UNIT.4 (LOCAL AREA TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT)

Pedestrian and Bicycle Facilities:

Providing for safe and efficient travel for both bicycles and pedestrians should be an integral part of the design process. The facility may vary in form from use of the highway shoulder, to shared lane use for bicycles, to separate facilities. The decision to include either bicycle or pedestrian facilities in any highway project will be dependent on the type of highway, operating speeds, traffic volumes, and bicyclist/pedestrian demand.Consideration for pedestrian and bicycle accommodations are provided for in RIGL 31-18-21 as stated below: Except in the cases of limited access roads, and/or two-way roads of less than twenty three feet (23’) in width, the director of the Department of Transportation is authorized and directed to provide for the accommodation of bicycle and pedestrian traffic in the planning, design, construction, and reconstruction, and to consider this in the resurfacing and striping of any project undertaken by the Department, unless the director or his or her designees, determines that the inclusion of bicycle facilities and pedestrian access would be contrary to acceptable standards of public safety, degrade environmental or scenic quality, or conflict with existing right-of-way. In his or her deliberations, the director shall take into consideration the cost of the facilities in relationship to available funding. Bike facilities may include bicycle lanes, routes,paths or trails; permeable paved shoulders; and/or signing.

PEDESTRIAN FACILITIES:

Pedestrian facilities in most cases will take the form of paved sidewalks. In some cases pedestrians can be accommodated within the paved or graded shoulder. The decision to include or improve sidewalks will be dependent on many factors such as adjacent land use,scope of highway improvements, and community input. It is the Department’s policy to use portland cement concrete sidewalks in urban areas and bituminous sidewalks in rural areas unless directed other otherwise. AASHTO’s Guide for the Planning, Design, and Operation of Pedestrian Facilities provides the designer guidelines and criteria for developing pedestrian facilities on public rights-of way. All newly constructed, reconstructed, or modified pedestrian facilities shall be designed to be accessible to persons with disabilities in accordance with subsection 920.04.

BICYCLE FACILITIES:Bicycle facilities may include bike lanes, routes or paths, permeable paved shoulders, and/or signage. All projects whether resurfacing, 1R, or reconstruction should consider provisions for bicycles especially in those areas where bicycle usage may be expected to be increased. Areas of increased bicycle demand may include roads near or leading to bike paths, schools, parks, and recreational areas. AASHTO’s Guide for the Development of Bicycle Facilities provides the designer guidelines and criteria for developing bicycle facilities. Signing, striping, and accommodations at signalized intersections shall be in accordance with the latest edition of the MUTCD.All drainage grates, with the exception of those on limited access highways, shall be bicycle safe. The designer shall inventory all existing drainage grates that are proposed to remain within the project limits. Any grates not considered bicycle safe shall be replaced. Bicycle lanes are portions of roadways that are designated for the preferential use by bicycles. Bike lane delineation assigns right of way to bicycles and motorists in a shared facility. Bike lanes are designated by a combination of signing, striping, and pavement markings. Designated bike lanes may be considered when demand is high or when there is a need to provide clear instructions and/or expectations of the movements of the bicyclist. This delineation can benefit both the bicyclist and the motorist.Special consideration should be given to bicycles at roundabout intersections. Recreational riders may be less comfortable when traveling through roundabouts, particularly multilane roundabouts. At these locations, provisions should be made to allow bicyclists to access the sidewalk area at each side of the intersection. The designer should consult the design guides for roundabout intersections for further guidance on this subject.

Traffic planning and management at local level: Local Area Traffic Management (LATM) is concerned with the planning and management of the usage of road space within a local traffic area, often to modify streets and street networks which were originally designed in ways that are now no longer considered appropriate to the needs of residents and users of the local area. LATM can be seen as a tool of traffic calming at the local level. It involves the use of physical devices, streetscaping treatments and other measures (including regulations and other non-physical measures) to influence vehicle operation, in order to create safer and more pleasant streets in local areas. The primary target of LATM is to change driver behaviour, both directly by physical influence on vehicle operation, and indirectly by influencing the driver’s perceptions of what is appropriate behaviour in that street. The objective is to reduce traffic volumes and speeds in local streets to increase liveability and improve safety and access for pedestrians and cyclists.

The need for Local Area Traffic Management usually arises from: An intent to reduce traffic-related problems Orderly traffic planning and management A need to modify ‘transport’ behaviour A desire to improve the community space A desire to improve environmental, economic and social outcomes Traffic interventions associated with new development or the implementationof pedestrian and bicycle plans and other local priorities.Issues related to regional planning:Regional planning process is a series of connected actions designed to collect and analyse mass of data necessary for the preparation and implementation of a Regional Development Plan. The process can be describe in terms of three inter-related phases: the information-analysis phase, programming phase and the implementation phase.

a. Information Phase: i. Reconnaissance survey: is carried out at this phase and it involves casual observation and preliminary investigation of the existing situation in a region or sub-region before a more comprehensive and detailed research work is conducted. It enables a researcher to have a general knowledge of the region necessary for proper delineation of the selected areas in the field, selection of sample unit and appreciation of local problem that can affect the conduct of the survey. ii. Problem identification: which involves proper diagnosis of the nature, causes and effects of regional problems. In addition, human, material and environmental resources that can be explored and exploited for regional development can be identified and delineated. iii. Goal Definition: The broad goal of the regional plan will be defined based on the deep knowledge of the existing condition, identified problems, and available resources. It is difficult to plan without a goal. A goal must be explicit so as to determine the type of data needed, the method of data collection and evaluation of alternative course of action. The goal of a regional plan must be tailored towards meeting the needs and aspirations of the people. iv. Formulation of Objectives: A set of objectives is necessary for achieving the broad aim (goal) of the study must be formulated. There is a hierarchy of objectives, from general to specific, the abstract to the particular and from immeasurable to the measurable. v. Data Collection: A casual observation of the existing conditions may not give the clearest picture of the nature , causes and effects of the regional problems. Information can be gathered through primary sources (questionnaire, maps, aerial photographs, etc.) and secondary sources (books, journals, magazines, newspapers etc.) The gathering of data necessary for the preparation of regional plan must be given adequate publicity, and series of meeting must be held with the community leaders and pressure groups so as to harness all possible ideas from all segments of the society, measure their feelings and understand their needs and problems. These will make the plan to be relevant, effective and result-oriented. vi. Data Analysis: The mass of data collected from primary and secondary sources must be thoroughly examined, analysed, arranged, interpreted and presented in forms of words, tables, graphs and charts in order to have the clearest picture of the region‘s needs, potentialities and problems within the framework of the objectives of the regional development plan.

b. Regional Plan Preparation Phase: i. Alternative Plan Generation: This is the process of preparing two or more regional development plans based on the regional problems identified, wide range of alternative solution generated, the available resources and the perceptions of the researcher and client. ii. Regional Plan Evaluation: The alternative plans prepared will be thoroughly examined and evaluated using sophisticated cost-benefit analysis, Impact Assessment Matrix and Welfare Improvement Matrix Methods etc. based on the objectives of the regional plans, problems identified, available resources and government‘s priorities. c. Regional Plan Implementation Phase: i. Regional Plan Implementation: A prepared plan is useless, unless if it is implemented, therefore for a plan to be successful, implemented, the plan must be understood and accepted by a great many people, and the planner must communicate both his diagnosis and prescription to those responsible for implementation. Public participation in project implementation often increase the enthusiasm and self-confidence of the neglected groups in the community and thereby encourage them to cooperate with the development efforts. A properly preferred plan can achieve the desired results, if the government provides the necessary administrative framework, legal backing and adequate resources for its implementation. ii. Regional Plan Monitoring: This is the process of checking and collecting information about what actually happens to the plan that has been implemented so as to see whether changes need to be effected in the project overtime. iii. Regional Plan Review: After a plan has been implemented and closely monitored, unforeseen problems need to be solved and positive changes need to be made in the plan so as to keep abreast with the emerging situations, changing values, needs and circumstances.

Traffic effects on land use developments:Transportation planning decisions affect land use, both directly by determining which land is devoted to transport facilities such as roads, parking lots, and ports, and indirectly by affecting the relative accessibility and development costs in different locations. Planning decisions often involve trade-offs between mobility (physical movement of people and goods) and accessibility (the ability to reach desired goods and activities). Incremental increases in road and parking capacity tend to create more dispersed land use patterns, increasing the amount of mobility required to achieve a given level of accessibility. This favors automobile travel and reduces the utility and efficiency of other transport modes, since large parking lots and wide streets create landscapes that are difficult for walking, and therefore for transit access. By increasing the amount of land required for a given amount of development, generous road and parking requirements favor urban fringe development, where land prices are lower. As a result, to some degree, automobile-dependency can be a self-fulfilling prophesy: practices to make driving more convenient make alternatives less convenient and increase automobile-oriented sprawl. It can be difficult to determine the exact land use impacts of a particular transport planning decision, particularly indirect, long-term impacts. Impacts are affected by factors such as the relative demand for different types of development, the degree to which a particular transportation project will improve accessibility and reduce costs, and how a transportation policy or project integrates with other factors. For example, if there is significant unmet demand for urban fringe development, expanding roadway capacity in that area will probably stimulate a significant amount of sprawl. Conversely, if there is significant unmet demand for transit-oriented development, improving transit service and implementing supportive land use policies (encouraging compact development around transit stations, improving area walking conditions, managing parking more efficiently, etc.) will probably stimulate Smart Growth. However, the exact impacts of a particular policy or project can be difficult to predict. Land use models can predict some but not all effects. Analysis therefore requires professional judgment.

Roads Most roads have two to four lanes, each 10-14 feet wide, plus shoulders, sidewalks, drainage ditches and landscaping area, depending on conditions. Road rights-of-way (land legally devoted to roads) usually range from 24 to 64 feet wide. Most roads in developed countries are paved. In high density urban areas road pavement often fills the entire right-of-way, but in other areas there is often an unpaved shoulder that may be planted or left in its natural condition. The amount of land devoted to roads is affected by: • Projected vehicle traffic demand (which determine the number of traffic lanes).

• Road design standards (which determine lane and shoulder widths, drainage and landscaping). Such standards are usually based on recommendations developed by professional organizations such as the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) and the American Association of State Transportation and Highway Officials (AASHTO). • On-street parking practices (whether streets have parking lanes). • Additional design features, such as shoulders, sidewalks, ditches and landscaping.

Parking A parking space is typically 8-10 feet wide and 18-20 feet deep, totaling 144 to 200 square feet (“Parking Costs,” Litman, 2005a). Off-street parking requires about twice this amount (300+ square feet per space) for driveways and access lanes. Public policies affect the amount of land devoted to parking facilities. Most urban streets have one or two parking lanes that typically represent 20-30% of their width, and rural roads often have shoulders intended, in part, to provide parking. Some off-street parking facilities are provided by local governments, usually with direct or indirect subsidy (indirect subsidies include free land and property tax exemption). Most jurisdictions have zoning codes with minimum parking requirements. These minimum parking requirements are similar to a property tax to fund public parking facilities, although the owner captures any long-term capital gain if the property appreciates in value. This suggests that there are two to three off-street parking spaces per vehicle (one residential and two non-residential), plus two urban on-street spaces. Estimates of the total number of on-street parking spaces are somewhat arbitrary since most suburban and rural roads have shoulders on which vehicles can park, but these locations have modest parking demand. The number of parking spaces per vehicle tends to be lower in urban areas where shared parking is common, and higher in suburban and rural areas where each destination its own parking lot. Structured parking reduces land requirements (a 3-story parking structure requires a third of the land used by a surface lot), and underground parking can be considered to use no additional land.