improved, such as providing a better connection to/from Bell Shoals Road to Lumsden Road or providing an extension of the Brandon Parkway. Any of the proposed Lithia Pinecrest Road widening improvement projects will allow vehicles to travel more easily on Lithia Pinecrest Road, but will eventually lead to increased congestion on the major east-west roadways of Bloomingdale Avenue, Lumsden Road, and SR 60 if proper widening accommodations aren’t met. The full Lumsden Road widening would provide the greatest benefit. The Providence Lakes Road connection improvement would also facilitate improved east-west travel on the western end of the network. Since none of alternative sets provided a substantial network-wide benefit but several of the individual projects appeared to be beneficial, Alternative Set 8 was created using the initial seven alternatives' most promising improvements. The Alternative Set 8 improvement projects (Improvement Project 2, 4, 5, 6, and 11) were modeled and results were compared against the E+C+LP model. The performance results for Alternative Set 8 is shown in Tables 5 and 6 and graphically depicted on Figures 45 and 46. The V/C ratio of Alternative Set 8 is compared to the E+C+LP model and color coded based on the significance of the percent change. The combination of the improvement projects under Alternative Set 8 would provide additional capacity on some of the network’s most utilized roadways, while also forming additional connections between them. The results indicate that in the AM peak period, Alternative Set 8 experiences a significant positive change on three of the study segments, a significant negative change on two of the study segments, and no significant change on three of the study segments. However, the segments with negative change, are expected to operate at a V/C ratio under 1.00. The connection between Bell Shoals Road and Lumsden Road, along with the Brandon Parkway extension, draw traffic away from northbound Lithia
Pinecrest Road, ultimately helping to reduce V/C ratios by spreading out the traffic. The PM peak period results show that Alternative Set 8 experiences a significant positive change on three of the study segments, a significant negative change on three of the study segments, and no significant change on two of the study segments. One of these segments with negative change is along southbound Lithia Pinecrest Road, between Bloomingdale Avenue and Fishhawk Boulevard, has approximately 1.75 fewer miles of widening compared to the E+C+LP model, which may explain why the V/C ratio increased in the Alternative Set 8. Similar to the AM peak period, new connections within the network provide additional options for drivers, which spreads out the traffic to different roadways reducing or maintaining V/C ratios as compared to the E+C+LP model. Based on these findings and comparison with E+C+LP alternative, Alternative Set 8 is the recommended alternative.
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