The objective of this project is to reduce congestion in State College, PA along North Atherton Street by constructing a 1.50 mile bypass roadway from Park Avenue to Blue Course Drive
Sponsored by: Civil and Environmental Engineering
Team Members
Brian Whiteford David Eisenbrown Jakob Wiegand Godwin Vattappilly
Instructor: Brian St. John
Project Poster
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Project Video
Project Summary
Overview
The existing Inner Loop in State College, Pennsylvania is incomplete – missing a connection from the intersection of University Drive and Park Avenue to an existing roadway north of campus. The goal of this project is to increase mobility within the Inner Loop by recommending a transportation solution that will appropriately complete the existing loop roadways. Our team designed and evaluated three alternative solutions over the following criteria: projected traffic volumes and operational level of service, environmental impacts, safety considerations, design consistency and total project costs.
Objectives
-Conceptually design three alternative solutions for the Eastern Inner Loop connector – including horizontal and vertical geometry for each alternative.
-Evaluate the expected performance of each alternative relative to criteria as presented in the Overview and select the best alternative.
-Develop finalized plans for the recommended preferred alternative.
Approach
-Evaluate environmental impacts of land acquisition for the proposed development area
-Design roadways in Civil 3D
-Evaluate design consistency of proposed alignment geometry
-Predict expected number of crashes on proposed roads
-Evaluate impact of projected traffic on existing roadway network
-Determine appropriate pavement type and thickness
-Calculate total cost of design and construction
-Perform cost-benefit analysis
Outcomes
-Diverted 4500 vehicles per day from Atherton Street to the proposed Easter Inner Loop Extension
-Project cost: $3.6 million
-Benefit-cost ratio: 61:1