vision2020
Re: Hwy 95 Bypass
John and others,
I serve on the city's transportation commission, so I'll try to explain
what's going on, as I understand it. (I'm not a traffic engineer nor city
employee, just an interested citizen volunteer.) Other transportation
commission members who participate on this list are welcomed to
chime in :-)
First, to answer your question about "an increase in traffic congestion"
in Moscow, we have to define how to measure congestion.
For years the city has used traffic counters to periodically count the
number of vehicles per day that use a particular section of roadway.
We've probably all seen the black rubber hose stretched across the a
street at some time; it's counting cars.
For most locations in the city, the counts have increased in recent
years. The most recent counts I can find in my notes at the moment
are from 1998, but I'm sure city staff could provide you with more up-
to-date figures. But as a relevant example, the count on U.S. 95 at the
northern city limit increased from 6,144 vehicles in 1990 to 7,560
vehicles in 1998, a 23% increase.
Does this increase in vehicles on the roadways represent an increase
in congestion? It might if we define congestion simply by the number of
cars on the road. But this does not take into account how many cars
the roads are designed to handle.
Perhaps a better measure of congestion is travel time, the time it takes
to get from point A to point B. The city currently does not have
adequate travel time data for U.S. 95 through town. That's part of the
planning study that will begin soon. (More about that later.)
However, a study of Highway 8/Third Street corridor from Jefferson to
Line Streets has almost been completed by the firm of CH2M Hill. It
contains estimated travel times for that section of roadway. Currently
the average "peak hour" travel time for the corridor westbound is 2:53
and eastbound is 2:37. With no changes to the lane configurations or
traffic control in that corridor, by 2023 those travel times are expected
to increase to 3:20 and 3:28, respectively.
Does the increase in travel time suggest an increase in congestion?
Yes, using travel time as the congestion measure. Is the increase
significant enough that it warrants doing something about it? That is a
question of benefits and costs, and is a political decision for the
community and its decisionmakers.
Traffic engineers also use delay at intersections as an indication of
congestion. As an example from the Highway 8 study, the average
delay for a right turn (south) on Highway 8 eastbound at Jackson St. is
currently 22 seconds and is expected to increase to 37 seconds by
2023, ceteris paribus.
The city will use this study of the downtown Highway 8/Third Street
corridor to help make decisions about ways to improve traffic flow and
safety through that area. The data and analysis will also provide some
useful input into the first phase of a "Hwy 95 Bypass" study that is
about to get underway.
The city and the Idaho Transportation Department (ITD) are currently
finalizing a scope of work with the firm of David Evans and Associates,
Inc., to study the current traffic patterns on U.S. 95 and Hwy. 8 to
determine if consideration of a bypass is warranted. This study should
provide us with information about numbers of vehicles, travel times,
and delays for the U.S. 95 corridor. In addition, it will include analysis of
where the vehicles that enter Moscow exit Moscow and how long they
stayed. In other words, for example, how much of the U.S. 95 traffic
coming into Moscow from Potlatch (the north) is headed to Lewiston
(the south), and what proportion of that traffic stops (perhaps to buy
something) versus how many pass straight through?
I'm not sure exactly what criteria the traffic engineers or the community
will use to determine if a bypass is warranted (I'm sure those
discussions will come), but the purpose of this first "bypass" study is
primarily to collect information on traffic patterns that will provide some
objective basis for determining whether a bypass is needed. I doubt it's
the case, but it would be very difficult to convince ITD (and its board) to
spend millions of dollars on a bypass if the study were to show that
most of our traffic on U.S. 95 is local vehicles moving in and around
Moscow.
I hope this reply has helped to answer some of your questions. And I'll
try to periodically update this forum as things develop.
As a native of Atlanta, Georgia, I too have to chuckle sometimes when
we talk about traffic "congestion" in Moscow. I guess its all relative.
Philip Cook
Date forwarded: Fri, 9 Aug 2002 06:13:54 -0700 (PDT)
From: "John Danahy" <JDANAHY@turbonet.com>
To: "Vision2020" <vision2020@moscow.com>
Subject: Hwy 95 Bypass
Date sent: Fri, 9 Aug 2002 06:06:17 -0700
Forwarded by: vision2020@moscow.com
> There was a story in yesterday's LMT that discussed the bypass around
> Moscow. It was stated that it was time to start planning for this bypass
> because it would be here in 8 years or so and we needed to decide if the
> bypass would go east or west of town.
> The article also stated that we needed this bypass because Moscow was
> experiencing an increase in traffic congestion.
>
> TRAFFIC CONGESTION???? Come on!! That is the most ludicrous statement I
> have heard in my 25+ years of living in Moscow. There may be other reasons
> for a bypass and some of them may even be legitimate, but there is no
> traffic congestion in this town.
>
> John Danahy
> jdanahy@turbonet.com
>
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