The objective of this capstone project is to select a design alternative that lessens the traffic and congestion in the State College area.
Sponsored by: The Pennsylvania State University Civil Engineering Department
Team Members
Antonio Carbone Bryant Pintado Riley Lawton Cameron Hain
Instructor: Brian St John
Project Poster
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Project Video
Project Summary
Overview
An Eastern Inner Loop concept has been contemplated to be put into use in the State College area. The Eastern Inner Loop is an alternate roadway that can be used to bypass the traffic that accumulates on Atherton Street and Park Avenue. During peak traffic hours in the school year, traffic could be lessened as mobility could increase in the area. Three alignments connected to differing existing roads were designed to resolve this traffic dilemma with a concluding alternative chosen as the best option.
Objectives
The objectives were to design conceptual alternatives for the Eastern Inner Loop in State College, evaluate said alternatives based on environmental impact, user benefit, cost, and data safety parameters, and create the chosen alternative with a design plan, cross section plots, and data analysis.
Approach
– Identify Eastern Inner Loop Project goals
– Recognize existing conditions in the areas of the three alternatives
– Determine design controls and design criteria for all alternatives
– Evaluate environmental impacts and prioritize damage control
– Map out the potential design alternatives using AutoCAD Civil 3D
– Perform a crash prediction evaluation of the design alternatives
– Perform a design consistency analysis based on quantitative design values
– Estimate preliminary and final construction costs for each alternative
– Determine the preferred alternative for final design and planning
– Finalize creation of preferred alternative using AutoCAD Civil 3D
– Design an intersection concept
– Execute user benefit analysis of the final design
Outcomes
– The Vairo Boulevard alignment was determined to be the preferred alternative
– The Environmental Impacts for all three alternatives (Vairo, Mt Nittany, Blue Course) were very similar
– The preferred alternative was found to have 25 less crashes than Blue Course and about 1:1 with Mt Nittany
– The cost for the preferred alternative was very similar with the other two alternatives; all within a million of each other
– The preferred Vairo alternative had a good design consistency rating, with the other two having poor and fair ratings