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HomeMy WebLinkAboutNF Transportation Study Scope of Services Scope of Services North Fork Transportation Study Towns of Riverhead and Southold Suffolk County, New York PIN O8O489 OUTLINE The New York State Deparmaent of Transportation (Department) will conduct a transportation study of the North Fork of Long Island, defined for the purpose of this study as beginning in the west at the terminus of the Long Island Expressway in the Town of Riverhead and extending east to the Orient Point Terminal Facility for the Cross Sound Ferry, in eastem Southold Town, and also including Shelter Island. The study will be a detailed complement to the Long Island Transportation Plan to Manage Congestion (LITP 2000) study and will further develop the elements of that study into corridor specific local recommendations. The plan will provide the Department and the Towns of Riverhead, Southold and Shelter Island with an overview of the total transportation system now and in the future and identify where sa'ategies best fit to maximize safety, mobility, and system capacity while maintaining as much of the rural character of the North Fork as possible. Project Description The North Fork Transportation Study (NFTS) Area is located on the eastem end of Long Island. The western terminus of the study area is the eastern terminus of the Long Island Expressway and includes the eastern half of the Town of Riverhead and all of the Towns of Southold and Shelter Island. It is a unique area which has maintained its rural character, while its neighbors to the west have become increasingly urbanized. The principal goal of the NFTS is to meet the future transportation needs of the community while maintaining, and if practical improving the rural quality of life on the North Fork. The following specific work tasks will be included in the study. Task 1 - Conduct Community/Local Agency Participation Program Establish a local technical advisory group (TAG) consisting of the New York State Department of Transportation, and Town officials particularly fi-om the Town Planning Departments. The TAG would also include representation from the Suffolk County DPW, Suffolk Transit and Long Island Railroad. The TAG would meet periodically through the course of the project to keep local government advised of progress and to gain input into the project. Disk //488, File: Scope-3.wl3d Page No. 1 Task 2 - Conduct two public information meetings. The first meeting will follow the collection and analysis of data including a complete inventory of the existing highway, rail, bus, bicycle, pedestrian, and ferry systems. Prior to the first meeting, it is anticipated that future "No-Build" conditions will have also been defined. At this first meeting, existing and .potential future problems will be identified by the Consultant. It will also be an opportunity for the community to identify other prob)ems and recommend possible solutions. The second meeting will be held following the evaluation of all possible solutions via a "fatal flaw" procedure and modeling. The community will then have an opportunity to review and comment on ail of the proposed solutions. Respond to public comment on matters pertaining to the study as directed by the Department. During the course of this study periodic meetings will be held to discuss the progress of the study which is estimated to take 20 months. It will be the Consultant's responsibility to document all meetings. Traffic Safety Study and Data Collection Data Collection - Data will be collected to support the traffic safety study and the needs of the corridor modeling efforts under Task 7. Data collection will consist of the following efforts. Inventory of the existing highway system with particular emphasis on those roadways listed in Attachment A. The inventory will consist of cataloguing the number of lanes, presence of shoulders, speed limits, parking, sidewalks, turning prohibitions and other characteristics of the roadway deemed necessary for analysis. Detailed information on traffic control, lane widths, and presence of significant grades will be collected at all intersections of two or more of the listed roadways. Traffic flow data will be collected as follows: Five day Automatic Traffic Recorder (ATR) counts on all of the designated roadways (Attachment A). Intersection Turning movement counts at all intersections of two or more of the designated roadways. Travel, time, speed and delay runs on the two major east/west roadways. Disk #488, File: Scol>e-3.w~3d Page No. 2 do Radar spot speed studies on the designated roadways. Vehicle Classification Counts at 6 locations. Vehicle occupancy data at 6 locations. Post Card Origin and Destination Surveys at five locations to be conducted in the early fall (or mid summer). Determine the future improvement plans of the NYSDOT, SCDPW, Town of Southold, Town of Riverhead, Town of Shelter Island, Long Island Rail Road, ferry services and the Suffolk County transit. Safety Study Accident Analysis: Review accident summaries from the SASS and CLASS systems for the most recent three years and identify the highest accident segments of roadway. Also request local police to identify locations thought to be accident problems, as well as, pedestrian crossing problems, if any. Obtain latest three years source accident documents and prepare collision diagrams for each location identified above. If traffic flow data is unavailable, obtain it. Perform capacity analysis for identified highway segments and intersections to determine potential for capacity induced safety problems. Document the results of the data collection efforts and safety study in a Technical Memoranda (No. I) which will examine the existing conditions in the Study Area. TM1 will also document the results of the existing conditions analyses of Tasks 3, 4 and 5. The North Fork has undergone significant recent conversion of conventional farms to nurseries, greenhouses and vineyards, with and without wineries, as well as tourists-related services and attraction supporting those uses. Information in the recent conversion as well as any for which applications are on file with the Towns will be obtained for the three Towns in the study area. The locations of these, as well as any other developments identified as having a potentially significant impact on travel patterns will be managed. Disk #488, File: Scope-3.wpd Page No. 3 Task 3 - Task 4 - Information will be obtained from the operators of a number of development representative of the above land uses as to the trip generation characteristics of these uses. In addition, field traffic data will be collected at a number of these land uses to supplement and confirm these traffic characteristics. Trip generation rates will then be developed for the new land uses, and applied to the most likely new development for use in Task 8C. Agricultural Trip Generation Analysis A. Determine Agricultural Industry Changes The North Fork has undergone significant recent conversion of conventional farms to nurseries, greenhouses and vineyards, with and without wineries, as well as tourist-related services and attractions supporting those uses. Information on recent conversions as well as any for which applications are on file with the Towns shall be obtained for the three Towns in the study area. The locations of these, as well as any other developments identified as having a potentially significant impact on travel patterns will be mapped. Information will be obtained fi.om the operators of a number of developments representative of the above land uses as to the trip generation characteristics of these uses. In addition, field traffic data will be collected at a number of these land uses to supplement and confirm these traffic characteristics. Trip generation rates will then be developed for the new land uses utilizing appropriate independent variables, and applied to the most likely new development as identified by the Towns for use in Task 8C. Examine Long Island Rail R. oad (LIRR) Service and Options for Improvement Obtain fi.om LIRR (or the LITP-2000 Study): Locations of stations servicing the study area and for each station its ridership, parking facilities and alternate transportation services available (i.e., taxi, bus, jitney). Line ridership, capacity, travel times and service schedule. C. Improvements currently planned or under study. Disk #488, File: Scope-3.wpd Page No. 4 One or more feasible alternate improvements such as adding additional trains or changing the North Fork Service to a local shuttle. (Each alternate is to be tested in Task 8.) E. The NFTS will document the alternatives examined and their viability. Task 5 - Examine Surface Transit Options Obtain from Suffolk County Transit (or the LITP-2000 Study): All existing surface transit service within the study area. Locate routes, stops, and identify capacity, travel times, ridership and frequency of service. B. Any plans for new and improved service or any studies considering a change. One or more feasible new service options such as expanded routes, additional routes, more frequent service, additional types o f service. (Each alternate is to be tested in Task 8). D. The NFTS will document the alternatives examined and their viability. Task 6 - Examine Ferry Operations Determine all existing ferry operations within the study area including capacity, ddership, and ridership trends, frequency of schedule and wait times. Detenuine if any changes to service are contemplated by operators or are any new services planned. C. Examine the influence these services may have on route choice. Examine the impact of changes in service in Task 8. (Note that a Shoreham Ferry option will be modeled in the LITP-2000 Study). Task 7 - E. Document the alternatives examined and their impact. Develop Desirable Typical Sections and an Access Management Plan Refine "desirable typical sections" fi.om LITP-2000 to provide a desirable typical section for each of the designated roadways. B. Develop an access management plan for critical roadways. Disk #488, File: Scope-3.wpd Page No. 5 Consider official mapping to protect critical roadways from multiple conflicting access points. Incorpprate bicycle and pedestrian needs into the. desirable typical sections in order to form a cohesive bicycle route network and to serve pedestrian needs. Task 8 - Crop A. Where appropriate, consider traffic calming techniques. and Run the LITP-2000 Modeling Platform for Corridor Specific Issues Crop and Run the LITP-2000 Modeling platform for existing 1998 conditions. Adjust zones as necessary to rune and calibrate the model. Add the necessary corridor modeling data requirements such as intersection lane layouts, traffic control and signal timing parameters. Include any modification to actual trip generation rates from Task 3. Following successful calibration of the Model for the 1998 existing condition make the necessary model adjustments to project the results to the 2020 "No Build Year". The "No Build" model will include population and employment growth consistent with projections developed with the Towns of Riverhead and Southold and historical data as developed in LITP-2000. The model will include any improvements in the highway system that are planned and committed to, as well as, any known improvements in rail or surface transportation. The "No Build" model will then be modified as necessary to include the highway system as it would exist with the "desirable typical" section implemented on all of the designated highways within the Study area. The desirable typical sections will be developed with the Towns for each roadway. (Note: If the desirable typical sections are close to the existing highway system, this step may be deleted). The results of the No Build/Desirable Typical Sections analyses will be documented in Technical Memoranda No. 2. The "No Build/Desirable Typical Section" Model will then be modified as necessary to test alternate improvement strategies and combinations of strategies. Modeled alternative strategies can include: Up to three rail options Oisk #488, File: Scope-3.wpd Page No. 6 Up to three expanded surface transit options including new routes and improved service One land use option to be developed by the Towns, if they desire* Up to two roadway improvement scenarios Up to two additional scenarios to be determined with input from the Towns *Note: It would be presumptuous of the State to suggest changes to the Towns land use plans. However, the State will use the model to test a land use plan developed by the Towns. Note also that additional funding may be available to the Towns for these efforts. Document the results of the analysis and prepare Technical Memoranda No. 3 that addresses the costs and benefits of each altemative studied. Present the results of this study to the Public under Task 1. After obtaining public input revise TM3 as necessary and prepare an Executive Summary (TM4) which summarizes the results of the North Fork Transportation Study. Dis ~488, File: Scope-3.wpd Pa3 No. 7