05-11-1999 Public Hearing - Woodhill CC

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I I I C. Traffic Volumes Traffic volume information for CSAH 15 was obtained from MnDOT and from Hennepin County. The traffic flow maps provided average annual daily traffic volumes for the area roadways. These AADT volumes are illustrated on Figure 3. The Minnesota Department of Transportation has a continuous traffic count station located on CSAH 15 northeast of the intersection with CSAH 51. This station provides continuous hourly traffic volume data on CSAH 15 for every day of the year. Review of the January through June data of 1998 at this count station illustrates the volume variation that occurs along this roadway. Table 1 illustrates the daily averages for each day of the first 6 months of 1998. Review of the volumes on Table 1 makes it apparent that volumes increase quite dramatically during the summer months when compared to January, February, and March volumes. The weekday volumes in May and June are over 20,000 vehicles per day. It could be e.xpected that July and August volumes are similar to June volumes. When looking at peak hour volumes from the count data, the morning peak hour occurs from 7*8 a.m. and the afternoon peak hour occurs from 5-6 p.m. The average weekday peak hour volumes from the month of June 1998 have been calculated and are shown on Figure 4. Those volumes reflect a directional split of 80/20 in the morning peak and 70/30 in the afternoon peak thus indicating the home-work character of the trips during these peak hours. In order to make a determination as to whether peak hour traffic signal volume warrants at the intersections of CSAH 15 at CSAH 51 and at Orono Orchard Road are met with today ’s traffic levels, intersection turning movement counts were conducted during the 6-9 a.m. time period on a weekday in January 1999. The resultant peak hour of these counts is depicted on Figure 5. The peak hour volume warrant is satisfied at the intersection of CSAH 15 and CSAH 51. The peak hour volume warrant is not satisfied at the Orono Orchard Road intersection with CSAH 15, but it is quite close to satisfying the warrant. Remembering that the count was conducted in January, and that the summer volumes are higher, the peak hour warrant could be satisfied during the summer time period. D. Accident Experience Accident data for the three-year period of 1995 through 1997 was obtained from the Hennepin County Department of Public Works. During this three-year reporting period, a total of 63 accidents were reported to have occurred on the CSAH 15 segment from CSAH 51 to Femdale Road West. Of that total, 30 were attributed to the four intersections of CSAH 15 with CSAH 51, Brackett ’s Point Road, Orono Orchard Road, and Femdale Road. Figure 6 shows the number of accidents at the four intersections and along these segments between these intersections for the 1995 through 1997 reporting period. 4 \ i ,1