Cabarrus-south Rowan urban area transportation plan

198 Pages·1997·35.3 MB·English

by  North Carolina. Division of Highways. Statewide Planning Branch

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North Carolina Department of Transportation
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Division of Highways
Statewide Planning Branch
CABARRUS - SOUTH ROWAN
URBAN AREA
TRANSPORTATION PLAN
■ .
1997
Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2012 with funding from
LYRASIS members and Sloan Foundation
http://www.archive.org/details/cabarrussouthroOOnort
THE
CABARRUS-SOUTH ROWAN URBAN AREA
TRANSPORTATION PLAN
Prepared by the:
Statewide Planning Branch
Division of Highways
North Carolina Department of Transportation
In Cooperation with:
The County of Rowan
The Town of China Grove
The Town of Landis
The City of Kannapolis
The City of Concord
The Town of Harrisburg
The County of Cabarrus
The Federal Highway Administration
The United States Department of Transportation
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Persons Responsible for this Report
Project Engineer: Linda Dosse, P.E.
Urban Studies Unit Head,
Statewide Planning Branch: R. T. Blackwood, P.E
Group Manager,
Statewide Planning Branch: J. Tv Newnam, P.E.
Manager,
Statewide Planning Branch: M. R. Poole, Ph.D., P.E
Engineering Technician: Robert Stewart
. ■ '
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE
I. INTRODUCTION ..
II. RECOMMENDATIONS
A. FREEWAYS AND EXPRESSWAYS 2-1
B. MAJOR THOROUGHFARES 2-1
C. MINOR THOROUGHFARES 2-6
D. COST ESTIMATES, BENEFITS ANALYSIS AND
CONSTRUCTION PRIORITIES 2-14
III. IMPLEMENTATION
A. STATE-MUNICIPAL ADOPTION OF THE THOROUGHFARE PLAN 3-1
B. HIGHWAY TRUST FUND LAW 3-1
C. TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM 3-2
D. CONGESTION MANAGEMENT SYSTEM 3-2
E. LOCAL SUBDIVISION CONTROLS 3-2
F. LOCAL ZONING REGULATIONS 3-3
G. DEVELOPMENT REVIEWS 3-3
H. OFFICIAL STREET MAP 3-3
I. FUTURE STREET LINE ORDINANCES 3-4
J. POWELL BILL AND HOUSE BILL 1211 3-4
K. HOUSE BILL 815, CHAPTER 478 3-4
L. CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM 3-5
M. REDEVELOPMENT 3-5
N. MUNICIPAL SERVICE DISTRICTS 3-5
O. DETAILING OF THE PLAN 3-5
P. OTHER FUNDING SOURCES 3-5
IV. ANALYSIS OF ALTERNATIVES
A. DO-NOTHING ALTERNATIVE 4-1
B. EXISTING PLUS COMMITTED STREET SYSTEM ALTERNATIVE 4-2
C. EXPANDED EXISTING THOROUGHFARE PLAN ALTERNATIVE 4-2
D. RECOMMENDED PLAN ALTERNATIVE 4-3
V. EXISTING POPULATION, LAND USE AND TRAFFIC
A. SOCIOECONOMIC TRENDS-PEOPLE AND GOODS 5-1
B. POPULATION 5-1
C. ECONOMY AND EMPLOYMENT 5-1
D. LAND USE AND TRAVEL PATTERNS 5-2
E. TRAVEL DEMAND 5-3
F. ACCIDENT LOCATIONS 5-4
G. CAPACITY ANALYSIS 5-4
A. TRANSPORTATION PLANNING PRINCIPLES
A. BASIC PRINCIPLES A-l
B. OBJECTIVES OF THOROUGHFARE PLANNING A-l
C. OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCY A-2
D. SYSTEM EFFICIENCY A-6
E. APPLICATION OF THOROUGHFARE PLANNING PRINCIPLES A-8
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE
B. FORECASTING, MODELING AND ANALYSIS
A. THE STUDY AREA B-l
B. THE BASE YEAR NETWORK B-l
C. BASE YEAR 1993 TRIP GENERATION B-l
D. BASE YEAR 1993 TRIP ATTRACTIONS B-2
E. BASE YEAR 1993 TRIP DISTRIBUTION AND ASSIGNMENT B-3
F. BASE YEAR NETWORK ACCURACY CHECKS B-4
G. FUTURE YEAR 2020 TRAVEL B-4
C. SUBDIVISION REGULATIONS C-l
D. SUPPLEMENTARY TRAVEL STUDIES
A. TRAVEL TIME STUDY D-l
B. VEHICLE OCCUPANCY RATE STUDY D-l
E. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
A. GOALS AND OBJECTIVES SURVEY E-l
B. PUBLIC MEETINGS AND OTHER INVOLVEMENT OPPORTUNITIES E-2
F. ENVIRONMENTAL NOTES FROM TABLE 2-1 F-l
G. MAJOR INVESTMENT STUDY
A. DEFINITION OF A MAJOR INVESTMENT STUDY G-l
B. PURPOSE AND NEED G-l
C. LONG-RANGE TRANSPORTATION PLAN G-2
D. ALTERNATE STRATEGIES CONSIDERED G-2
E. ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATIONS G-4
F. CONCLUSIONS G-4
G. COORDINATION G-5
H. RECOMMENDED STREET DESIGN AND TABULATION INDEX ...
A. TYPICAL CROSS SECTIONS H-l
B. LEVEL OF SERVICE CAPACITY H-7
C. MINIMUM LANE WIDTHS H-ll
D. STREET SYSTEM INDEX H-12
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE
FIGURES
FIGURE 1-1 GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION 1-3
FIGURE 2-1 THOROUGHFARE PLAN 2-15
FIGURE 4-1 EXISTING STREET SYSTEM OR DO NOTHING ALTERNATIVE 4-5
FIGURE 4-2 EXISTING STREET SYSTEM + COMMITTED ALTERNATIVE 4-7
FIGURE 4-3 EXPANDED EXISTING THOROUGHFARE PLAN ALTERNATIVE 4-9
FIGURE 5-1 FUTURE LAND USE 5-7
FIGURE 5-2 1993 CAPACITY DEFICIENCIES ON EXISTING STREET
SYSTEM 5-9
FIGURE A-l IDEALIZED THOROUGHFARE PLAN A-9
FIGURE B-l ZONE MAP B-25
FIGURE D-l TRAVEL TIME STUDY SECTION LOCATIONS D-3
FIGURE D-2 TRAVEL TIME SURVEY FORM D-5
FIGURE D-3 VEHICLE OCCUPANCY RATE FORM D-7
FIGURE E-l GOALS AND OBJECTIVES SURVEY FORM E-3
FIGURE E-2 PUBLIC MEETING CALENDAR E-9
FIGURE E-3 PUBLIC MEETING NOTICE E-ll
FIGURE E-4 PUBLIC COMMENTS E-13
FIGURE G-l LETTER OF CONCURRENCE FROM PUBLIC TRANSIT
DIVISION G-7
FIGURE H-l TYPICAL THOROUGHFARE CROSS SECTIONS H-3
FIGURE H-2 LEVELS OF SERVICE H-9
TABLES
TABLE 2- -1 COST ESTIMATES AND BENEFITS ANALYSIS 2-18
TABLE 4- -1 SCHEDULED HIGHWAY IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS 4-2
TABLE 4- -2 2020 AIR QUALITY ANALYSIS OF ALTERNATIVE PLANS 4-3
TABLE 5- -1 ANNUAL POPULATION TRENDS 5-1
TABLE 5- -2 EMPLOYMENT 5-2
TABLE 5- -3 TRAVEL DATA SUMMARY 5-3
TABLE 5- -4 HIGH ACCIDENT LOCATIONS 5-5
TABLE B- -1 TRIP GENERATION RATES PER DWELLING TYPE B-2
TABLE B- -2 ATTRACTION COEFFICIENTS B-3
TABLE B- -3 SCREENLINE CHECK B-4
TABLE B- -4 1993 AND 2020 EXTERNAL STATION ANALYSIS B-5
TABLE B- -5 FRICTION FACTORS AND TRAVEL CURVE DATA B-7
TABLE B- -6 1993 INTERNAL DATA SUMMARY B-9
TABLE B-- 7 2020 INTERNAL DATA SUMMARY B-17
TABLE H- -1 PRACTICAL CAPACITY FOR URBAN FACILITY H-ll
TABLE H- -2 MINIMUM TOLERABLE LANE WIDTHS H-12
TABLE H- -3 STREET SYSTEM INDEX H-13

I. INTRODUCTION
This report documents the work done toward the 1996
Transportation Plan mutually adopted by the Cities of Concord and
Kannapolis, the Towns of China Grove, Landis and Harrisburg, the
Counties of Rowan and Cabarrus, and the North Carolina Department
of Transportation.
The last update of the Cabarrus-South Rowan Urban Area plan
was adopted in 1988. Since then several major projects have been
scheduled for implementation in the State Transportation
Improvement Program. The Kannapolis Loop Road was completed in
the early 1990's. The NC136 extension, Speedway/Kings Grant
Boulevard, the Earnhardt Road interchange, and Copperfield
Boulevard were completed in the mid-90's. Project sections U-2009
and R-2246 of the Westside Connector, and Dale Earnhardt Boulevard
relocation were also added in the last few years.
Also changed since the last update is the expansion of the
planning area, the Metropolitan boundary and the inclusion of the
Town of Harrisburg in the Metropolitan Planning Organization
(MPO). The Cabarrus-South Rowan Urban Area is located in the
western Piedmont of North Carolina in western Cabarrus and
Southern Rowan Counties between the Cities of Charlotte and
Salisbury. See Figure 1-1 for a geographic location of the urban
area.
The major changes in this report from previous technical
reports for the area are the amount and type of information
included. There is the standard information on deficiency
analysis, environmental concerns, recommendations, implementation,
and the street index. There is also new and more indepth
information on public involvement, and associated studies and the
metric system references throughout as required by recent federal
regulations.
The system of thoroughfares recommended in this study was
developed using the principles of thoroughfare planning outlined
in Appendix A and the methodology found in Appendix B of this
report. The recommended cross sections found in Chapter II and
Appendix H are based on existing conditions and the expected
volumes of traffic in the design year of 2020. Every effort was
made to use as much of the existing street system as possible to
minimize costs and environmental disruption. The locations of new
facilities were based on field investigation, existing land use,
proposed land uses, and topographic conditions. The locations of
the proposed facilities are preliminary and a more detailed
evaluation will be necessary before any project can be
constructed.
The Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA)
was passed into law in 1991. This new law now requires states and
urban areas to measure, analyze, and report more and different
information about the performance of their transportation systems.
The long range plan must: identify all transportation facilities
(including pedestrian walkways and bicycle transportation
1-1
facilities), include a financial plan that demonstrates how the
long range plan can be implemented, assess capital investment and
other measures necessary to preserve the existing transportation
system and to make the most efficient use of those facilities to
relieve congestion, and indicate appropriate transportation
enhancement activities. There must be reasonable opportunity for
public comment on the long range plan before it is approved.
This report documents in Appendix E the public involvement
process used for the study. Appendix G documents the Major
Investment Study for the possible widening of 1-85. The rest of
the topics will be reported under separate cover.
1-2