Congestion Management System

Chapter 6: Strategy Implementation

As this will be the first true implementation of a congestion management system in the Knoxville Urban Area, it will be necessary to start simple and gradually expand the role of the CMS in the planning process of the TPO. A great number of other transportation planning efforts are either underway or recently completed that can benefit from the CMS in setting priorities for capital project selection. These plans can also be used to identify which strategies can apply in certain corridors, taking the “guesswork” out of the process. For example, in prioritizing bicycle facility improvements with the Bicycle Plan update, it will be helpful to know which corridors can benefit most from a mode shift from automobiles to bicycles.

6.1: Other Planning Studies:
Examples of the other planning efforts include:

(1) Regional Transportation Alternatives Plan (RTAP)–Completed in fall 2001, the RTAP study determined the potential for support of alternative modes, particularly those of public transportation throughout a nine county regional area.

(2) Knoxville Area Transit (KAT) Action Plan – Currently underway, this plan will be used to determine appropriate transit service enhancements.

(3) ITS Regional Architecture – An ITS Regional Architecture was developed using stakeholder input, which determined appropriate user services and ITS strategies that should be deployed in the Knoxville region.

(4) Traffic Operations Survey – Through a survey that was administrated by the TPO entitled Traffic Department Operations in the Southeast; A Comparison with Knoxville, TN, it was determined that the City of Knoxville Traffic Department is underfunded when compared with 36 other cities in the southeast. The average funding per signal was calculated to be $11,045.98 per signal. Funding in Knoxville is $5,405.71 per signal. It was determined that with increased funding the traffic department will be able to obtain more resources to assist in data collection, signal timing updating and an intersection improvement program.

(5) Bicycle Plan – The Bicycle Plan for the Knoxville Regional TPO is being updated and is currently under development. This plan will identify appropriate actions that can be made to enhance the opportunities for bicycle travel in the Knoxville urban area. These actions include improving roadways to accommodate bicyclists and providing storage and parking areas for bicycles at key destination areas.

(6) Transportation Management System Deployment – The first comprehensive deployment of ITS technologies is being proposed by the Tennessee Department of Transportation and will involve instrumentation along 40+ miles of interstate and freeway facilities in Knox County. The project is applying user services that were identified in the ITS Regional Architecture to address congestion on the freeway facilities by monitoring traffic with closed-circuit cameras, vehicle speed detection, and providing motorist information through dynamic message signs (DMS).

Table 6-1 describes the routes that will be instrumented with ITS elements under this project.

TABLE 6-1: Routes Instrumented with ITS Elements

Route	ITS Project Limits
I- 40	west of Lovell Rd (Exit 374) to east of Asheville Hwy (Exit 394)
I- 640	I-40 at Exit 385 to I-40 at Exit 393
I-140/SR 162	1.5 Miles South of I-40 to north of Dutchtown Road
I-75	I-640/I-275 to north of Merchant Drive/Cedar Lane (Exit 108)
I-275	I-40 to I-75
US Route 129	I-40 to south of Cherokee Trail/UT Medical Center Exit

 

6.2: Projects Included in the FY 2002 – 2004 Transportation Improvement Program
In addition to the planning efforts noted above, there are many corridors that were identified as congested in this analysis that have projects currently under construction or some phase of development that may address the congestion issues.

Table 6-2 shows all current phases of transportation projects that are programmed in the TPO’s Fiscal Year 2002–2004 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) for segments identified as congested. Also included in the table is the timeframe for which the phase of work is anticipated to begin and the TIP project number for reference. This cross-reference should eliminate any duplication of analysis that has already been performed.

 

TABLE 6-2: Projects in FY 2002–2004 TIP

Corridor	Segment	Phase of Work	Work Description	Year	TIP Project #
1. Tazewell Pike	Broadway to Jacksboro Pk	Engineering	Widen Roadway	2002	18
2. Emory Road	Gill Rd to Bishop Rd	Construction	Widen to 5-lanes	2002	9
2. Emory Road	Clinton Hwy to Gill Rd	Construction	Widen to 5-lanes	2003	10
2. Emory Road	Bishop Rd to Norris Frwy	Construction	Widen to 5-lanes	2004	8
3. Middlebrook Pike	Hardin Valley Rd to Cedar Bluff Rd	Construction	Widen to 4-lane divided	2002	Committed
4. Broadway/ Maynardville Hwy	Emory Rd to Union County Line	Construction	Widen to 5-lanes	2002	Committed
6. Lovell Road	Interchange at I-40 to Gilbert Road	Construction	Interchange Improvements	2002	Under Const.
6. Lovell Road	Gilbert Rd to Shaeffer Rd	Right-of-way	Widen to 5-lanes	2002	24
10. Western Avenue	Schaad Rd to Copper Kettle Rd	Construction	Widen to 5-lanes	2004	34
13. Weisgarber Road	Papermill Dr to Middlebrook Pk	Construction	Widen to 5-lanes	2002	Under Const.
16. Kingston Pike	Noelton Dr to Lyons View Pk	Construction	Intersection Improvements	2002	Committed
19. Western Avenue	Texas Ave to Keith Ave	Engineering	Widen Roadway	2002	35
F1. I-40	Papermill Dr to I-640	Construction	Widen Roadway	2002	Committed
F1. I-40	Winston Rd to Papermill Dr	Right-of-way	Widen Roadway	2002	15, 16
F2. I-640	Broadway to I-275	Construction	Widen Roadway	2002	Committed

 

The implementation of strategies that have been identified in this plan will be forwarded for possible inclusion in the next update of the TIP and future Long Range Transportation Plan(LRTP). The TIP will incorporate a project selection process which prioritizes projects based on an updated scoring criteria based on the goals and objectives of the LRTP, of which congestion management will certainly be a factor.

The adoption of this CMS plan is occurring at a very opportune time since the project selection process used for the TIP is due for a complete overhaul. The recommendations and results of the CMS can be directly tied into the new project ranking system that will be developed by the TPO.

6.3: Funding Sources
Projects that have been identified in the CMS will be eligible under several sources of funding programs, most notably Federal Surface Transportation Program (STP) funds, and Federal Congestion Management and Air Quality Improvement (CMAQ) funds, which the TPO currently receives, for Knox County only, as a Maintenance Area for Ozone.

6.4 : CMS Process Flow Chart
The CMS process is fairly complicated so a flow chart is included to facilitate future operations. Figure 2 depicts the steps needed to continue the CMS process for future applications.

The most important aspect of the CMS that needs to be stressed is that it is a continuous process. The process does not end after the adoption of this plan, but rather will be updated to remain current when future LRTPs or TIPs are prepared. Therefore, it will be necessary to complete full-scale updates to the CMS every three years at minimum. The three-year timeframe will allow enough time for data collection and analysis, however updates for the congested routes can be provided more frequently as deemed necessary.

 

Figure 2: Flowchart for Congestion Management System