Fort Walton Beach Council agenda — 11-01-11 special kenwood — reading text

m0N Kenwood Neighborhood is sandwiched on the north by the Eglin Air Force Base, on the east by Gamier Bayou, on the south by Dons Bayou, and on the west by Lewis Turner a Boulevard. The neighborhood is largely residential and is comprised of single family homes and multiple family complexes. There are three K -12 schools in this neighborhood - that is, or Kenwood Elementary School, Pryor Middle School, and Choctawhatchee High School. the yR Q existence of school children in this area adds to the concem for safety by residents on the Country Club Avenue which carries a substantial amount of traffic as revealed by recent traffic volume surveys and accident experience. In fact, a very profile traffic accident resulting in the death of a high school student living on Country Club Avenue was reported in the local newspaper, North West Florida Daily News, on June 24, 2010 ( Ref. q. The investigating police officer indicated that speeding was likely a contributing factor to the accident 5v y 2. STUDYOBJECTIVES The overall goal of this study was to investigate traffic operations and safety characteristics of a network of roadways in the Kenwood neighborhood. Consistent with this goal, the objectives of this study were to quantify through -traffic driving between Lewis Turner Boulevard and Racetrack Road in terms of traffic volume and speed and to investigate traffic calming and other improvement measures that can assist in alleviating safety and operations hurdles. particularly on Country Club Avenue and Mooney Road, which are the main roads used by motorists as cut through roadways in this neighborhood. f.1• SF* V.W lie] 1141WA In order to achieve the desired objectives, the methodology used in conducting the study was to perform a number of tasks that included collecting field data; analyzing traffic and safety data; reviewing traffic calming measures appropriate for the neighborhood and that have the potential to be effective in improving safety and calming traffic; and, if necessary, recommending engineering improvements on Kenwood neighborhood roadways. The field data that were deemed relevant to the study included geometric characteristics data; signs and pavement markings; traffic volume ( in terms of AADT and turning movement comas at critical intersections); operating speed characteristics; travel time data on Country Club Avenue, Fairway Avenue, Powell Drive, and Mooney Road; and traffic accidents history on the entire road network in the area displayed in Figure 1. The following sections des<:ribc the data collection process as well as the analysis of the field data that were collected in the course of the study. 4. GEOMETRIC CHARACTERISTICS The two major arterial roads running somewhat parallel to each other on the north and on the south side of Kenwood neighborhood are Lewis Turner Boulevard ( SR 189) and Racetrack Road ( SR 188). Both are four -lane divided highways with adequate geometric characteristics. The posted speed limits on SR 189 and SR 188 in the vicinity of Kenwood neighborhood are 45 MPH and 40 MPH, respectively. There are a number or streets in Kenwood neighborhood that ran perpendicular to Lewis Turner Boulevard and Racetrack Road. These roads are Country Club Avenue, Golf Course Drive, Fairway Avenue, Powell Drive, and Mooney Road. However, the roadways that seem to be used by " through traffic' to access Lewis Turner Boulevard and Racetrack Road are the Country Club Avenue and Mooney Road. Thus, the collection of geometric characteristics and other data was concentrated on these two roadways. Country Club Avenue is a two -lane two -way highway with a yellow centerline striping and white edge markings. Along most of its length, Country Club Avenue has sidewalk only on one side of the street, that is, the left side of the southbound direction. Travel lane widths along Country Club Avenue vary but typically are close to 9 feet and 8 inches wide. The existing sidewalk on the average is 5 feet wide and is separated from the travel way by approximately 7 feet of landscaped buffer. Unlike Mooney Road, Country Club Avenue has no curbs- and -gutter geometry on most of its length. Figure 2 shows the predominant cross section of Country Club Avenue, facing south. A driver driving south on Country Club Avenue is faced with a horizontal curve after passing Rue De Le Roi Street intersection. The horizontal curve has adequate sight horizontal distance and has chevron alignment signs placed to provide positive guidance to drivers. The Country Club Avenue intersects six streets, the characteristics of which are displayed in Appendix A. m0N All six intersections on Country Club Avenue shown in Appendix A are of T- intersection type. Traffic turning into Country Club Avenue from Mooney Road are required to stop at Wedgewood Lane and at Eagle Street intersections. There are 3 - way stop -controlled signs installed at all approaches at Wedgewood Lane and at Eagle Street intersections. The lane markings and traffic signs on Country Club Avenue appear to be visible and adequate for an attentive driver. At each entrance of Country Club Avenue there are signs indicating that through buses and trucks are not allowed. 25 MPH speed limit signs are also installed at a number or locations on this avenue and are fairly visible to drivers turning into Country Club Avenue from either direction. There are a number of "Watch for Pedestrians" and " Pedestrians Crossing" signs installed on this road. There is a school zone marking with a standard yellow school crossing sign installed in the middle of the tangent section of Country Club Avenue, i. e., between Wedgewood Lane and Mooney Road SE. Packet Pg. 45  0 Mooney Road is a looping roadway forming a perimeter around Kenwood neighborhood on the cast side. This mad intersects Country Club Avenue twice as was shown in Figure I. The typical cross section that predominates throughout Mooney Road is shown in Figure 3. As seen in Figure 3, Mooney Road has a curb -and- gutter urban design with sidewalks installed on both sides of the street. The travel lanes are on the average 10 feet 3 inches wide. The sidewalks are on the average 5 feet wide with an average buffer separation of over one foot from the edge of the curb. Property fences and hedges along Mooney Road have an average offset of 20 feet from the edge of the curb. There are number of traffic signs on Mooney Road warning of school zones and crossings, warning of horizontal curves, and alerting drivers of legal speed limit. Drivers driving along Mooney Road are required to stop only once — that is, at its intersection with Gamier' s Post Road where a 3 -way STOP sign is installed at each approach. There are two speed limit zones on Mooney Road, i. e., 25 MPH between Country Club SE intersection and Gander' s Post Road; and 35 MPH from Gamier' s Post Road to Country Club NE intersection. However, it should be noted that the geometric characteristics of Mooney Road in both speed zones are virtually the same except for the existence of a horizontal curve in the 25 MPH speed zone. Table I below summarizes the key technical features that have an influence on safety and operations along the two major cut -through roadways in the Kenwood neighborhood. These key features include the length of each roadway measured from their two intersections, the posted Packet Pg. 46  speed limit, the number of stops along the route, presence of sidewalks, and the number of Intersecting streets. There are other features that tend to influence a driver' s choice of a route and driving speed but these features will be discussed later. Table I. So nmm'v of Kev Geometric Features Roadway Length Posted Speed No. of Stops Presence Sidewalksof Intersecting Streets l TnnuN C' lutr Ave. 457 mi 25 MITI One side 6 Between CC S and Gamier', Poo Road 25 MPH Mooney Road 1. 74 mi I Both sides 25 Between Gain' er' s Post Road and CC N 35 MPH TRAFFIC OPERATING CHARACTERISTICS The traffic operating characteristics of interest in this study were volume, speed, and travel rn time. Speed — and travel time, which is a reciprocal of speed —tend to be used by most drivers as i important factors in choosing a route between an origin and a destination. Traffic volume is also c an important element in route choice, but even more critical from safely standpoint, traffic 3 volume has a negative influence on safety, particularly on residential neighborhoods. Traffic u Y conflicts on a road increase proportionally with the increase in traffic volume, particularly if the road is not designed to carry a higher level of traffic volume. The following sections discuss in o detail the characteristics of traffic operations data that were collected. 5. 1 Volume Characteristics The major traffic arterial roads with substantial amount of traffic are Lewis Turner Boulevard ( SR 189) —located on the north side of Kenwo d neighborhood -- running in the cast - west direction and Racetrack Road ( SR 188) also running cast -west but situated on the south side of the Kenwood neighborhood ( see Figure 1). According to year 2009 traffic information published by the Statistics Office of the Florida Department of Transportation, traffic counting stations installed on Lewis Turner Boulevard and Racetrack Read provided traffic data summarized in Table 2. Table 2. Traffic Volume Summary ( Ref. 2) Roadway Location of Volume Count 1_ ruizlurcmr BOOle -nod 044 miles weal ofM. oasy Road 28, 928 11. 25 RacevaA RoA 0. 17 miles west ofMooney Road 29, 000 10. 66 SR ISX) Monncv Road NF Between Lewis Turner Boulevard and Country Club Avenue 4, 600 10. 66 Mnmmv Road SP. 300 feet north of Racetrack Road S, OR6 10. 66 C o, my Cl rb Aanu¢ 265 ( eel northof Mooney Rd SE