Key Corridors As discussed in Chapter 2, Fuquay-Varina has been growing steadily and continual growth is anticipated. The impact of future growth will affect services and reshape geographies. However, the Town’s most vulnerable asset very well may be one of the driving factors behind the growth – major transportation corridors. In the future, these roadways will serve as the backdrop for strategies associated with transportation, land use, urban design, and economic development. Profiles for the Town’s key corridors were designed to provide more detail for these important assets, including a deeper understanding of existing conditions and an assessment of growth and development along and adjacent to the corridors. This information helped shape potential solutions to ease congestion, increase safety, and reflect the vision and goals for a balanced transportation system. The five corridors shown on the next pages represent conditions found throughout the study area including typical roadway cross-sections, heavy traffic congestion, commercial development adjacent to the roadway, and potential for significant growth. As a result, the solutions illustrated in this section can be applied to other peer corridors that were evaluated. By taking the proper steps now, key corridors can support new growth, accommodate increases in traffic, and contribute to the success of the overall transportation system. Broad Street Extension In addition to the key corridors covered in the following pages, a traffic capacity analysis was prepared to determine the impact of the Broad Street Extension, which is proposed to extend from Sunset Lake Road to Johnson Pond Road. Analysis was performed to determine how effective the extension would be in alleviating congestion on Sunset Lake Road and US 401 and to guide the Town in deciding whether funding should be allocated in the near term. In order to be consistent with information available from the regional travel demand model, 2040 was selected as the horizon year for the analysis. Existing turning movement counts were also used as a foundation for this analysis. Based on this analysis, it is anticipated that the proposed Broad Street Extension would result in a modest diversion of traffic from Main Street by providing development along Johnson Pond Road an alternate route to the commercial areas along Broad Street west of Sunset Lake Road. Analysis indicates that the proposed extension is expected to reduce delays at the intersections along Main Street, but would result in significantly higher delays at the intersection of Sunset Lake Road at Broad Street due to the addition of the 4th leg to this intersection. If the intersections of Main Street at Sunset Lake Road/Purfoy Road and Sunset Lake Road at Broad Street are considered together as a system, each vehicle going through these intersections is expected to experience slightly less delay with the Broad Street Extension in place than without; however, this benefit is expected to decrease over time as traffic volumes in this area increase. As future development occurs in this vicinity, additional improvements may be necessary at the intersection of Johnson Pond Road and Mill Creek Drive. Potential improvements may include additional turn lanes and, when warranted, conversion from the existing four-way stop to a signalized intersection. Additional information on this analysis can be found in Volume 2: Technical Documentation of the CTP.
Chapter 3: Roadway Element | page 3-12
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