March 2018
Transportation Impact Analysis Central Washington University
Near Term Projects The City of Ellensburg plans to modify the intersection of University Way & Wildcat Way to add left turn pockets on University Way as well as permitted-protected left turn phases on each approach. Protected left turns at the intersection will reduce pedestrian versus left- turn vehicle conflicts, as they can each have a dedicated phase. Protecting the lefts will also reduce through-left conflicts, which could reduce the likelihood of this type of crash. Overall delay for vehicles at the intersection will increase due to the additional time required for the new phases. Additionally, the City and University will be constructing two mid-block pedestrian crossings of Dean Nicholson Boulevard, first between Walnut Street and Alder Street, and soon after between Wildcat Way and Walnut Street. The crossing east of Walnut is proposed to include pedestrian activated warning lights as well as a pedestrian refuge island in the median. In order to maintain consistency of treatments along the Dean Nicholson corridor, the new crossing west of Walnut should include the same design elements. These crossings will likely move some volume of pedestrians away from the existing crosswalks at Walnut & Dean Nicholson. The intersection of Dean Nicholson Boulevard & Walnut Street was analyzed with existing pedestrian volumes to study the highest level of pedestrian/vehicle conflicts. Pedestrian volumes were higher on the north leg of this intersection during the 15 minutes prior to the vehicle peak hour. To analyze the worst-case scenario these higher pedestrian volumes were included in the traffic operations analysis. Analysis Periods The weekday PM peak hour was chosen as the analysis period for this study. Traffic is generally highest during the weekday PM peak hour, thus analysis of impacts at this period tends to show the highest impact scenario for a given study intersection. Analysis Methodology Level of Service (LOS) describes the operating performance of an intersection or roadway. LOS is measured quantitatively and reported on a scale from A to F, with A representing the best performance and F the worst.
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