Interstate 81 Corridor Improvement Plan Update Nick Donohue Deputy - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Interstate 81 Corridor Improvement Plan Update Nick Donohue Deputy Secretary of Transportation July 2018

SB 971 Legislation Requirements • Board shall study financing options for the I-81 Corridor • Study shall evaluate- – Tolls on heavy commercial vehicles – High-occupancy toll lanes • Study shall not evaluate tolling options that apply to commuters • Board may consider other funding and financing options, including regional fuels tax 2

SB 971 Legislation Requirements • Board shall develop I-81 Corridor Improvement Plan The plan shall- – Identify segments of I-81 for improvement – Identify targeted set of improvements, for each segment that can be financed by evaluated financing options – Include corridor-wide incident management strategies – Evaluate concepts to minimize impact of truck-only tolls on local truck traffic and diversion of truck track – Assess economic impacts on corridor for toll financing 3

Problem Identification What Makes I-81 Unique - Delay DELAY All VA Interstates 16% 51% Incidents Incidents 6% Workzone 1% 15% Weather Workzone 5% Holiday 72% 3% Recurring Weather 21% 10% Recurring Holiday 4

Problem Identification What Makes I-81 Unique - Delay I-64 I-66 I-77 I-81 I-85 I-95 I-264 I-295 I-395 I-495 I-81 has the lowest proportion of Recurring Percent of Recurring Delay* Delay and the highest 88% 91% 87% 70% 69% proportion of Incident 61% Delay of any interstate 36% 21% 29% 30% in Virginia Percent of Incident Delay* 51% 35% 25% 24% 21% 23% 15% 8% 7% 4% *Incidents defined as lane-impacting crash and disabled vehicle events on the interstate mainline that last > 30 minutes 5

6 Average per One Mile Segment Person Hours of Delay between Interchanges – Person-Hours of Delay per Year per Mile 12,000 12,000 9,000 6,000 3,000 3,000 6,000 9,000 0 Tennessee SL Bristol Abingdon Chilhowie Marion Smyth County Person Hours of Delay (Northbound) Wytheville Fort Chiswell Pulaski Montgomery Christiansburg Person Hours of Delay (Southbound) Roanoke Buchanon Lexington Staunton Harrisonburg Woodstock Winchester West Virginia SL

7 Interchanges Duration of Incident-Related Lane Closures between Hours of Lane Closures per Year 80 60 40 20 20 40 60 80 0 Tennessee SL Bristol Abingdon Chilhowie Marion NB Hours of Lane Closures Due to Incidents Smyth County Wytheville Fort Chiswell Pulaski Montgomery Christiansburg Roanoke SB Hours of Lane Closures Due to Incidents Buchanon Lexington Staunton Harrisonburg Woodstock Winchester West Virginia SL

8 One-Mile Segments Equivalent Property Damage Only – Equivalent PDO Crashes 1,000 1,000 800 600 400 200 200 400 600 800 0 Tennessee SL Bristol Abingdon Chilhowie Marion Smyth County Wytheville Fort Chiswell EPDO (Northbound) Pulaski Montgomery Christiansburg EPDO (Southbound) Roanoke Buchanon Lexington Staunton Harrisonburg Woodstock Winchester West Virginia SL

9 EPDO per 100M VMT – One Mile Segments Equivalent PDO Crashes per 100 Million VMT 2,500 2,000 1,500 1,000 1,000 1,500 2,000 2,500 500 500 0 Tennessee SL Bristol Abingdon Chilhowie Marion Smyth County EPDO per 100M VMT (Northbound) Wytheville Fort Chiswell Pulaski Montgomery Christiansburg EPDO per 100M VMT (Southbound) Roanoke Buchanon Lexington Staunton Harrisonburg Woodstock Winchester West Virginia SL

Public Involvement • Public Meeting Attendance – June 6: Bristol - 41 – June 12: Staunton (Strasburg) - 101 – June 13: Staunton (Weyers Cave) - 104 – June 14: Salem - 153 • Several options to provide general and location/issue specific comments - – Public meeting display map dot activity and study website online map: 680 public comments by geographic location – Comment forms, Email and Phone: 195 public comments 10

Public Comments by Geographic Location (680) Congestion (37%) Safety (26%) Other (37%) 11

Public Comment Forms, Email and Phone (195) 12

Development of Potential Improvements • Examining each identified problem to determine the cause(s) – Sharp curves – Steep grades – Traffic volumes – Weaving – Short acceleration and deceleration lanes – Lack of alternative routes and traveler information 13

Development of Potential Improvements • Develop potential improvements that address causes of the identified problems – Improved operations and incident management – Widening – Geometric improvements – Truck climbing lanes – Interchange improvements – Acceleration and deceleration lanes 14

Operations/Incident Management Improvements • Expanded operations / incident management component will form basis of all potential recommendations packages • Potential options include: – Innovative incident response – Freight safety service patrol – Dynamic message signs – Corridor management to improve parallel routes – Instant tow dispatch – Towing response incentive program 15

August Public Meetings • Summarize congestion and safety issues, public feedback received in June meetings • Present potential improvements to address identified problems • Provide information on potential revenue generation mechanisms • Seek public feedback on potential recommendations and revenue generation mechanisms 16

August Public Meetings • Meeting dates and locations: – August 20: Bristol – Holiday Inn Bristol Conference Center – August 22: Staunton (North) – Lord Fairfax Community College – August 23: Staunton (South) – Blue Ridge Community College – August 28: Salem – Salem Civic Center 17

Next Steps After August Meetings • Evaluate potential recommendations using SMART SCALE process along the corridor • Evaluate economic impact of revenue generation mechanisms • Develop recommended package of improvements and financing/funding options • Host Fall public meetings along the corridor • Present updated recommended package to the Board for consideration 18