Eastern Inner Loop of State College Design

Overview

For years, a new Eastern Inner Loop was considered to improve traffic congestion in the State College area. The study area is bounded by Park Ave, Mount Nittany Expressway (Rt. 322), and North Atherton St.

Objectives

-Our objective was to design three possible inner loops connecting from Park Ave to Blue Course Dr, Mount Nittany Expressway, and Vairo Blvd.

-Detailed cost analysis will be done on each alignment and a final decision will be made as to which one to construct.

Approach

-Design three alignments in Civil 3D connecting Park Ave to the three roads

-Use existing condition information to create vertical alignments and cross sections

-Conduct environmental impact studies, safety evaluations, operational evaluations, and benefit cost-analysis for each alignments

-Design intersections/interchanges for the final proposed alignment

-Develop plan, profile, and cross section plots for the final design alternative

-Finalize the alignment design with a traffic signal warrants analysis, pavement and roadside design, superelevation profile, and final construction cost estimation

Outcomes

-Blue Course Drive alignment was found to be the safest of the three alternatives, with 1.91 expected crashes annually

-A design consistency analysis was performed and it was found that Blue Course Drive falls into the good design category with an average speed difference of 6 mph

-The Redbook Wizard calculated a net benefit of $69,174,293 for Blue Course Drive with a positive benefit to cost ratio. This shows that this proposal of an Eastern Inner Loop connection with Blue Course Drive and University Drive offers quantifiable savings compared to the existing conditions