Updates
Refocusing the Project objectives
September 25, 2019
Originally, the project had three team members with each member working on a respective portion. The project goal was to redesign both campus entrances and Route 31 (Pennington Avenue). Our group dynamic has changed from three people to two requiring us to shift our original plan to a two part project. Moving forward Kyle Dech will be focusing on the front campus entrance and Jillian LaRocca will be focusing on the side campus entrance. The team made the decision that with one less member, the scope of the project had to be cut down for feasibility purposes. The redesign of the two entrances presented a more cohesive final product as opposed to the redesign of Route 31.
Front Entrance
Septmeber 26, 2019
Kyle Dech drafted the base sketch of the intersection using AutoCad.
Side Entrance
September 26, 2019
Jillian LaRocca created the title block to be used in AutoCad for the duration of the project. She also drafted a base sketch of the intersection using AutoCad.
Traffic Counts
October 21, 2019
Between 7:00 and 8:15, Jillian LaRocca conducted traffic counts at the intersection of Browning Avenue, Green Lane, and Lion Drive.
Jillian also conducted traffic counts in the afternoon between 3:30 to 5:30.
The data collected from the traffic counts was analyzed and organized into a table in Microsoft Excel. The table shows the direction of cars for each 15-minute increment, the percentages for each direction the car traveled, and the peak flow time.
Traffic Counts
October 24, 2019
Between 7:00 AM and 8:45 AM, the team met at the intersection of Carlton Avenue, Pennington Road, and Metzger Drive to conduct traffic counts.Â
Later in the day, Kyle Dech conducted more traffic counts at the same intersection between 3:00 PM and 6:00 PM.Â
A similar process conducted on the data from the Browning Avenue, Lion Drive, and Green Lane intersection was done on this intersection. The data exhibited in the tables will be used in Synchro to analyze the Level of Service for each intersection.
Main Entrance Selected Design
November 1st, 2019
Alternative Design A includes many aspects that make it the optimal solution. The roadways are able to be realigned with the minimal amount of construction which greatly reduces the cost and time of construction. The construction of this entrance will be able to be done during the summer when school is not in session. Being able to shift the Pennington Road approach south allows for Metzger Drive to be redesigned without any potential blind spots that were encountered with the first intersection. Because Metzger Drive is able to be realigned, it allows for the existing roadway of Carlton Avenue to remain the same and prevents any interference with the wetlands. The existing intersection allows for dedicated right turn lanes to be easily implemented with minimal construction to the neighboring properties. The added right turn lanes makes it possible for the existing lanes to be changed to straight and left turn only which helps with the problem of queueing that the old intersection design allowed.
Side Entrance Selected Design
November 1st, 2019
Alternative Design B will help improve the issues with the current design. After taking into consideration the design and realistic constraints and analyzing the decision matrix, Alternative B was decided to be the best option. This design includes the implementation of a roundabout in the TCNJ campus intersection, which will improve the flow of traffic and be less confusing than the original design. This alternative also introduces crosswalks going across Browning Avenue and Green Lane, which increases the safety of the intersection. By allowing traffic from Browning Avenue to go left, right, or straight, it makes it legal for vehicles to go through onto campus. This removes the risk of having cars doing so illegally, which as shown in Tables 1 and 2, was happening very frequently. Traffic being able to access Browning Avenue increases the accessibility of the design. The addition of a blinking red and yellow stop light also increases the safety of the intersection by slowing down vehicles traveling on Green Lane. According to the MUTCD chapter 8c, a traffic study must be conducted in order to determine whether a traffic light is permitted or not. Once done, the intersection must contain at least one of a multitude of warrants. Through our analysis thus far: a blinking light will improve the overall safety of the intersection and will not disrupt the flow of traffic.
Engineering Estimates
November 21, 2019
Fall Semester
The team prepared an engineering cost estimate for the Fall semester. For this semester, Dr. Thomas Brennan, Jillian, LaRocca, and Kyle Dech worked on the project. This semester focused on creating the report whereas next semester focuses more on design. Each task was listed with the amount of time that was dedicated to it. The estimated cost for this semester was around $9000.
March 22, 2020
Traffic Diagrams
The team prepared traffic diagrams using the data that was collected earlier in the year through traffic counts. These diagrams show the number of cars making right and left turns and continuing straight. They also show how many cars are traveling along each section of the road.
Main Entrance Intersection
The main entrance intersection consists of Route 31 or Pennington Road, Carlton Avenue, and Metzger Drive. The total traffic volume for this intersection in the given time was 7,821 cars.
Future Estimated Traffic Volume
March 23, 2020
Using the Annual Institutional Profile Report from 2018 to 2019, the growth rate from 2012 to 2019 was calculated using data from Undergraduate Enrollment by Gender table and the Freshmen Admissions table. The growth rates calculated were 1.56% and 1.55% respectively. A growth rate of 1.555% was applied to the traffic turn volumes above in the Traffic Diagrams to estimate what the traffic volume would look like in the chosen the design year of 2035. The two tables show the current turn volume and the expected volume in 2035.
The estimated traffic turn volumes for the future are shown in the two traffic diagrams below. This turn data will be inputted into Synchro to make sure the redesigned intersections are able to allow the estimated traffic volume to flow at an adequate level of service.
Main Entrance Intersection
Side Entrance Intersection
Main Entrance Intersection Design
March 28, 2020
Two images of the design of the main entrance intersection are shown below. The image on the left shows the proposed design in green with the existing intersection in white. The image on the left shows just the proposed design. This design uses dedicated turn lanes to ensure the proper flow of traffic. In addition, the right turn lanes are designed for large vehicles to navigate through.
Construction Estimates
April 21, 2020
The team estimated the construction costs for each intersection. The main intersection was estimated to cost around $220,000 and the side intersection was estimated to cost around $184,000. The prices for each line item were found using the NJDOT's Capital Contracts Bid Price History for 2019. The total cost of redesigning the two intersections is estimated to be around $404,000.
Syncrho
April 29, 2020
The team is still in the process of fine-tuning their designs in Synchro. The video above is an example of how the new design would work in 2035. The traffic volumes that were calculated were put into the simulation. It should be noted that the simulation is running at the peak hour so the simulation displayed isn't what the typical traffic would look like.