Organization Representation. Williamsport Area Transportation Study. Northern Tier Regional Planning and Development Commission

Transcription

1 Meeting #1 Summary PennDOT Engineering District 3-0 Regional Operations Forum #1 August 2, AM 12 PM Agenda: Introductions Review of Regional Operations Informational Meeting (July 12 th ) Discuss Regional Operations Plan Relationships and Purpose Discuss Regional Operations Forum Review Existing Operations within District Discuss Statewide Directions and Current Future Plans Identify Needs and Priorities Review Next Steps Review Key Outcomes Attendees: Alan Keller Teresa McClain Steve Mutchler Mark Murawski Rick Biery Steve Herman Mark Metil Bob Taylor Regional Operations Forum Members July 2006 Geographical Name Organization Representation Mr. Mark Murawski Mr. Rick Biery Mr. Steve Herman Mr. Jim McAllister Lycoming County Bradford, Sullivan, and Tioga Counties Columbia, Montour, Northumberland, Snyder, and Union Counties Columbia, Montour, Northumberland, Snyder, and Union Counties Williamsport Area Transportation Study Northern Tier Regional Planning and Development Commission SEDA-Council of Governments SEDA-Council of Governments Contact Information 48 West Third Street Williamsport, PA Phone: Fax: mark.murawski@lyco.org 312 Main Street Towanda, PA Phone: Fax: biery@northerntier.org 201 Furnace Road Lewisburg, PA Phone: Fax: sherman@seda-cog.org 201 Furnace Road Lewisburg, PA Phone: x238 Fax: jmcallister@seda-cog.org - 1 -

2 Name Mr. Alan Keller Ms. Teresa McClain Mr. Steve Mutchler Mr. Doug Tomlinson Mr. Michael Pack Geographical Representation D3 Region-Wide D3 Region-Wide D3 Region-Wide State-wide State-wide Organization PENNDOT Engineering District 3-0 PENNDOT Engineering District 3-0 PENNDOT Engineering District 3-0 PENNDOT Central Office PENNDOT Central Office Contact Information 715 Jordan Avenue PO Box 218 Montoursville, PA Phone: Fax: Jordan Avenue PO Box 218 Montoursville, PA Phone: Fax: Jordan Avenue PO Box 218 Montoursville, PA Phone: Fax: North Street Harrisburg, PA Phone: Fax: North Street 6th Floor Harrisburg, PA Phone: Fax:

3 Summary: Perspectives on how the region s cause of congestion relates to national (FHWA 2004) cause of congestion FHWA Est. FHWA Causes of Regional % of Congestion Congestion Congestion ROF #1 Perspectives Bottlenecks 40 Lower Bottlenecks are not a significant cause of congestion in the region. Traffic Incidents 25 Higher Incidents (crashes) create congestion at spot locations. Congestion may result from the lack of detours when incidents occur. Bad Weather 15 Higher Weather related congestion may be higher than national trends. Snow, ice, floods, slides, etc Work Zone 10 Higher Work zone congestion in the region is one of the most significant forms of congestion. Special event congestion is variable. The Little League World Series is the largest special event in the region and may draw up to 40,000 attendees to the final game. Special Events/ 5 Same Other special events that impact the region Other include fairs (such as Bloomsburg), Penn State events in District 2-0. Special events and incidents in other areas can impact regional congestion. The perception of signal congestion is Poor Signal Timing 5 Same relative to the region. Signal congestion may occur when there is work zone or incident detours. Most congestion in the region is non-recurring (incidents, special events, etc) and there is limited recurring congestion

4 Perspective on how the region s operational goals and objectives relate to the TSOP goals and objectives. TSOP Goals Regional Priority ROF #1 Perspectives Operation needs to be mainstreamed into planning and programming (funding). Need to consider operational needs of existing and future capital projects on the TIP. Staffing and other resource needs will need to be 1. Build and maintain a addressed. transportation operations Required A reliable (redundant) communications network is foundation needed. IT support will be required to support operational initiatives. Ability to coordinate with stakeholders and neighboring agencies (such as NYDOT) is needed. 2. Improve highway operational performance Low 3. Improve safety Medium 4. Improve security Low Incident management (has applicability to goals 1-4) Traveler information (has applicability to goals 1-4) High High No other regional goals were identified at this time. Recurring congestion is not a major concern in the region. Congestion on detour routes is a concern. Safety is a concern, but more related to incident management and traveler information. There are safety concerns at spot locations (rollovers, etc). Security is a variable concern. Specific security concerns within the region include the Little League World Series and critical regional linkages such as key bridges on I-80. Other security concerns are more related to coordination (traveler information and incident management) with other areas such as NY or the Berwick Nuclear Plant. CCTVs may have dual benefits (incident management and security). Incident notification is a concern. Some areas have limited cell coverage. It is difficult to confirm and verify incident locations. It is difficult to confirm cleared incidents. Weather incidents need to be addressed (snow, ice, floods, slides, etc). Detours routes have capacity constraints. Need to be able to coordinate incidents beyond region and to NYDOT. Traveler information is critical on facilities with significant distances between interchanges (such as I- 80). Need to provide traveler information for incidents (crash, weather, work zone) and special events. Traveler information needs to be provided at Rest Areas and Welcome Centers (note there are 4 rest areas and 1 welcome center in the region). The statewide 511 plan will impact traveler information services

5 Initial perspective on existing and future operational elements and how they relate to statewide initiatives Current Operational Number of Element Devices Thoughts and Perspectives No true TMC at this time. No dedicated staffing. Staffing is dependent on other work activities. Can control DMS. Sometimes there are delays in incident Traffic Management Center NA notification and posting of messages. Future TMC will be dependent on statewide direction and TMC ConOps to be developed in TMC will be right-sized for District 3-0 needs and regional operational plans. TMC coverage hours may be limited (after hours control by others) or full coverage may be transferred to another District. DMS 5 All existing DMS on I-80 (1 permanent and 4 semi-permanent). Difficult to display sufficient messages on permanent, portable units. Future needs (of all major interchanges) may exceed 50 DMS. Portable DMS 30 Portable units mobilized by counties and messages programmed on-site. CCTV 1 Fixed on permanent DMS, no functionality to confirm incidents. Future needs include major interchanges (for incident verification) and critical locations (security and events). Future needs may exceed 20 CCTV. RWIS 5 On SR 15 between Williamsport and Tioga, 1 on SR 6, 1 on I-80, 1 on SR 54. Controlled by BOMO, limited use. Future needs at trouble spots. In the future, consider enhanced RWIS that may also serve as CCTV sites technology has improved. Need better information and access for stakeholders and public. HAR 2 2 portable units that have limited use. Signal Systems Other NA NA Limited signal systems of regional significance. Some benefit by implementing systems on key arterials which serve as detour routes. Bloomsburg signal system is being upgraded. Williamsport is coordinated, but additional enhancements could benefit networks, especially along the Golden Strip. Williamsport Area Transportation Study has developed Flood Ready which provides web-based information on flooding conditions. Future enhancements may include integration with PennDOT road closures. Other thought and considerations: Regional operations will need to consider other modal elements such as transit, rail, freight and others. There should be sub-regional outreach to other stakeholders including emergency management agencies, other modal operators and other stakeholders

6 Key Actions: GF to acquire cell phone coverage maps GF to forward stakeholder considerations list for sub-regional meetings Planning partners to identify sub-regional stakeholders GF to provide ROF#1 meeting summary GF to forward existing device deployment mapping for future considerations Stakeholders to provide examples of operational opportunities for future outreach Upcoming Meeting: ROF #2 Meeting Sept 19 at 10 AM Sub-region outreach meetings early October - 6 -