Bridge Influence Area - Summary of Findings About this - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Bridge Influence Area - Summary of Findings

About this Presentation • Focus is on: – Bridge Influence Area (BIA) – Traffic operations – Impacts – Costs • Keep in mind -- draft recommendations include: – LRT Loop – Substantially increased transit – Aggressive TDM targets

Task Force Draft Recommendations for the I-5 River Crossing • River Crossing Capacity: – New transit and vehicle capacity should be constructed across the Columbia River in the I-5 Corridor. – For vehicles , there should be no more than 3 through lanes in each direction and up to two supplemental lanes (auxiliary or local access) in each direction across the Columbia River (total 5 lanes in each direction). For transit , there should be two light rail tracks across the Columbia River in the I-5 Corridor. – In adding river-crossing capacity, every effort should be made to avoid displacements and encroachments. – The proposed design should include safety considerations.

Task Force Draft Recommendations for the I-5 Bridge Influence Area • Bridge Influence Area: – Between the SR 500 and Columbia Blvd. interchanges, the freeway needs to be designed to balance all of the on and off traffic, consistent with 3 through lane Corridor capacity and 5 lanes of bridge capacity, in each direction. • .

I-5 Columbia River Bridge Traffic 2020 Through Trips vs. Bridge Influence Area Trips • Through Trips • Enters or Exits I-5 BIA • Within the BIA • Enters and Exits I-5 • Within the BIA 30% 70% • 20% • 80% 30% • 40% Southbound - AM Peak Period Northbound - PM Peak Period

Origins and Destinations of Trips Crossing the Bridge NB PM Peak (2020) 11% Outside Metro Region 9% Battleground / N Clark Co. 30% Hazel Dell/ Salmon Creek 32% Central/E Vancouver 11% Vancouver CBD/ Port of Vancouver 7% E Clark Co. Columbia River Bridges 10% Washington Co. 31% Columbia Corridor 2% NW Portland 19% N/NE Portland 22% Portland 2% SE Portland Central City 1% Clackamas Co. 4% SW Portland 9% Outside Metro Region

Bridge Influence Area Concepts

A Range of River Crossing Concepts Developed to Evaluate: • Supplemental vs. replacement bridge concepts • Joint use (LRT-highway) vs. separate bridges • Alignments east and west of existing bridges • Freeway lanes and arterial lanes

VANCOUVER Concept 1: 5-lane southbound Southbound supplemental bridge for freeway traffic w/LRT Low- to mid-level span over existing navigation channel. Northbound 1. Southbound traffic on new Northbound New double-deck bridge for southbound five-lane bridge, LRT on freeway traffic and LRT, west of existing lower deck -- west of existing bridges. bridges 2. Low- to mid-level bridge, with lift span over existing Existing bridges used for northbound navigation channel traffic. HAYDEN ISLAND 3. Northbound traffic would be split between the two existing bridges Not to Scale

Concept 4: VANCOUVER 10-lane double deck, Southbound replacement bridge, Northbound plus LRT on separate new bridge New mid- to high- level bridge for LRT. 1. Mid- to high-level New mid- to high- bridges. Navigation level double-deck bridge for freeway channel relocated to traffic. center of river Relocate shipping channel to mid-river. 2. Potential fixed spans for highway and LRT (with Coast Guard reduction of existing lift HAYDEN requirements), or lift ISLAND spans Not to Scale

Concept 6: VANCOUVER 4-lane supplemental Southbound Northbound collector-distributor bridge w/LRT, plus 6 Low- to mid-level lane freeway span over existing navigation channel. Southbound 1. Provides for new four- Northbound New double-deck lane bridge with LRT west bridge with LRT and four lanes of freeway of the existing bridges traffic. 2. Low- to mid-level bridge with lift span over current navigation channel HAYDEN ISLAND 3. Use four-lane bridge as collector-distributor (i.e., ramp access for Hayden Island, etc.). Requires fly- over ramps north and south, as shown in the schematic on the left Not to Scale Ex. 3-lane Ex.3-lane New 4-lane bridge NB bridge SB bridge

VANCOUVER Concept 7: Southbound 8-lane freeway concept Northbound plus new LRT bridge with two-lane arterial Low- to mid-level span over existing Southbound navigation channel. HOV, express, or reversible lanes. Northbound 1. Provides for new four- lane bridge with LRT 2. Low- to mid-level bridges with lift spans Low- to mid-level span over existing over current navigation navigation channel. channel 3. Two lanes on existing northbound bridge could be used for HOV, express HAYDEN ISLAND lanes, or (potentially) reversible lanes Not to Scale

BIA Performance

Is Freeway Effectiveness Increased with Additional Capacity in the BIA?

Southbound Travel Volumes Along I-5 (AM Peak Hour) 12000 2000 Existing BI A (Post-Processed AM Peak Hour) 2020 Priority Baseline Southbound Traffic Volumes 10000 2020 LRT/3 Lanes 8000 6000 4000 2000 0 Alberta St. ON 99th St. ON 78th St. ON Main St. ON Mill Plain ON Marine Drive ON Victory Blvd. ON Columbia Blvd. ON Going St. ON Greeley ON Weidler ON 1-5 Mainline Begin 134th ON SR 500/39th ON 4th Plain ON SR 14 ON Lombard WB ON Lombard EB ON Portland Blvd. ON I-405 ON 1-5 Mainline End Jantzen Beach ON On-Ramps Locations (Full Corridor)

Northbound Travel Volumes Along I-5 (PM Peak Hour) 12000 2000 Existing BI A (Post-Processed PM Peak Hour) 2020 Priority Baseline Northbound Traffic Volumes 10000 2020 LRT/3 Lanes 8000 6000 4000 2000 0 I-5 Mainline Begin Tillamook ON I-84 ON Alberta ON Columbia Blvd. ON Denver/Delta ON Marine/Swift ON Mill Plain ON 39th ON Main St. ON 78th St. ON 99th St. ON I-5 Mainline End I-405 ON Going ON Portland Blvd. ON Hayden Is. ON SR14 ON 4th Plain ON 134th St. ON I-205 ON On-Ramps Locations (Full Corridor)

.-~ Average Speed I-5 Southbound - Main St. to Lombard (All Traffic) o 2000 Existing 60 o 2020 Baseline o 2020 10-Lane Double Deck Bridge 50 • 2020 6-Lane Fwy plus 4-Lane CD o 2020 8-Lane Fwy plus Arterial Concept Southbound Speed 40 Main St. SR-500 (MPH) 30 I -5 Columbia River 20 10 Lombard 0 6:30 AM 7:30 AM 8:30 AM Time

~D Average Speed I-5 Northbound - Main St. to Lombard (All Traffic) ,- ____________________________________________________________________________ 2000 Existing 60 o 2020 Baseline o 2020 10-Lane Double 50 Deck Bridge • 2020 6-Lane Fwy plus 4-Lane CD o 2020 8-Lane Fwy plus Arterial Concept Northbound Speed 40 Main St. SR-500 (MPH) 30 I -5 20 Columbia River 10 Lombard 0 2:30 PM 3:30 PM 4:30 PM 5:30 PM Time

Vehicle Hours of Delay on I-5 (AM and PM Peak Periods) 35000 30000 Vehicle Hours of Delay on Freeway 25000 20000 (7 Hours) 15000 10000 5000 0 2000 Existing 2020 Baseline 2020 10-Lane Double 2020 6-Lane Fwy plus 2020 8-Lane Fwy plus Deck Bridge 4-Lane CD Arterial Concept Concept Package

How Will an Arterial Bridge Function, When Considered With Improved Freeway Capacity?

An Arterial Bridge Can Provide Transportation Benefits Trip Patterns, NB Across Columbia River (PM Peak Period) 8% I-5 10% Fruit Valley Road 21% Other 20% Mill Plain/Fourth Plain 17% Vancouver CBD 24% SR 14 Arterial Bridge across Columbia River 28% Hayden Island (west) 31% Hayden Island 13% Marine Drive (west) 17% Marine Drive (east) 9% Denver 2% Other

Most Trips Are Regional -- Not Local Average Trip Length Northbound Across Columbia River (PM Peak Hour) 45 SOV 38.7 39.4 40 HOV 37.6 Truck 35 Average 30 25 Miles 20 17.2 17 16.6 16.9 15.7 15.7 13.5 13.6 14.7 13.5 15 9 8.9 10 5.7 5 0 Existing I-5 Baseline (2020) I-5 LRT/3 lanes I-5 Arterial Bridge Option Package

Arterial Bridge Travel Demands • Arterial bridge reduces peak direction volumes on I-5 bridge by 1,100 - 1,500 during peak hour • The arterial bridge does not appear to act as a “bypass” to the I-5 bridge: – 10% of PM Arterial traffic from/to I-5 – 24% of AM Arterial traffic from/to I-5

Arterial Bridge With Additional Freeway Capacity: • Adding one additional freeway lane and one arterial lane in each direction appears to offer substantial transportation performance benefits, but… • The trade-off appears to be more delay at interchange ramps and along arterials approaching I-5 with the freeway/arterial lane combination • The arterial connection, in conjunction with an additional freeway lane, can provide important transportation benefits -- it does remove local trips from the freeway, thus reducing the need for freeway level improvements

Other Transportation Performance Issues

Does bridge type matter? • The replacement bridge handles traffic operations the best. • A supplemental freeway bridge has operational problems, but they may be overcome with further design and operations work. • Concepts for a supplemental collector- distributor bridge result in traffic operations problems that are difficult to overcome • The collector-distributor bridge is too heavily utilized because it serves several interchanges -- the existing bridges are underutilized because they primarily handle through traffic.