Transportation System Analysis
Miami Township’s transportation system consists of a combination of
township, county and state roads, with many of the most significant
corridors and intersections being partially or entirely under the
jurisdiction of entities other than the Township. As a result, Miami
Township must work with a variety of partners, including the County
and the Ohio-Indiana-Kentucky Council of Governments (OKI) to ensure
that its transportation issues are addressed.
Thoroughfare Plan (Figures 17& 18)
Figure 17, Proposed Thoroughfare Plan, indicates the existing classification of major roadways in the Township under the 1997 Clermont County Thoroughfare Plan, which is in the process of being revised as of this writing. Figure 17 also indicates potential revisions to the County Thoroughfare Plan that would benefit the Township in terms of improving traffic circulation, alleviating congestion and providing alternate routes. These recommendations were developed by the Steering Committee between June and August 2005. Figure 18 presents typical crosssections that illustrate the built characteristics of the different thoroughfare classifications. Although some of these cross-sections indicate a center median, turn lanes may be appropriate in particular circumstances.
Proposed Transportation Improvements (Figure 19)
Figure 19, Proposed Transportation
Improvements, identifies improvements that are scheduled between
fiscal years 2006 and 2009 in the OKI Transportation Improvement
Program. These projects are scheduled for completion during this
period. Table 10 provides a brief description and proposed scheduling
for the projects.
Despite these planned improvements, it appears at
this time that several intersections will require additional attention
during the Comprehensive Plan period as a result of current conditions
and anticipated future growth in the vicinity of these intersections.
Although design recommendations for these intersections are not
feasible at this time, intersection improvements at these locations
may include turn lanes and storage lanes; access management standards
and traffic signal coordination. These intersections include:
•
Branch Hill-Loveland and Branch Hill- Guinea roads;
• Cook and
Branch Hill –Guinea roads;
• Branch Hill-Guinea and Ward Corners
roads;
• Loveland-Miamiville and Wards Corners roads near I-275.
In addition, the segment of State Route 48 that extends from the
Loveland corporation limit to State Route 28, passing through Miami
Township and Goshen Township appears likely to function in the future
as a major regional circulation route, as population in northern Miami
Township and Goshen Township continued to grow. Access management
standards and intersection improvements will be necessary to ensure
adequate levels of service and appropriate access to local routes and
destinations. Additionally, the Traffic Mitigation strategies recently
developed by the Trustees, which are designed primarily to facilitate
communication and traffic routing surrounding road construction, will
play a vital role in easing Miami Township’s traffic congestion and
circulation concerns, particularly as the improvements identified
above are pursued.
Recommended Access Management Techniques
This section provides an overview of strategies that Miami Township can use to facilitate access management in new development and redevelopment. The following statements are general guidelines; the Township will need to determine how it wishes to put them into action.
What is Access Management?
The term “access management” relates to
a variety of site development strategies and roadway design techniques
that can be used to facilitate the flow of traffic on streets. Access
management strategies operate on a simple principle: if drivers
encounter fewer instances in which other vehicles are moving in a
direction or a speed other than the direction and speed of traffic,
then traffic will flow more freely, and there will be less congestion
and a higher level of traffic safety.
Contrary to popular assumptions,
roadway congestion is not strictly a factor of the number of cars
using the road, although congestion does generally increase as the
number of cars increases. Two other factors also impact roadway
congestion:
1. The design characteristics of the roadway itself –
not only its width and number of lanes, but also traffic signal
timing, sight distances from intersections and driveways, and
locations and characteristics of turn lanes.
2. The activities of
motorists attempting to enter or exit the roadway, which are impacted
to a great extent by the
character of the vehicle access provided by
properties adjoining the roadways, as well as the activities that must
be undertaken by motorists to move against traffic.
As a result,
access management strategies fall into two groups: strategies designed
to maximize the flow of traffic on existing roadways, and strategies
designed to make the process of moving on and off the roadway as
smooth as possible.
Access management strategies can be developed for
all types of roads. It is important to note that the access management
strategies in this Plan are designed to facilitate the flow of traffic
on existing surface roads in the Township, not to change their
functional classification or dramatically limit access to roadways.
The Township and County Engineer’s Roles in Access Management
In Ohio Townships, the County Engineer is generally responsible
for developing access management standards for public roads, as well
as reviewing and preparing permits for new driveway access to roads
under their jurisdiction. As a result of the passage of House Bill 366
in 2003, all County Engineers are required to prepare access
management regulations. Any Township decisions or recommendations
relating to these issues should be in conformance with the County’s
access management regulations.
At present, Miami Township has
considerable opportunities to influence the use access management
strategies proposed in coordination with new development. Miami
Township’s site review process provides relatively extensive
opportunities to evaluate the access management characteristics of
proposed developments, and its site planning guidelines include a
variety of access management considerations, such as the potential for
deceleration lanes and avoidance of vehicular conflict points.
Depending on the Township’s preference, some of the access
management strategies identified below may be implemented more
effectively if the existing Zoning Code is revised to incorporate
them.
How Should these Strategies be Used?
The following access management guidelines can be used to reinforce the Township’s administration of its site review process, or they can be incorporated more directly into its development requirements. Townships do have the authority under the Ohio Revised Code to implement access management requirements if they choose, but they must also be approved by the County Engineer. At this writing, one known Ohio Township with limited home rule is developing its own access management regulations.
Access Management Strategies
• A Traffic Impact Study will continue
to provide a rational basis for determining what level of access
management strategies may be needed. A Traffic Impact Study evaluates
access points and major
intersections within a specified distance from
the proposed project. The study determines current traffic
volumes and
traffic projections and evaluates theimpact that the proposed
development may have on future
traffic volumes, based on the characteristics of the proposed
development and an estimated number of
vehicles trips associated with it. The Traffic Impact Study can then
be used to develop recommendations
relating to future improvements intended to minimize the impact of
traffic generated by the development on the
community’s roadways.
Miami Township’s current zoning code does provide the opportunity to
request a Traffic Impact Study in
conjunction with a wide range of development types. According to
Chapter 27, Site Plan Review and Approval,
“The Township may require a traffic impact study if one or more of
the following conditions exist:
o If the proposed development or redevelopment may increase the number
of trips entering or leaving
the property by ten percent or more;
o If the proposed development or redevelopment may adversely change
the type of traffic generated
within the property, for example, addition of truck traffic;
o The scale or use of the proposed development might cause
deterioration of service levels on the
street and/or deterioration of safety or service levels at
intersections in the vicinity;
o The proposed development is in the vicinity of a street or
intersection with a history of safety and/or
accident problems; and o The geometry of existing or proposed
improvement might cause a safety
hazard.”
This provision of the Zoning Code should be invoked whenever
appropriate to ensure that the staff, Zoning
Commission and Trustees have adequate information to evaluate access
management requirements.
• Constructing turn lanes, both right and left, into primary
development entrances will lessen the impact on
through traffic by moving the turning traffic out of the through
lanes. Some turn lane criteria will be determined
by the County access
management plan; others may be considered as a condition of Township
approval
when possible. Whenever possible, the developer should be
financially responsible for providing the necessary
improvements to
the roadways that will be impacted by the development’s traffic
generation. The Township’s
existing site design guidelines, as
codified in Chapter 27, does give the Township the right to require
acceleration, deceleration and left turn lanes “if the Township
finds that they are necessary to preserve safety
and/or the
traffic-carrying capacity of the existing street.”
• Minimize curb cuts to the greatest extent feasible. Overabundant,
noncontrolled curb cuts are one of the
primary site-related causes of access conflicts. A proliferation of
curb cuts not only provides for more locations
for unpredictable vehicular traffic, but it can create confusion for
the driver who must choose between several
driveways. Figure 1 demonstrates the conflicts created by uncontrolled
access, which Figure 19 illustrates the
impact on roadway congestion and safety resulting from minimizing curb
cuts. Figure 2 also illustrates the use
of turning lanes to further facilitate traffic movement into adjoining
development.
Curb cut minimization can be primarily achieved through the use of the
site review process. Whenever
possible, only the minimum necessary number of curb cuts should be
permitted.
Figure 20: Uncontrolled Access
Figure 21: Minimized Curb Cuts
• Coordinate driveway placement with driveways of properties on the
opposite side of the roadway, particularly if
use are compatible. One of the most common sources of traffic
congestion is vehicles moving into the public
roadway in order to drive a short distance to access another property.
The access management issues
described previously are compounded in
this case by the number of entrances to and exits from the roadway,
as
well as the fact that the vehicle moving between nearby driveways is
not likely to travel at a speed
compatible with through traffic. By
coordinating the placement of driveways, as show in Figure 1, these
traffic
conflicts are reduced.
Applicants for developments requiring site plan review should be
required to align new driveways with existing
curb cuts on the
opposite side of the street, if any such opportunity exists.
Figure 22: Aligned Driveways
• Providing secondary access from side streets will help facilitate
access IF this access will not adversely
impact adjoining land uses. (See Figure 23.) Secondary access, such as
may be used by employees to
access rear parking lots, is particularly appropriate if adjoining
land uses are also non-residential and the
majority of traffic leaving the site will be moving to the primary
street. The Township will need to use particular
discretion in evaluating whether secondary access from side streets
should be permitted in any given
development, and the Township may find it prudent to impose
limitations on the type and use of the access
permitted.
Figure 23: Internal Circulation and Side Street Access.
• When adjoining properties have compatible uses, cross-easements
between properties will improve traffic
movement. (See Figure 24 and 25). Although cross-easements cannot be
required between two separate
property owners, it may be possible to
require that a cross-access location be made available for future
connections. It is possible in some locations that site conditions
(such as steep grades) will make cross
easements unfeasible.
Although it may not be feasible to regulate cross-easements that do
not involved public property, the Township may find it useful to offer
incentives in exchange for cross easements. The Township may also find
it beneficial to offer to construct cross-easement access as an
incentive to the property owner for providing the
cross-easement.
Figure 24: Cross Easement
Figure 25: Multiple Cross Easements
• Multi-building developments should provide complete and rational
internal circulation within the development.
Figure 26 provides an example of a development that includes a
fully-developed internal circulation system.
Motorists should find internal circulation systems that are demarcated
by striping, landscaping islands and
signs, which will discourage drivers from simply cutting across
parking lots and lessen the amount of short-trip
traffic that the public roadway must accommodate.
Figure 26: Internal Circulation Concept
• Depending on its size and shape, every residential, commercial or
industrial subdivision should provide at
least two means of direct access to the public roadway system. Large
subdivisions may require more access
points; specific criteria may be developed by the Township in
coordination with the County Subdivision
Regulations. It may be appropriate to incorporate such standards into
the existing site review process.
Multiple access points are necessary for a variety of reasons:
o They distribute the volume of traffic entering the subdivision in
order to minimize the impact on
traffic congestion. This is particularly true when collector streets
are involved and when large
numbers of entrants may be expected to be turning left.
o They are necessary to provide adequate access for service and
emergency vehicles, including
ambulances, snow removal equipment and school buses.
The number and location of access points to a subdivision will depend
on a variety of factors, including the
number of houses, the configuration of the subdivision, the traffic
characteristics of existing roads, and the
internal layout of the subdivision.
• Residential subdivisions should be designed to provide access
points between adjoining subdivisions, and new
subdivisions should include connections with adjoining subdivisions.
Traffic that must move between adjoining
subdivisions on collector or arterial road can add significantly to
traffic congestion, not only by adding
unnecessary traffic, but also by adding to the number of cars that are
traveling at speeds below that of through
traffic and increasing the number of turning movements being executed.
Providing routes that permit drivers to
travel between points within subdivisions without entering the
collector road system will support the
community’s traffic access goals.
• Residential subdivisions should have an internal street system
that provides enough alternative circulation
options to ensure adequate connectivity. Subdivisions that do not
provide adequate internal circulation options
often result in locations where traffic becomes congested at
particular times of day or where service and
emergency vehicles cannot efficiently navigate. Extremely long
cul-desac streets should be avoided, and the
use of cul-de-sacs should be generally minimized.
[5] Preferred Land Use
Plan
| [7] Pathways - Plan -
Prioritization