Chapter 6 Transportation Plan Transportation Plan Introduction Chapter 6 Transportation Plan Transportation Plan Introduction This chapter describes the components of Arvada s transportation system, comprised of a network of streets, bicycle lanes and paths, transit services, and pedestrian facilities. These facilities support the existing and planned land uses in the City. Arvada s key transportation goals are the following (as shown in Chapter 3): 1. Develop a balanced, multi-modal transportation system to provide a variety of opportunities for residents and visitors; 2. Strengthen the linkage between land use and transportation; 3. Identify and implement traffic solutions to reduce and manage traffic congestion on arterial streets; 4. Develop the transportation system to maintain quality of life for residents and visitors; and 5. Make transportation decisions with regard to environmental quality and stewardship. RTD buses are an element of a multi-modal transportation system in Arvada. Arvada, in coordination with other entities such as Jefferson County, Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT), and Regional Transportation District (RTD), provides transportation facilities and services for different travel to, from, and within Arvada. The transportation system consists of a system of multi-modal and intermodal facilities and services, as described below. Multi-modal refers to options for travel, including the automobile, bicycle, pedestrian, and transit. Primarily the automobile has historically influenced Arvada s transportation system, and roadway improvements will continue to be needed. However, this is a pivotal time for alternative modes such as rail transit. FasTracks promises rail transit service into the heart of Arvada via the Gold Line. The City is also renewing its focus on the bicycle and trails system by merging the off- and on-street bike system to provide a seamless system between various City destinations. Pedestrians as well will benefit from these improvements. These multi-modal transportation ARVADA COMPREHENSIVE PLAN 6-1
alternatives provide mobility choices, resulting in reduced street congestion, better air quality, and improved quality of life. Inter-modal refers to the connections between the different modes identified above. The basic concept is to provide a seamless transportation system that facilitates easy and efficient movements between modes, for example, from the automobile to a rail transit system. Connections will be critical to the system s efficiency and effectiveness of new alternative modes and become more important with transit. Connections occur at the nodes where the travel modes intersect, such as at future rail stations, interfaces between the on- and off-street bicycle network, or at bus stops where the transit rider becomes a pedestrian. The Roadway System The roadway system forms the backbone of the transportation system in Arvada, as shown in the Transportation Plan (Figure 4). Roadways provide mobility and access throughout the City for motor vehicles, transit buses, bicycles, and pedestrians. Wadsworth Boulevard during rush hour. The identification of the roadway network on the Transportation Plan began with the 1995 Comprehensive Plan. During this planning process, the planning team considered proposed additions and modifications to the Land Use Plan and the analysis of the relationship between new land uses and the transportation system. The resulting roadway network is shown on the Transportation Plan (see Figure 4). This network represents the system of streets and highways necessary to accommodate buildout of the Land Use Plan. Arvada has decision-making and funding responsibilities for most of the roadways shown on the Transportation Plan. CDOT has primary responsibility for highways. Proposed Improvements The Transportation Plan identifies the following arterial roadway improvements: Ward Road Extension/Alkire Street Connection a new 4- lane principal arterial through the Moore ranch property connecting Ward Road with Alkire Street at approximately 76 th Avenue; 6-2 ARVADA COMPREHENSIVE PLAN
72 nd (Indiana Street to Kipling Street ) widen to a 4-lane principal arterial; 66 th Parkway/64 th Avenue (SH93 to Kendrick/McIntyre) widen to a 4-lane principal arterial; 80 th Avenue (Alkire Street to Kipling Street) widen to a 4-lane principal arterial; Indiana Street widen from Hwy. 128 to 64 th Avenue; Northwest Parkway/Jefferson Parkway/C-470 Connection To preserve the quality of life in Arvada neighborhoods, the City has, for 40 years, embraced the concept of a continuous beltway around the Denver metropolitan area and particularly around the north and west sides of Arvada. City land and street planning decisions have incorporated this concept in their execution. In June 2004, City Council ratified a preferred beltway alignment that traverses south and west from Indiana Street near 96 th Avenue to State Highway 93 near 58 th Avenue. This is also one alignment under study by CDOT as part of the Northwest Corridor EIS. If this alignment is not selected in the EIS, the City may pursue an arterial road on a comparable alignment. The Kendrick Extension is shown on the Transportation Plan as a major collector. The alignment shown on the Transportation Plan represents a preferred alignment, but is conceptual. At the time of engineering, this alignment may need to be varied to address issues related to land availability, coordination of access points, etc. Every effort will be taken to establish the alignment in a way that minimizes impacts on surrounding property owners. Other minor arterial, collector, and local streets will be constructed and improved as necessary. In addition to these new local roadways, other improvements are anticipated around Arvada, including new ramps at the I-70 and SH 58 interchange to be constructed by CDOT, and multi-modal improvements in the US 36 corridor by RTD and CDOT. Roadway System Performance Roadway Level of Service A common measurement of operational performance for an intersection or corridor is level of service (LOS). In its simplest form, roadway level-of-service can be compared to a grading scale from ARVADA COMPREHENSIVE PLAN 6-3
Table 6-1: Roadway Level of Service A to F, where A represents excellent level of service and F indicates failure. Level of service takes into account vehicular delay, maneuverability, driver comfort, congestion delay, and travel speed. LOS is typically reported for the peak hour of a typical weekday a.m. or p.m. The City of Arvada tries to maintain a LOS C on the roadway system and a LOS D for intersection operations. The following table highlights what different LOS grades mean. Level of Service Analysis As part of the development of the roadway system, the City and consultants prepared an analysis to determine how well the roadway system operates in the future with buildout of the Comprehensive Plan. The team reviewed several measures, including (a) traffic congestion, and (b) roadway level of service (LOS). The consultant prepared two maps to support the analysis, which are located in Appendix D. 6-4 ARVADA COMPREHENSIVE PLAN
Level of Service Analysis 2001 The existing LOS conditions for the year 2001 are provided for reference in Appendix D on Figure D-2. The year 2001 is shown because it is the base year for the DRCOG and Arvada travel demand models. The map is based on 2001 socioeconomic data and the 2001 roadway network. Comprehensive Plan Level of Service Figure D-3, in Appendix D, shows the impacts of the Comprehensive Plan Land Uses as applied to the Buildout roadway network in the City. Other performance characteristics are shown in the following Table 6-2. As the maps and figures indicate, traffic and congestion is expected to get worse in the future. Congestion delay almost triples even though vehicle miles traveled are less than double in the future. On the other hand, the percentage of congested roadway lane miles in the future (27%) is reasonably similar to today (21%). Table 6-2: Roadway System Impacts of the Land Use Plan 2030 Attribute Buildout in 2001 Arvada and the Denver Region Roadway Lane Miles (non-local streets) 405 548 Vehicle Miles of Travel (million miles per day) 1.98 3.34 Congestion Delay (hours/day) 4,100 11,700 Lane Miles at LOS A-C (uncongested) 300 (74%) 346 (63%) Lane Miles at LOS D (becoming congested) 21 (5%) 53 (10%) Lane Miles at LOS E-F (congested) 84 (21%) 149 (27%) Roadway Functional Classification and Design Standards Roads generally provide two important functions: mobility and land access. These functions conflict with each other more land access (e.g., driveway openings) generally leads to worse traffic and mobility (e.g., vehicle carrying capacity), and vice versa. Each roadway type is specifically designed to operate with certain characteristics based on ARVADA COMPREHENSIVE PLAN 6-5
the adjoining land uses, proximity to other facilities, and other factors. The road s functional classification describes these characteristics, and the street design standard identifies specific design parameters, rightof-way needs, and other measures. Arvada contains the following roadway functional classifications, described below: Freeways; Principal arterial parkways; Arterial parkways; Major collectors; Collectors; Minor collectors; and Local streets. The functional classification of a roadway reflects its role in the street and highway system and forms the basis for access management, corridor preservation, and street design guidelines and standards. Functional classification is a function of several elements including surrounding and adjacent land uses, continuity/connectivity with other roads, and access management. Existing roadways may not meet all of the desired characteristics described by their defined functions but can be upgraded as improvements to the roadway are made. Functional classifications for different roadway types are summarized as follows. Freeway/Interstate/Tollway Freeways provide the highest degree of mobility, designed to carry high traffic volumes at higher speeds and allow for longer-length trips. They are generally divided facilities. Examples include I-70, I- 76, U.S. 36, and the proposed Jefferson Parkway. Access These facilities have no direct land access. They rely on gradeseparated interchanges with no at-grade crossings or intersections. Principal Arterial Parkway Principal Arterial: 72 nd Avenue. Principal arterial parkways permit traffic flow through the urban area and between major destinations. They are important because they connect major traffic generators, such as commercial centers, to other major destinations. Principal arterial parkways carry a high 6-6 ARVADA COMPREHENSIVE PLAN
proportion of the total urban travel on a minimum of roadway mileage. A grid pattern of principal arterial parkways is often recommended for urban areas spaced at 1 to 2-mile intervals. Access Since movement, but not necessarily access is the primary function of principal arterial parkways, access management is essential to preserve capacity and enhance safety. Medians can be used to control potential conflict points and to separate opposing traffic movements. Left turn lanes are essential at intersections to maintain traffic mobility and enhance operations. Right turn deceleration lanes are desirable at intersections with significant turning activity. Design Principal arterial parkways are generally 4-lanes, with additional right-of-way necessary to accommodate auxiliary lanes in some cases. Arvada s design standards show 5-foot bicycle lanes on both sides of the roadway along with 12-foot green spaces (a tree-lawn between the sidewalk and curb), 8-foot sidewalks, and raised center medians. Arterial Parkway Arterial parkways collect and distribute traffic from and to streets with lower classifications. They serve secondary travel generators such as community business centers, neighborhood shopping centers, multifamily residential areas, allow for inter and intra-city travel and may provide connections between neighborhoods. A grid pattern of arterial parkways is often recommended for urban areas spaced at ½ to 1 mile intervals. Kipling Street arterial. Access Direct access to some land uses may be allowed depending on the street network, site trip generation and other design considerations. Access movements may be restricted or prohibited to enhance operations. Access points should be consolidated, shared or limited to the extent possible. Design Arvada s street design standards specify 4-lane arterial parkways with on-street bicycle lanes, tree-lawns, and sidewalks. No on-street parking is allowed. ARVADA COMPREHENSIVE PLAN 6-7
Major Collector Street Major collectors provide for land access and traffic circulation within and between residential neighborhoods and commercial and industrial areas. They distribute traffic movements from these areas to the arterial streets. Collectors typically accommodate trips of moderate length between arterials, collectors and specific destinations. Trip ends are typically intra-city and neighborhood based with some inter-city. A grid pattern of major collectors is often recommended for urban areas spaced at ¼ to ½ mile intervals. Access Access to land use activities is generally permitted, but should be consolidated, shared, or limited to the extent possible. Individual access from residential lots should be discouraged. Design Arvada s street design standards specify 3-lanes with on-street bicycle lanes, tree-lawns, and 5 sidewalks. On-street parking is discouraged, but if allowed, an additional 6 of roadway must be added to each side. Collector Street Collectors provide for land access and traffic circulation within and between residential neighborhoods, commercial and some industrial areas. They distribute traffic movements from these areas to the major collectors and arterial streets. In areas where arterial streets are adequately spaced, collector streets should penetrate and may traverse residential areas. A grid pattern of collectors is often recommended for urban areas spaced at 1/8 to ¼ mile intervals. Access Individual access from residential lots should be discouraged, but is accommodated in some cases. Design The cross section of a collector street may vary depending on the scale and density of adjacent land uses and the desired character of the local area. Center turn lanes may be required to enhance traffic operations. 6-8 ARVADA COMPREHENSIVE PLAN
Arvada s street design standards specify 2-lane collectors with onstreet bicycle lanes, tree-lawns, and sidewalks. Left turn lanes at intersections and center turn lanes should be considered where necessary. On-street parking is discouraged, but if allowed, an additional 6 of roadway must be added to each side. Minor Collector Street Minor collectors are intended to distribute traffic from adjacent land uses, either by direct access or through intersections with other collectors or local streets to the arterial network. They are characterized by lower speeds than major collectors and by the residential nature of land uses along them. A grid pattern of minor collectors is often recommended for urban areas spaced at 1/16 to 1/8 mile intervals. Access Direct access to abutting land uses is generally permitted however to the extent possible shared access should be considered between nonresidential uses. Access movement restrictions may be required in unique circumstances. Design Minor collectors are 2-lanes with on-street parking, and direct driveway access, tree-lawns and sidewalks. On-street bicycle lanes are not specified. Local Streets Local streets provide direct access to adjacent land uses and provide access to the street network via intersections with collectors. Direct access from a local street to an arterial is discouraged; however, in some cases it is necessary. In these cases, the access turn lane movement is restricted. Local streets offer the lowest level of mobility and the highest level of local property access. Traffic volumes are typically low and speeds relatively slow. Local streets typically make up the largest percentage of roadway mileage yet carry low traffic volumes. Arvada s roadway design standards for local streets vary based on traffic volumes and land use. Typical local street. ARVADA COMPREHENSIVE PLAN 6-9
Street Design Standards Each roadway type, or functional classification, is further described by the cross-sections of Arvada s Street Design Standards (found under separate cover). Transit System Plan Current Transit System Arvada is part of the Regional Transportation District s (RTD) service area, which provides fixed route bus and paratransit service for Arvada. The fixed route system currently includes approximately 16 local bus routes, seven (7) express routes, and two (2) regional routes that serve Arvada. Complementing the fixed route service is a series of Park-n-Ride lots in and around Arvada that provide convenient locations for parking and bus access/transfers. The Park-n-Ride lots include Ward Road at I-70, Olde Town Arvada, the Coal Creek lot at State Highway 93, and 92nd/Sheridan. Special Ride Services Paratransit and special ride services are also available to Arvada travelers through RTD s SeniorRide, Access-a-Ride programs, RockiesRide, BroncosRide, Ski-n-Ride, A-Line to Denver International Airport, and others. The Access-a-Ride service provides transportation for passengers with disabilities who are unable to use regular buses and who qualify for certification under the guidelines established by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Future Rail Transit The future of transit in Arvada will dramatically change with the construction of the FasTracks rail transit system throughout the Denver region. The Regional Transportation District s (RTD) FasTracks program approved by voters in 2004 is a plan for rail and expanded bus services throughout the region. For Arvada, the FasTracks program includes the Gold Line rail corridor that would run along the existing Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad providing stations at Ward Road, Arvada Ridge, Olde Town, and Sheridan. Stops are also planned for Federal and Pecos before continuing to Denver Union Station. The Transportation Plan (Figure 4) also shows the transit system, including the FasTracks Gold Line and the commuter rail line planned for the US 36 corridor. In addition, the plan shows two additional future rail study corridors. The City has discussed 6-10 ARVADA COMPREHENSIVE PLAN
Chapter 6 Transportation Plan Major Bicycle and Trails Corridors Wadsworth Boulevard and the Union Pacific Railroad during past transit planning efforts because the travel demand in these corridors makes them candidates for future rail transit. Local Bus Transit Configuration Because local bus routes will likely change, they are not shown on the Transportation Plan. Similarly, the regional and express bus routes will likely be modified by RTD in the coming years, so they are not included. Transit-Oriented Development The proposed transit stations along the Gold Line offer a unique opportunity to create special places in Arvada. It is likely that over time these locations will be redeveloped as mixed-use areas where people will live, work, shop, and play. Chapter 4 provides Transit- Oriented Development principles that address a mix of uses and design for the station areas. From a transportation standpoint, the City will consider the following principles in the planning and design of the transit stations. Rail transit stations should be multi-modal, with easy connections for pedestrians, buses, bikes, and Park-n-Ride. Transit stations should be multi-modal: Bicycle and pedestrian connections should connect directly into the station; Provide bike transport on buses and rail vehicles; Provide secure bicycle storage; and Provide parking and Park-n-Ride lots near the stations. Major Bicycle and Trails Corridors The Major Bicycle and Trails Corridor Plan (Figure 5) builds on the City s existing on-street bicycle lane network and off-street paths identified in the City of Arvada Parks and Open Space Master Plan. The Corridor Plan represents a composite framework that the staff, Comprehensive Plan Advisory Group, and the public evaluated for missing connections and other opportunities to improve the bicycle system. ARVADA COMPREHENSIVE PLAN 6-11
Olde Town sidewalks and pedestrian amenities. Pedestrian System Arvada s sidewalk and off-street path system provide multiple facilities for pedestrian travel throughout the City. Although often overlooked, the pedestrian system is significant because virtually every type of travel involves walking. The Pedestrian System focuses on two priorities: (1) Provide connections between developments and other travel modes, and (2) Establish pedestrian-friendly areas throughout the City. To support the pedestrian system and describe Arvada s future Pedestrian System, the following actions are helpful: Pedestrian Districts Establish focused pedestrian districts for the downtown and proposed Gold Line stations where pedestrian enhancements may exceed typical standards. Sidewalks should be fully integrated into the site design of the stations and provide direct connections to bus stops, local neighborhoods, and other sidewalks in the area. Enhance Development Standards for Pedestrian Districts Require new developments to provide pedestrian access to activities within a development site, to transit stops near the site, and sidewalks along streets bordering the site where appropriate. Missing Segments Continue to identify and complete missing segments of the sidewalk system where funding allows. Bicycle/Pedestrian Grade Separations Continue to study and implement strategic bike/pedestrian grade separations, but not commit to specific locations. Intersection Pedestrian Safety Continue to study and implement the strategic pedestrian safety improvements at intersections throughout the City. 6-12 ARVADA COMPREHENSIVE PLAN