The Mid-Colonial ITE District-which encompasses Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Washington DC, and parts of New Jersey and Virginia and combines the Washington DC Section of ITE (WDCSITE) and the Mid-Atlantic Section of ITE (MASITE)-is preparing to host their Annual Meeting from April 26-28, 2021. Four Kittelson staff members will be part of the tech session lineup, and many more of us look forward to attending and connecting with colleagues and friends (and making new ones) at this event!
The virtual event will include a variety of technical sessions, a “State of the District” update, a women’s breakfast, a virtual traffic bowl, and virtual coffee lounges between sessions. Find the full schedule on the annual meeting’s website, and scroll for a preview of our tech session topics. With any questions about our sessions or the event, you can contact Burak Cesme, who is currently serving as president of WDCSITE, or Jon Crisafi, who is on the event planning committee.
FREEVAL-PA
Bastian Schroeder, Principal Engineer
Alexandra Jahnle, Senior Engineer
FREEVAL-PA is a PennDOT-specific customization of FREEVAL, a software tool that that implements the HCM freeway facility and freeway reliability methods to simplify freeway analyses, enabling PennDOT staff and consultants to quickly obtain information about what traffic impacts they’ll see from different types of construction and maintenance projects on any limited-access highway facility in the state. In addition to the HCM, FREEVAL-PA is programmed with the roadway characteristics of every freeway segment in Pennsylvania, along with traffic volume and speed data, weather data, terrain data. In this presentation, Bastian Schroeder and Alexandra Jahnle will provide case studies that show how FREEVAL-PA can be used to evaluate long-term work zone impacts and staging alternatives, compare capital facility improvements to TSM&O strategy alternatives, and predict the impacts of short-term work zone activities.
A North/South Connector for Lancaster: The Water Street Bicycle/Pedestrian Boulevard
Laura Ahramjian, Associate Planner
The City of Lancaster has been progressively implementing bicycle and stormwater infrastructure throughout the downtown. As a follow-up to the recently adopted Lancaster County Active Transportation Plan, Kittelson is leading the design of a mile-long bicycle and pedestrian boulevard through the downtown on Water Street. Public involvement for the project has included a pop-up event and a large-scale fabric aerial of the corridor used to engage community members on their “Hopes, Fears, and Wonders” for the project. The final concepts were then shared at a public meeting that received strong support for the project. Kittelson continues to manage this effort as it progresses through preliminary design and construction and will be coordinating with an environmental artist to incorporate public art along the people-centered bike/ped boulevard.
“Watchdogs” for Traffic Signals: Performance-Based Management of Traffic Signals using ATSPMs
Burak Cesme, Senior Engineering Associate and President of WDCSITE
Automated traffic signal performance measures (ATSPMs) use the high-resolution logging capability of signal controllers, which provide signal state and detector state data every tenth of a second. ATSPMs have been a hot topic in the industry as they support performance-based maintenance and operations strategies for agencies. In this presentation, Burak Cesme will share how Kittelson and PennDOT leveraged ATSPMs to identify existing operational issues and improve intersection conditions at an intersection in Hollidaysburg, PA.
Making Signalized Intersections Work for Pedestrians and Bicycles
Burak Cesme, Senior Engineering Associate and President of WDCSITE
While the state of practice for signal timing and design has long been focused on motorized vehicles, agency goals are moving in a direction to integrate non-motorized users at signalized intersections. However, knowledge gaps and institutional barriers limit the resources practitioners have in order to implement policies, like Vision Zero, that foster “safe, effective, and efficient intersections” for all users. Burak Cesme will introduce a project, NCHRP 03-133: Traffic Signal Design and Operations Strategies for Non-Motorized Users, that provides a toolbox of treatment strategies for non-motorized users at signalized intersections, including those with disabilities. This project develops multimodal signal timing and a design process that prioritizes the integration of all users, supported by a user-friendly multimodal signal design and strategy toolbox.