Memorandum

City of Lawrence

Public Works

 

TO:

David Corliss, City Manager

FROM:

Charles F. Soules, P.E., Director of Public Works

CC:

Diane Stoddard, Casey Toomay, Cynthia Wagner, Mark Thiel, David Cronin, David Woosley, Nick Voss

 

Date:

April 1, 2014

RE:

Project No. PW1341 – Wakarusa Drive, Oread West Drive to just north of Legends Drive and Inverness Drive, Pavement Reconstruction, Geometric Improvements, Sidewalk & Pavement Marking

March 26, 2013 Consent Agenda Item – Set Bid Date of April 9, 2013

 

 

Project Need

The pavement on Wakarusa has been failing for several years.  The pavement has significant deterioration, rutting, cracking and base/subgrade failure.  As the road is reconstructed, staff looks at complete streets and future needs for all modes of transportation including motor vehicles (cars and trucks), emergency service vehicles, buses, pedestrians and cyclists.  The construction of a roundabout at Wakarusa and Inverness will provide a safe intersection and accomplish the City complete street goals.

 

Improvements

The improvements on Wakarusa include:

-       Total pavement removal and reconstruction with a ten inch concrete pavement

-       Two lanes in each direction (north and south) and a center turn lane

-       Bike lanes in both directions

-       Sidewalks on both sides

-       Intersection control at Wakarusa/Inverness in terms of a roundabout:

-       15 feet lanes in roundabout

-       12 feet truck apron

-       Splitter islands on all four quadrants for pedestrians to safely cross

-       Bike lanes on Wakarusa will end at the entrance to the roundabout. Cyclists should either “take the lane” and navigate through the roundabout similar to a motor vehicle or exit the road onto an 8’ sidewalk and cross the intersecting street

-       Traffic will be carried through the project at least one lane in each direction on Wakarusa. Some lane closures will temporarily restrict access (no left turns) at times.

 

Project History

At the Commission meeting on November 5, 2013 staff presented the preliminary plan for the Wakarusa Drive Reconstruction project. The properties at the intersection, plus businesses along Wakarusa Drive, were notified of the City Commission meeting.

 

On November 26, 2013 staff followed up responding to the commissioners questions about the proposed roundabout. The commission directed staff to proceed with the design. There was notification to the neighborhoods as well as businesses.

 

On February 27th, 2014, Public Works held an open house on all 2014 projects. Separate mailers were again sent to the neighborhoods, businesses, and school notifying of the meeting.

 

On March 25, 2014 and March 27, 2014 staff and appraisers met with property owners to review right-of-way acquisition.

 

Information

The City has received correspondence from concerned residents. The following information responds to those concerns:

 

The Wakarusa Drive Reconstruction Project including the intersection design of a roundabout at Inverness is being designed in-house by the Public Works Engineering Staff.

 

The project design team includes:

 

Charles Soules, Director of Public Works:  BSCE from The University of Missouri – Rolla, 1986

Ř  28 years of Municipal Civil Projects (12 years in Lawrence, KS)

Ř  22 years licensed P.E.

 

David Woosley, City Traffic Engineer:  BSCE from The University of Missouri – Rolla, 1972

Ř  21 years with City of Lawrence

Ř  35 years licensed P.E.

Ř  Currently on the National Committee on Uniform Traffic Control Devices

 

David Cronin, City Engineer:  BS and MS in Civil Engineering from The University of Kansas, 2001

Ř  6 years at KDOT

Ř  7 years with City of Lawrence

Ř  9 years licensed P.E.

Nick Voss, Project Engineer:  BSCE from The University of Kansas, 2009

Ř  5 years with City of Lawrence

 

Matt Bond, Stormwater Engineer:  BSCE and BS ArchE from The University of Kansas, 1991

Ř  15 years at KDOT

Ř  8 years with City of Lawrence

Ř  13 years licensed P.E.

 

The round-a-bout plan has been reviewed by KDOT.

 

The right-of-way has been adjusted to minimize property acquisition and to accommodate adjacent owner concerns. 

 

The sidewalk around the round-a-bout is on the back of curb.  The sidewalk at the back of curb is wider, 8 feet.  Again the placement at the back of curb was to minimize property acquisition.  It is not uncommon where the right-of-way is not sufficient to have the sidewalk adjacent to the curb.  This has been done on City projects as well as KDOT projects, for example Iowa (HWY 59) and Kasold.

 

 

 

 

 

For every project, including the Wakarusa reconstruction project, the city’s goals and consideration include

-       Improve safety

-       Improve efficiency

-       Economical improvements

-       Durability/Longevity

-       Accessibility

-       Right-of-Way, easements, and utilities

-       Practical (Looking at future needs)

-       Other city goals for aesthetics, complete streets, and sustainability

 

Our designs meet design standards of:

-       AASHTO

-       MUTCD

-       KDOT and FHWA (when applicable)

-       ADA

-       Complete Streets

 

For the design of the roundabout staff is also reviewing:

-       National Cooperative Highway Research Program

-       Additionally KDOT is reviewing the geometrics (turning radius, sight distance, signage, pavement markings, grades, and lane widths)

 

         

There is not a single intersection within the City of Lawrence or anywhere that is/or operates exactly the same as the intersection at Wakarusa and Inverness. The variables are endless.

-       Amount of traffic (varies with time of day, seasonally, and when school is in session)

-       Type of traffic – pedestrians, cyclists (experience level), cars, trucks, vans, and buses

-       Demographics of users

o   Ages from elementary school to the elderly

-       Adjacent property uses – business, commercial, residential, schools, daycare, assisted living

-       Neighborhoods

 

At all intersections everyone needs to be vigilant and proceed appropriately. Whether or not pedestrians (or cyclists) have the right of way, in an accident with a motor vehicle the pedestrian/cyclist will be injured. The motorist may be in the wrong but that is little solace when a pedestrian/cyclist is injured. Whether a signal or a stop sign, if the motorist does not see the traffic control and stop, the resultant accident could be severe. Accidents will occur with a roundabout, however due to slower speeds and fewer conflict points there should be fewer accidents with less severity.

 

The stop signs were installed at Wakarusa Drive and Inverness in March 2003 and were approved due to the high accident rate. The minimum volume requirements for consideration of a traffic signal or roundabout have been met since 2002.  During 2001, 2002, and 2003 there were 14 reported crashes at the intersection, two of them were injury crashes.

         

After the stop signs were installed during 2004, 2005, and 2006 there were six reported crashes at the intersection, three of them were injury crashes.

         

During the past three years, 2011, 2012, and 2013, there have been eight reported crashes at the intersection with one of them being an injury crash.

 

The premise that roundabouts are safer than stop sign controlled or signalized intersections comes from the facts that a motorist must slow down to navigate a roundabout and there are fewer conflict points. The roundabout is a physical traffic control system versus a sign or signal (which could be considered a passive traffic control system). For pedestrians, a roundabout only requires the pedestrian to cross (watch) traffic coming from one direction at a time. For cyclists the slower speeds allow cyclists to merge with traffic moving at the same speeds. Therefore, in general, the number of accidents decrease and the severity of accidents/crashes is reduced.  The information reviewed and presented by others would support the above statements for single lane roundabouts.

 

The proposed roundabout at Wakarusa and Inverness is a multilane roundabout with two lanes from Wakarusa and a single lane from Inverness. The concerns about safety for pedestrians and cyclists, and the research/information available for multilane roundabouts, is less decisive. The severity of and number of injury accidents in multilane roundabouts is less. The number of property damages accidents, depending on the study, may not be reduced and may increase slightly. Motorists must still reduce speed to navigate the roundabout and pedestrians only need to cross traffic coming from a single direction at a time. However, the traffic is a continual flow and motorists must yield/stop if a pedestrian is present. The lower operating speed within a roundabout is safer compared to conventional intersections.

 

Cyclists in a multi-lane roundabout scenario should be “taking the lane.” This would allow the cyclist a full lane to navigate the roundabout with traffic. Some studies have indicated an increase in cyclist accidents.  That may be caused due to the inexperience of the cyclist to “take the lane” and instead chose to ride along the outside edge of the lane allowing vehicles to pull up alongside.

 

Project status:

-       Plans are 80% complete

-       Needed right-of-way and easement descriptions are complete

-       Appraisal are beginning

-       Anticipate to bid late April/May

-       Construct in summer into fall

-       Utilities still need to be adjusted