Road leads toward new transportation master plan

The Garrison’s Directorate of Public Works has provided data on current traffic conditions and what’s expected in the future to the lead contractor to help develop a new transportation master plan.

“This update is meant to take a look at what needs to be changed” in the previous plan in 2019, said Jay Howell, community planner in the Directorate of Public Works, Master Planning. “Transportation master plans really focus on long-range planning for infrastructure development and investment.”

The new study is “a combination of examining current conditions and seeing how that measures up to the growth we can expect.”

Real-time traffic counts were taken on eight corridors using devices called road tube counters on Martin, Rideout, Patton, Redstone, Neal, Fowler and Goss roads and Toftoy Thruway. Study intersections were at Patton Road at Aerobee Road, Patton Road at Neal Road, Mills Road at Neal Road, Rideout Road at Martin Road, Dodd Road at Fowler Road, Martin Road at Mills Road, Mills Road at Fowler Road, Patton Road at Martin Road, Patton Road at Mills Road, Patton Road at Redstone Road, Patton Road at Buxton Road, Linder Road at Martin Road, Goss Road at Vincent Drive and Toftoy Thruway at Marshall Road.

“We’ve also given (Garver) five years’ worth of traffic incident data … to see if there are any trends, if specific sections of roads or intersections are problematic based on events,” Howell said.

Garver is also provided “a list of projected projects (around the Arsenal) and the number of people that will involve. That will tell them where the growth on the Arsenal will probably happen and they’ll be able to take the current situation, see what the future situation might be like and see what kind of improvements need to done to set us up to safely and efficiently drive around with that new growth.

“Signaling will be a factor in (Garver’s) analysis,” he said.

John Cogburn, DPW’s Operations and Maintenance Division chief, said that the installation support services contractor has provided current data on the sequencing and timing of the traffic lights at intersections across the installation.

Howell expects Garver to present its recommendations in the October time frame. “Once we get the final report, we look forward to implementing the (recommended) changes that will help everybody drive around and get to work and home a little bit easier and safer.”

Howell said that most of the recommendations in the 2019 transportation master plan have already been done at this point, “so we’ve essentially come to the end of that shopping list; it’s time for a new one.”