ODOT Traffic Forecasts
Wednesday, February 1st, 2006A memo comparing future interchange build/no-build scenarios has been posted to this site’s document library. It is from a very preliminary analysis conducted by ODOT’s contractor Kittelson & Associates. A very big “thank you” to Mr. Boyatt at ODOT for responding so quickly to my inquiry and providing me with a copy of the memo.
Excerpted from Mr. Boyatt’s email response to my inquiry:
Please understand that the first look at the concept of a new interchange on I-5 at Franklin was a high level analysis designed to inform local and state decision makers about whether and how to proceed on this effort. As such there is no detailed traffic analysis specific to travel patterns and neighborhood impacts. This level of analysis would occur at a refinement planning level where specific alternatives were proposed, refined and evaluated. Were the project to move forward to the NEPA documentation phase (likely an Environmental Impact Statement under National Environmental Policy Act requirements), this impacts assessment would likely be even further refined.
That said, ODOT’s contractor (Kittleson and Associates) did perform a link analysis using the metro area’s horizon year (2025) travel demand model to get a sense of how future projected trips would reroute if direct connections - primarily to and from the north, since connections to and from the south already exist at Franklin and folks do use the existing Glenwood interchange to loop back around to make the northerly moves today - to I-5 were available at Franklin. Understanding that it is a high level assessment, there are several findings in the attached report which you can read for yourself. Primarily, folks would reroute of local streets and lower order highways in the area to use Franklin and I-5 to access I-105/OR126 for east-west freeway trips, and Beltline Highway further to the north for the same purpose. The full impacts to to directional flows on Franklin or neighborhood cut through traffic are not known at this level of analysis.