Title
Downtown Transportation Plan Update
Description
This report provides the Transportation, Infrastructure and Innovation Subcommittee with an update on the final findings and recommendations for the Downtown Transportation Plan Update.
THIS ITEM IS FOR INFORMATION AND DISCUSSION.
Report
Summary
Nearly seven years after City Council adoption of the Downtown Phoenix Comprehensive Transportation Plan (DPCTP) in 2014, an update to the DPCTP is in its final stages to help ensure continued mobility is maintained throughout downtown Phoenix in support of recent and planned development. As outlined in the plan, several street projects have advanced, including projects on 3rd and 5th Avenues from Washington Street to McDowell Road, and 3rd Street from Roosevelt Street to Indian School Road. Since the adoption of the DPCTP, the South Central Light Rail Extension has entered the construction phase, and planning and design efforts for the Capitol/l-10 West Light Rail Extension continues.
Downtown Phoenix is experiencing a period of robust growth, including numerous high-rise development projects and local university expansions. As such, the Street Transportation Department (Streets) is evaluating availability of roadway capacity and downtown traffic circulation needs considering these developments. The Downtown Transportation Plan Update seeks to answer those questions and identify potential transportation improvements and solutions.
Plan Update
In April 2018, Streets initiated the Downtown Transportation Plan Update as a follow-up study to the DPCTP. The boundaries of the update are 7th Avenue on the west, 7th Street on the east, Tonto Street on the south and I-10 on the north. The plan seeks to ensure there is adequate transportation mobility in the coming years (through 2025) by identifying additional improvement projects. The primary goals of the update are to:
- Identify current and future available capacity in the transportation network;
- Determine the impact of current and planned development; and
- Evaluate light rail impacts to the network.
This planning effort researched and included information for all known development projects in the downtown area, coordinated growth projections with the Maricopa Association of Governments (MAG), and considered the current design plans for light rail and planned City-led capital improvement projects within the area. In addition, anticipated private development was reviewed within the study area to inform demand and travel patterns. From these tasks, a series of system improvements were created and evaluated to improve accessibility and circulation in the study area. The City has allocated additional resources to active transportation in the past five to ten years, which were considered during concept development of the Downtown Transportation Plan Update, as well as additional modifications in the roadway and traffic signal infrastructure.
Following stakeholder input and suggestions regarding improvement strategies, scenarios were added to allow for future evaluation for potential City projects for implementation. The plan also includes the review of current and proposed private development plans and previous DPCTP recommendations in evaluating their effect on the downtown event traffic management plan (known as the Sunburst Plan). This information was presented and discussed with key affected downtown stakeholders.
The project team conducted stakeholder meetings with internal City departments, as well as external partners, including Downtown Phoenix Inc. and Valley Metro. Issues, opportunities, and constraints related to transportation were outlined, and recommendations from previous studies were documented. Based on a review of this information, the following needs were identified:
- Optimization of the traffic signal network;
- Improvements to the operations at stop-controlled intersections with poor levels of service; and
- Evaluation of intersection capacity near the future closure of Central Avenue related to light rail.
The City held three public meetings (May 29, June 7, and June 15, 2019) where the results of the background and future conditions analysis were presented based on known development and public improvement projects. Over 70 people attended the meetings and provided input by engaging with interactive presentations and activities. Attendees were given the opportunity to comment on the study findings and general concerns regarding transportation issues within the study area. Significant themes emerged from the public meetings and included:
- More pedestrian facility improvements: HAWK beacons, pedestrian scrambles, crosswalks, and sidewalks;
- Bicycle facility improvements and connectivity;
- Enhanced connectivity to bus and light rail transit;
- Signage, signalization, and pavement marking improvements.;
- Left-turn lane improvements;
- Downtown event traffic management (Sunburst Plan) revisions; and
- Congestion issues.
Based on the initial stakeholder and public outreach meetings, Streets heard concerns about accommodating the additional downtown growth, as well as about adding more multimodal transportation accommodations in the study area. As a result, three distinct scenarios were developed to address the needs identified through the public engagement process:
- Scenario 1 - Identify intersection capacity and circulation improvements and address multimodal connections;
- Scenario 2 - Identify intersection capacity and circulation improvements to plan for increased potential development (sensitivity analysis); and
- Scenario 3 - Identify potential opportunity corridors for future enhanced multimodal travel.
Study Findings
The study analysis and staff review have been completed. The final study has been posted to the City's website for public viewing and comment (Attachment A). Individual mailers as well as email invites were sent to all surrounding neighborhood groups, key stakeholders and registered public meeting attendees inviting them to view the completed study. Study findings indicate that the transportation network is performing adequately and can accommodate current planned development as well as future unplanned growth within the downtown boundary.
The study identifies traffic signal infrastructure and intersection modifications needed in the near and future time horizons in order to continue to provide adequate levels of service at intersections within the network. These improvements are to be incorporated into future City capital improvement projects or triggered by future private development.
The study also identifies "opportunity corridors" that exhibit excess vehicular capacity to allow for future transportation planning efforts for multi-modal use consideration within the community. The study also identifies enhanced pedestrian crossings for further evaluation and consideration.
Staff met with key entertainment district stakeholders and shared the development impact findings of increased vehicular trips surrounding the entertainment district and the resulting estimated vehicle delay. Staff offered stakeholders the ability to utilize the City's study model to aid future decision-making impacts to the current Sunburst Plan as development brings additional growth to downtown.
Location
Boundaries of 7th Avenue on the west, 7th Street on the east, Tonto Street on the south and I-10 on the north.
Council Districts: 7 and 8
Department
Responsible Department
This item is submitted by Deputy City Manager Mario Paniagua and the Street Transportation Department.