Metro area highway investment: Technology-based and multi-modal
Fiscal constraints lead to development of new long-term vision
Managing congestion in the Twin Cities metropolitan area over the next 20 or even 50 years will require a new approach, transportation officials said Jan. 28.
The era of expanding highways to address additional capacity needs is over, said Arlene McCarthy, director of transportation services for the Metropolitan Council. Instead, transportation officials will recommend many strategies to manage congestion across the metropolitan highway system, from additional technology to strategic capacity enhancements.
Implementation of more miles of high-occupancy toll lanes is one strategy this region will likely employ to manage congestion in the future.
Officials delivered this approach to state and local officials at a day-long workshop. The meeting served as a kickoff to public outreach related to the Metropolitan Highway System Investment Study, an effort already under way to create a short-term and long-term vision for transportation and congestion-management investments in the region.
“Our challenges call for an upgraded 21st century response, a technology-based, multi-modal approach for a managed highway system,” said Tom Sorel, commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Transportation (Mn/DOT).
The study is a joint effort of MnDOT and the Council. It will result, by May, in a new 50-year vision of transportation investments, as well as a specific plan for highway investments through 2030. The study will also lead to an amendment to the Council’s 2030 Transportation Policy Plan, for consideration by the Council before the end of 2010.
Fiscal challenges prompt new strategies
Severe fiscal challenges will dictate the resources available for highway investment over the next several decades, officials said. Estimates show that building enough capacity on the metro-area highway system to significantly reduce anticipated congestion would costs more than $40 billion over the next 20 years.
Norman Foster, chief financial officer for Mn/DOT, said the most optimistic outlooks for transportation revenue show that only $7 billion will be available for projects, and a majority of those funds would be dedicated to bridges and preservation/maintenance projects.
Of the $6 billion estimated for road improvements in the metro area in the next 20 years, only $900 million, or 17%, will be available for capacity and major safety investments to address congestion – not nearly enough to build several large expansion projects. See larger version of chart (pdf).
During the development of the 2030 Transportation Policy Plan, adopted in early 2009, 12 major expansion projects included in previous plans had to be removed because of a lack of anticipated revenue to implement them. The cost of these projects was estimated in 2008 at $2.9 billion. The road construction program for the metropolitan area through 2030 includes only $900 million for capacity and major safety improvements, like those needed to address the congestion issues.
The 12 projects would only address issues in a handful of locations throughout the region. “This is a sobering reality that all of us need to recognize,” said Council Chair Peter Bell.
“We need to think more creatively about how to address those issues and manage congestion across the entire region,” he said. “The sad fact is we simply will not have the necessary revenue to meet project expectations.”
Metro-area highway investment is about the choice between a few major projects over the long-term or a much larger number of smaller, targeted investments that solve specific congestion issues.
‘Low-cost, high-benefit’ solutions to better manage capacity
Bell referred to so-called “low-cost, high-benefit” solutions to better manage existing capacity. These solutions include:
- More aggressive traffic management techniques, such as the message boards throughout the highway system that indicate incidents and travel times.
- Strategic capacity and safety improvements, such as extending auxiliary traffic lanes, as was done on I-94 in Maplewood between McKnight Road and Century Avenue, as well as on Highway 100 between 36th Street and Cedar Lake Road.
- New managed lanes, like the MnPass lanes on I-394 and I-35W, which allow a more reliable trip for high-occupancy vehicles (such as buses and carpools) and individuals willing to pay.
- Supporting strategies such as land use changes and additional transit investments.
The addition of a lane in each direction on Highway 100 near Minnetonka Blvd. is an example of a relatively low-cost project that has resulted in a big improvement in the movement of vehicles through the corridor.
The region also has the nation’s largest network of bus-only shoulders, with nearly 300 miles system-wide, which will smooth the transition to some of these new strategies for system-wide management.
Many of these techniques are not new to the Twin Cities metro area. Scott McBride, chief engineer for Mn/DOT’s Metro District, explained the numerous pieces of the region’s “active traffic management system” – including traffic cameras, automobile sensors, ramp meters, HOV and MnPASS lanes, and freeway incident response trucks. All of these resources feed traffic information sources, including 511 traveler information available via phone and the Internet.
McBride suggested it’s important to be able to take advantage of technologies and other methods to better manage congestion. “We are doing things today we didn’t know we’d be doing 10 years ago, so we will continue to develop new operations and management tools as we go along,” he said.
The impact of land use and how congestion pricing has been used, primarily in European countries, to either reduce congestion or raise revenue was also discussed. Guests from other regions provided information about their specific experiences with congestion management.
Study doesn’t include exploration of broad new revenue scheme
Though some congestion-related pricing strategies will be explored in the study, it doesn’t currently include exploration of a new broad revenue scheme, such as one to replace the gas tax. McCarthy noted that while the study will focus primarily on creating a reservoir of projects that will reduce congestion, it also creates a more flexible plan to allow for the region to better leverage technologies as they emerge and revenues that become available. The ultimate goal is to have priorities in place in the event additional revenue becomes available.
Active traffic management techniques, like this sign alerting commuters to an accident ahead, help to manage congestion.
Sen. Ken Kelash from Minneapolis asked whether the study is including discussion of public-private partnerships to leverage additional revenue. MnDOT has created an office to explore these opportunities. The study will provide the prioritized projects, McCarthy said, and the study will need to address concerns about projects jumping ahead in the queue if funds become available.
Highway congestion impacts local roads, mayor says
Plymouth Mayor Kelli Slavik asked whether the management techniques will include assessment of the impact on local streets. She said Plymouth residents know when there’s an accident on I-494, because cars are using their local roads that are not equipped to handle that additional capacity. “It’s a burden on the city,” she said.
David Ungemah, a consultant and project manager of the highway investment study with Parsons Brinckerhoff, noted that the model being used to assess projects throughout the region also identifies how a change on a major road affects the local streets within a certain radius. He also said a more active traffic management system region-wide could allow for some dynamic re-routing of traffic with better information for motorists.
Outreach to public officials and stakeholders will continue throughout the study, McCarthy said, and the formal process to amend the Transportation Policy Plan, including public hearings and accepting public comment, will take place in the late summer and fall. The Council expects to consider the plan amendment before the end of 2010.