Congestion Management System
Chapter 3: Congestion Identification
Using the three performance measures discussed previously, the roadway corridors, segments and intersections that meet the local definition of congestion are summarized in this section of the report.
All performance measures are combined in one chart for each segment of roadway to determine the overall level of congestion. In this manner, a segment will need to meet a minimum criterion under all three performance measures in order to be considered congested.
3.1 : Congestion Scoring System
A supplemental scoring system will be used to rank the segments by the level of congestion. The scoring system will rank all performance measures equally by assigning each category a “1” for Marginal congestion, a “2” for Moderate congestion, and a “3” for “Serious” congestion. The point totals for all three performance measure categories are added up for each roadway segment to allow determination of its overall congestion level.
Appendix A contains a summary scoring chart for all roadway segments in Knox County, and Appendix B contains the same for Blount County.
3.2: Congestion Identification Methodology
The scoring summary charts included in Appendices A and B were examined to locate the roadway segments with the highest point scores, both in the “Total” column as well as in individual performance measures. There are two types of congestion that the scoring charts were used to identify: (1) Congested Freeway and Non-Freeway Routes, and (2) Congested Hot Spot Locations. The congested freeway and non-freeway routes were determined by identifying where several consecutive segments qualified as congested, these sections were highlighted in “yellow” in the scoring charts.
The congested hot spot locations were defined as those which had a high number of points in the performance measure #3 category (stopped delay at intersections), or a “serious” congestion rating under either the AM or PM Travel Time segment rating. The congested spot locations could occur either in the middle of a congested route, which were highlighted in “blue” in the scoring chart, or in an isolated area, which was highlighted in “orange”. The spot locations that qualified as congested only under the serious AM or PM travel time rating were highlighted in “magenta”.
The subsequent sections in this chapter specify the minimum point levels needed in order to qualify as either a congested route or spot location.
3.3: Congested Freeway (Interstate) Routes
Since the Stopped Delay at Intersections performance measure does not apply to freeway sections, the highest possible segment point total would be “21” if each performance measure was listed as Serious Congestion (LOS F). A rating in each category of Moderate Congestion (LOS E) would result in a point total of “14”, and so on. Therefore the rankings of congestion for freeway sections will be as follows:
(1) Total segment points 7 – 14 = Marginal to Moderate Congestion
(2) Total segment points 15 – 21 = Serious Congestion
The point totals for all segments that comprise the entire congested freeway route are averaged together to arrive at the route’s “Base Points”. The base point total is then multiplied by the length of the congested route in order to determine its overall ranking among other congested freeway routes. The length of the congestion was used because it was felt that longer stretches of congestion should take a higher priority over shorter sections. TABLE 3-1 summarizes the rankings of congested freeway routes in Knox County (there are currently no congested freeway sections in Blount County).
Table 3-1 Rankings of Congested Freeway Routes in Knox County
Corridor |
Segment Limits |
Base Points |
Length of Section (Miles) |
TOTAL |
| F1. I-40 (west segment) |
Watt Rd to James White Pkwy |
10.00 |
19.41 |
194.10 |
| F2. I-640 |
Broadway to I-40 (west side) |
8.75 |
5.90 |
51.63 |
| F3. I-40 (east segment) |
Rutledge Pk to James White Pkwy |
9.33 |
3.52 |
32.84 |
| F4. I-275 |
I-40 to I-640 |
8.25 |
2.98 |
24.59 |
| F5. James White Parkway |
I-40 to Summit Hill Dr |
8.50 |
0.44 |
3.74 |
3.4: Congested Non-Freeway Routes
Using the same methodology as above for regular surface roadway segments, the highest possible segment score is “27” since there are nine separate performance measure categories, with a three being the highest score in each. Therefore, the congestion rankings for non-freeway segments are as follows:
(1) Total segment points 9 – 18 = Marginal to Moderate Congestion
(2) Total segment points 19 – 27 = Serious Congestion
The following tables summarize by corridor, the rankings of congested roadway segments on non-freeway routes in Knox and Blount counties. Since there are several routes in Knox County, they will be further divided in four priority groups based on logical breaks in point totals. Map 7 includes all congested segments.
Table 3-2 Congestion Ranking for Knox County Non-Freeway Routes
Corridor |
Segment Limits |
Base Points |
Length of Section (Miles) |
TOTAL |
PRIORITY 1 |
| 1. Tazewell Pike |
Broadway to Emory Rd |
11.80 |
8.31 |
98.06 |
| 2. Emory Road |
Clinton Hwy to Maynardville Hw |
11.10 |
8.28 |
91.91 |
| 3. Middlebrook Pike |
Lovell Rd to 44th St |
9.42 |
9.03 |
85.06 |
| 4. Broadway/Maynardville Hwy |
Grainger Ave to Emory Rd |
10.80 |
7.20 |
77.76 |
| 5. Oak Ridge Highway |
Pellissippi Pkwy to Schaad Rd |
10.00 |
7.58 |
75.80 |
PRIORITY 2 |
| 6. Lovell Road |
Kingston Pk to Middlebrook Pk |
11.00 |
4.89 |
53.79 |
| 7. Kingston Pike |
Peters Rd to Bearden Rd |
10.30 |
4.86 |
50.06 |
| 8. Chapman Highway |
Gov. John Sevier Hwy to Martin Mill Pk |
9.33 |
4.80 |
44.78 |
| 9. Neyland Drive |
Kingston Pk to Walnut St |
15.00 |
2.58 |
38.70 |
| 10. Western Avenue |
Schaad Rd to I-640 |
9.70 |
3.97 |
38.51 |
| 11. Gov. John Sevier Highway |
Straw Plains Pk to Asheville Hwy |
11.50 |
2.70 |
31.05 |
| 12. Kingston Pike |
Campbell Station Rd to Capital Pl |
10.00 |
3.07 |
30.70 |
PRIORITY 3 |
| 13. Weisgarber Road |
Papermill Dr to Middlebrook Pk |
19.00 |
1.51 |
28.69 |
| 14. Gleason Drive |
Downtown West Blvd to Ebenezer Rd |
12.50 |
2.11 |
26.38 |
| 15. Clinton Highway |
I-640 to Murray Dr |
11.50 |
2.17 |
24.96 |
| 16. Kingston Pike |
Lyons View Pk to Alcoa Hwy |
11.20 |
2.18 |
24.42 |
| 17. Cedar Bluff Road |
Kingston Pk to Middlebrook Pk |
10.10 |
2.19 |
22.12 |
| 18. Northshore Drive |
Morrell Rd to Lyons View Pk |
10.00 |
2.21 |
22.10 |
PRIORITY 4 |
| 19. Western Avenue |
Texas Ave to University Ave |
11.00 |
1.68 |
18.48 |
| 20. Campbell Station Road |
Farragut H.S. Entrance to I-40 WB Ramps |
15.25 |
1.18 |
18.00 |
| 21. Morrell Road |
Northshore Dr to Westland Dr |
18.50 |
0.95 |
17.58 |
| 22. Vanosdale Road |
Kingston Pk to Middlebrook Pk |
14.30 |
0.98 |
14.01 |
| 23. Clinton Highway |
Beaver Creek Dr (S) to Emory Rd (N) |
10.30 |
1.18 |
12.15 |
| 24. Papermill Drive |
Kingston Pk to Northshore Dr |
10.50 |
0.96 |
10.08 |
| 25. Henley Street |
Blount Ave to Summit Hill Dr |
11.50 |
0.84 |
9.66 |
| 26. Concord Street |
Sutherland Ave to Kingston Pk |
17.00 |
0.49 |
8.33 |
| 27. Cumberland Avenue |
Alcoa Hwy N Ramps to 18th St |
11.60 |
0.54 |
6.26 |
| 28. Merchant Drive |
Merchants Center Blvd to Central Ave |
10.00 |
0.31 |
3.10 |
Table 3-3 Congestion Ranking for Blount County Non-Freeway Routes
Corridor |
Segment Limits |
Base Points |
Length of Section (Miles) |
TOTAL |
| 1. Broadway (east section) |
Jackson Hills Dr to Cusick St |
9.33 |
3.74 |
34.89 |
| 2. Broadway (west section) |
Cusick St to Alcoa Hwy |
11.67 |
1.56 |
18.21 |
3.5: Identification of Congestion Hot Spots
Finally, the CMS will identify the locations of the roadway system that are experiencing the largest concentrations of peak period traffic and delays. This performance measure allows a more refined approach to identify the most seriously congested areas within the previously identified corridors in order to target the main problems causing the congestion, because a few deficient locations can trigger long backups that can spread throughout the system. The deficient areas most often consist of a “bottleneck” situation caused by lane reductions or the need for turn lanes; or intersections where the traffic control device (traffic signal or stop sign) is not operating efficiently.
There are two types of congestion hot spots that have been identified: (1) Congested Intersections, and (2) Congested Corridor Subsections.
Congested Intersections
A congested intersection was identified through the use of Performance Measure #3 – Stopped Delay. The points that each segment received for performance measure #3 in both the AM and PM peak periods were added together and measured against the following criteria to determine whether the intersection is congested:
(1) Total points 2 – 4 = Marginal to Moderate Congestion
(2) Total points 5 or greater = Serious Congestion
The tables below (Table 3.4 and Table 3.5) list the intersections that met the above criteria in Knox and Blount counties, and are informally ranked based on the number of points that were received, and whether multiple legs of the intersection are experiencing delays.
Congested Corridor Subsections
The congested corridor subsections definition is used to identify short sections of consecutive segments that are experiencing significant delays within the previously identified congested non-freeway corridors. The identification of congested subsections aids in facilitating the discussion of appropriate mitigation strategies for the congested corridors by targeting the major problem-causing areas along the corridor.
The congested corridor subsections were identified as locations where two or more consecutive segments met the criteria for congested intersections noted above, or scored a “3” (serious congestion rating) in either the AM or PM Travel Time Segment Rating category. The congested corridor subsections are detailed in Appendix C where summaries of each corridor’s characteristics have been provided.
Map 8 shows the locations of the congestion hot spots in the study area.
TABLE 3-4: Congested Intersections in Knox County Intersection Intersection
Intersection |
Intersection |
1. Concord St and Kingston Pk |
30. Morrell Rd and Gleason Dr |
2. Concord St and Sutherland Ave |
31. Merchant Dr and Pleasant Ridge Rd |
3. Byington-Beaver Ridge Rd and Oak Ridge Hwy |
32. Northshore Dr and Kingston Pk |
4. Gallaher View Rd and Kingston Pk |
33. Lovell Rd and Parkside Dr |
5. Peters Rd and Cedar Bluff Rd |
34. Emory Rd and I-75 S Ramps |
6. Gleason Dr and Gallaher View Dr |
35. Campbell Station Rd and Parkside Dr |
7. Papermill Rd and Weisgarber Rd |
36. Sutherland Ave and Liberty St |
8. Vanosdale Rd and Middlebrook Pk |
37. 17th St and Highland Ave |
9. Emory Rd (South) and Clinton Hwy |
38. Maynardville Hwy and Crippen Rd |
10. Lovell Rd and Middlebrook Pk |
39. Maynardville Hwy and Brown Gap Rd |
11. Merchant Dr and Clinton Hwy |
40. Cumberland Ave and 22nd St |
12. Papermill Rd and Northshore Dr |
41. Weisgarber Rd and Lonas Rd |
13. Tazewell Pk and Emory Rd |
42. Millertown Pk and Wal-Mart/Mall Entr |
14. Woodland Ave and Broadway |
43. Broadway and Jacksboro Pk |
15. Emory Rd and Maynardville Pk |
44. Gov. John Sevier Hwy and Alcoa Hwy |
16. Kingston Pk and Morrell Rd |
45. Emory Rd and Andersonville Pk |
17. Central St and Merchant Dr |
46. Middlebrook Pk and 44th St |
18. Morrell Rd and Westland Dr |
47. Rutledge Pk and Loves Creek Rd |
19. Campbell Station Rd and Kingston Pk |
48. Cumberland Ave and 13th St |
20. Broadway and Summit Hill Dr |
49. Western Ave and 11th St |
21. Cedar Bluff Rd and Middlebrook Pk |
50. Millertown Pk and Loves Creek Rd |
22. John Sevier Hwy and Asheville Hwy |
51. Rutledge Pk and Knoxville Zoo Dr |
23. Broadway and Central St |
52. Central St and Fifth Ave |
24. Middlebrook Pk and Sutherland Ave |
53. Cherry St and I-40 W Ramps |
25. Cumberland Ave and Henley St |
54. Cumberland Ave and Gay St |
26. Westland Dr (North) and Ebenezer Rd |
55. Washington Pk and I-640W Ramps |
27. Ebenezer Rd and Northshore Dr |
56. Westland Dr and I-140W Ramps |
28. Kingston Pk and Lovell Rd |
57. Gov. John Sevier Hwy and Martin Mill Pk |
29. 17th St and Western Ave |
|
TABLE 3-5: Congested Intersections in Blount County Intersection
| Intersection |
| B1. Broadway and Cusick St |
| B2. Broadway and Lamar Alexander Pkwy |
| B3. Lamar Alexander Pkwy and Montvale Rd |
| B4. Alcoa Hwy and Lamar Alexander Pkwy |
| B5. Montvale Rd and Boardman Ave |
| B6. Calderwood St and Bessemer St |
| B7. Broadway and Wildwood Rd/Lincoln Rd |
| B8. Lamar Alexander Pkwy and Cherokee St |
