The objective of this project is to relieve traffic volume and increase safety on Park Avenue and Atherton Street by completing the Eastern Inner Loop beltway around downtown State College.
Sponsor
N/A
Team Members
Daniel Caban | Zachary Neff | Maria Reffner | Eric Traupman | | | | | | | |
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Project Summary
Overview
In the State College area, there are few options north of the Pennsylvania State University campus for motorists which leads to heavy traffic on the two Northbound arterial roads in the area: Park Avenue and North Atherton Street.
Objectives
For this project, creation of an alternate route that provided a viable option for commuters was the most important. Three possible connections from the Park Avenue and University Drive intersection are to Blue Course Drive, Vairo Boulevard, and the Mount Nittany Expressway. Following design standards, the team developed three reasonable alignments and decided on one that would have the most benefit to the area while minimizing impact and cost.
Approach
– Set criteria for design vehicle and the average daily traffic volumes projected to use each alternative
– Sketch roadway corridors following the contours of the terrain to the three possible connections
– Develop Civil 3D CAD drawings; horizontal and vertical profiles, cross-sections for each alternative
– Determine the environmental, historical impact to the land for the footprint of the roadway profile
– Project the number of crashes to occur on each new section and compare to existing travel options
– Evaluate the design consistency for each successive curve, segment at the 85th percentile speed
– Ensure a minimal design speed difference between successive elements for consistent travel
– Calculate a cost estimate for the alignments including earthwork, pavement, land acquisition, etc.
– Analyze user benefits from construction, operation of recommended Mount Nittany connection
– Design an interchange at the Mount Nittany Expressway for access to the new roadway alignment
– Reconfigure the intersection at Park Avenue and University Drive for the new traffic distribution
Outcomes
Construction of the alignment connecting to the Mount Nittany Expressway will result in:
– Two 12-ft lanes in each direction of travel with 4-ft shoulders and a 45 mph speed limit
– Commute times reduced by 6.5 minutes per vehicle per trip
– Mileage savings of 3.3 miles per trip
– A benefit-cost ratio of 45.46 of benefit to user vs. final cost of construction
– Low projected crash rate per year
– Least environmental impact to current land
– Rated “Good” for design consistency, “Fair” for successive elements