of the Robinson Park Road traffic onto White Avenue is
therefore an important element of Moscow's east-west arterial street system.
Along the entire southern fringe of Moscow's developed area, Palouse River
Drive offers an obvious future arterial route. As surrounding development
proceeds, as the roadway is improved, and especially if the proposed
connection between Palouse River Drive and Pullman Highway is built, this
route will provide an alternative to State Route 8 for east-west traffic
serving through travelers, east-side residents, patrons of the industrial
areas in southern Moscow, and shoppers at southeast retail establishments.
Presently east-west traffic at the state line is accommodated almost
entirely by the Pullman Highway. As Moscow expands to the north, it will be
desirable to provide additional connections toward Pullman. 'A' Street
provides one potential additional route. Further to the north, a route
through the northern part of the UI farm, probably following the present
route of Harden Road, which could be extended to connect to the airport road
in Washington, providing an alternate route to the Pullman Highway, and
direct access to Pullman on Airport Road. Better connections on the Moscow
end, and on the Pullman end with an upgrading of the Roundtop Road entrance
to Washington State University (WSU) could make this an important
alternative route between the two university cities.
North-South Arterials and Collector Streets
The north-south arterials, though not generally under the traffic pressures
of east-west arterials, will become more critical as Moscow grows to the
north and south. US 95 is Moscow's most important north-south corridor. It
handles heavy traffic, including trucks with large volumes of grain and wood
chips. The one way couplet system downtown works well, but even with the
couplet, this traffic passes through downtown, where it encounters local
shopping traffic, pedestrians, and bicycles.
Feasible alternatives to US 95 for through traffic are limited. More than a
decade ago the Idaho Transportation Department and the city reviewed the
general route for a west side highway bypass. Later, the state indicated no
interest in this alternative, preferring instead to focus on the downtown
couplet. It is city policy to preserve this west side corridor, if not for
a highway bypass, then at least for major west side arterial. The state has
expressed some interest recently in looking at the bypass alternative once
again.
The most important of these west side links is the connection from Palouse
River Drive -- branching off to the north just to the west of the UI
Arboretum, skirting the UI golf course to the west, crossing the Old Pullman
Highway east of the mobile home park, and continuing on through the UI farms
to align with Warbonnet Drive. If completed, this street would
substantially relieve downtown Moscow east-west traffic problems, especially
easing access to commercial, industrial and residential sites in southern
Moscow. The west side connection north of the Pullman Highway is probably
less imminent, and its likely route is less certain. Its route will
probably follow northeast from the present end of Warbonnet Drive, perhaps
connecting with existing county roads north of the UI farms, and eventually
with US 95.
Inside of this outer ring, north-south connections will be based on the
present alignment of Perimeter Drive. This route should continue across
State Highway 8 to the north on Farm Road, and then along the route of the
present gravel road through the UI Sheep Farm, connecting eventually to US
95 somewhere north of the locker plant.
In the established residential areas in eastern Moscow, the alignment of
Blaine Street, Hayes Street, and Orchard Avenue provides a nearly continuous
north-south link. Much of north Orchard was originally built as a
low-volume county road and needs reconstruction to handle present and
projected traffic. To the south, Blaine now crosses the Troy Road as far as
Tidyman's, and should be connected with Palouse River Drive. Blaine should
be developed as a neighborhood collector street and not as an arterial.
Local street connections from the Indian Hills area to Palouse River Drive
should not be made until an improved connection between Palouse River Drive
and Troy Highway has been made with Mountain View Road, or until Blaine
Street has been extended to Palouse River Drive
Further east, Mountain View Road serves as a major, although presently
inadequate, arterial. This roadway was originally constructed as a county
road and so does not meet the standards of an arterial street. While it is
very narrow and has no sidewalks, it serves vehicular, pedestrian and
bicycle traffic for Moscow Junior High School, McDonald School, several
parks, the Latah County Fairgrounds as well as large traffic volumes
generated by the continuing residential development to the east. Churches
have also located along Mountain View Road. They benefit from the direct
access to an arterial and at the same time function as a buffer between the
road and the adjoining low density residential neighborhoods. The
intersection with the Troy Road is so poor that southbound traffic is
prohibited in that area. Reconstruction of Mountain View Road to meet
present and future needs should be a high priority, and should include
widening, repaving, sidewalks, and bicycle lanes. This reconstruction
should include an adequate crossing of the Troy Highway, allowing eventual
service as an arterial south to Palouse River Drive.
The importance of Mountain View as an arterial is heightened by the
difficulty of routing any north-south arterial further east. At some future
time a connection from Lenville Road, through the UI farm, connecting to the
present route of Robinson Lake Road, and eventually to 'D' Street extended, may be the best possible east side arterial.
Local Neighborhood Streets
The hilly topography of the area, along with the absence of policy regarding
the continuation of streets in the past has resulted in a broken street
pattern. This has resulted in the inadequate connection of new outlying
developments with the city's circulation system.
The city's intermittent street network challenges emergency vehicle service.
The first difficulty is navigating the discontinuous streets. Vehicles must
make numerous turns in order to reach certain sections of discontinuous
streets. Another difficulty is confusion due to the difficulty of naming
discontinuous streets. Sometimes a single name is applied to different
street sections, making it hard to know which section is meant.
Although flow within residential neighborhoods should be facilitated in a
safe and efficient manner, traffic which has neither its origin nor its
destination within a neighborhood should be routed around that neighborhood.
Inadequate circulation planning in the City's early development has created
the flow of minor arterial traffic through otherwise quiet residential
neighborhoods. The noise and danger of the traffic through low density
areas with houses closely oriented to the street interrupts association
within the neighborhood, lowers property values, and interferes with
residential activities.
Motor Vehicle Goal
To provide a safe and efficient motor vehicle transportation system
respecting non-motorized modes of transportation.
Motor Vehicle Objectives
1. Route traffic around neighborhoods that are neither the origin nor the
destination of the traffic, unless the traffic can be diffused onto a
number of local streets.
2. Route through traffic around Moscow in a city bypass highway system.
3. Encourage forms of transportation other than the automobile, which will
reduce vehicular congestion and will accommodate that transportation needs
of more people.
4. Develop street naming practices that will avoid confusion.
Motor Vehicle Implementation Policies
1. A north-south and east-west system of minor arterial and collector
streets should be continued as the city develops outward with minor
arterials spaced at approximately 3,000 feet or 6 block intervals and
collector streets spaced at approximately 1800 feet or 3 block intervals
where environmentally and economically feasible.
Existing arterials and collectors should be continued wherever possible to
extend the arterial-collector street system. New arterial streets should be
located on neighborhood boundaries. Collector streets should service
traffic within only one neighborhood and may be located within that
neighborhood. Exceptions to the location intervals may be necessary for
topographic, environmental, or economic reasons.
2. The arterial street system indicated on the Comprehensive Plan Map should
be implemented as lands along the proposed routes are developed or as
streets are deemed necessary to ensure a safe and efficient transportation
system.
Major streets shown on the Comprehensive Plan Map roughly conform with
Policy #1 above, designating the general location of existing and proposed
future arterial streets in the City of Moscow and the Area of City Impact.
Specific locations of the streets and their design should be determined at