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February 28, 2020 <br />Page 11 <br />K:\014908-000\Traffic\Traffic Study\Lake Valentine Road Study.docx <br />Year 2019 Existing Conditions <br />The existing conditions establish a baseline from which to compare future traffic operations with. <br />Study intersection turning movement volumes for this scenario were established through actual <br />weekday school AM (7:40-8:40 AM) and PM (3:00-4:00 PM) school peak hour counts taken from <br />video surveillance of the study intersections on Thursday, October 24, 2019. Raw count data is <br />shown in the Appendix. Count data was taken for the following intersections: <br /> <br />• Lake Valentine Road & West School Access <br />• Lake Valentine Road & West Parking Access <br />• Lake Valentine Road & East Parking Access <br />• Lake Valentine Road & Bus Parking/Janet Ct <br />• Lake Valentine Road & South Parking Access (counts from Thursday, October 10, 2019) <br /> <br />The existing condition was analyzed from actual drone footage for both the AM and PM peak <br />periods. The drone footage identifies issues that Synchro/SimTraffic are unable to show. The <br />West Parking Access was closed using a police vehicle for most of the AM and PM peak time by <br />an officer who was directing traffic. Figure 2 displays the 2019 existing AM peak hour (7:40-8:40) <br />and PM peak hour (3:00-4:00) turning movement volumes for the approximate school peak times. <br />During a majority of the AM and PM peak hour, there were two traffic crossing guards at the west <br />crosswalk location, which could not be reflected in a Synchro analysis. The drone video was <br />observed, and it was calculated that pedestrians had the right of way to cross Lake Valentine <br />Road 43% of the AM peak period and 28% of the PM peak period time at the West School <br />Access intersection. The footage also showed people parking on the street and in the drop- <br />off/pick-up loop which caused obstructions and queuing issues. During the worst few minutes of <br />the PM peak period, over 20 vehicles were queued at the East Parking Access waiting to get out <br />and over 20 vehicles were queued on eastbound Lake Valentine Road as the traffic control officer <br />was directing busses out of the bus lot. The inorganization of traffic during the school peak hours <br />has created driver confusion and the intersections surrounding the school are currently operating <br />poorly and do not provide a safe and efficient way for pedestrians to cross the street. <br /> <br />Year 2020 Mid-Block Signal Only Condition <br />To represent the Year 2020 Mid-Block Signal Only Conditions, this scenario assumes the existing <br />lane geometry, access, and traffic control at existing intersections. The new mid-block signal is <br />located between the West Parking Access and East Parking Access, with one lane in each <br />direction of Lake Valentine Road. It was assumed that the West Parking Access would remain <br />blocked off, and therefore any volumes that were able to use the access previously were moved <br />to the east access for modeling purposes. The results of the 2020 Mid-Block Signal Only <br />Condition traffic operations analysis are summarized in Table 1. The mid-block signal was <br />modeled with a 45-second cycle length, giving 24 seconds to the pedestrian phase and 21 <br />seconds to the vehicle phase. It was assumed that during the school peak hours, the pedestrian <br />push button would be constantly pushed and was given the maximum amount of time while <br />optimizing the signal. Figure 7 displays the 2020 Mid-Block Signal Only Traffic Volumes. Trips <br />previously turning in/out of the West Parking Access when it wasn’t blocked off by an officer were <br />redistributed to the East Parking Access. All pedestrians were relocated to the mid-block signal to <br />cross Lake Valentine Road. As Table 1 shows the average delay for each peak hour, it is <br />assumed that the peak 15-minute periods will experience slightly higher delays than shown. <br />