Green Light
American Designs
First Meeting
On September 18, 2015 our team met with our client, Roger Nawrot, at the County-City Building in downtown South Bend. The team went over the general expectations for the project and received general advice concerning the project. The client outlined the technical specs to be used at the project such as the AASHTO Policy on Geometric Design of Highways, the Indiana Uniform Standards, and INDOT standards. The client also delivered the drawings for the project the city is currently working on at the intersection of Olive & Western.
Mr. Nawrot helped outline several action steps that will help us move forward with the project. These preliminary steps will help us gather the information needed to propose reasonable solutions to the traffic issues at our project site.
1) Develop a project schedule and outline the scope of work as detailed in Deliverable 1
2) Collect traffic count data for this intersection from the MaCog website.
3) Perform a site visit in order to analyze the flow of the intersection traffic
4) Perform a capacity analysis for the intersection
A Project Work Plan was written, outlining the project background, design process, cost management, and the team assigned to the project. This document can be accessed by clicking here.
Impact Statement
After much research, the team documented environmental hazards, economic impacts, and social impacts that the project will have. Listed below are the main findings:
Environmental Hazard Identification and Mitigation:
The site is located in a mix residential and commercial area. The main concerns for this project are:
ï‚· Air pollution
ï‚· Contaminated runoff from rainwater
ï‚· Noise
Economic Impact:
Our team believes that increased mobility on a major city road will result in potential economic gains for the neighborhood and local industries.
Social Impact:
Improving the intersection should ultimately improve the condition and quality of life of the area. During construction, however, the area could experience some delays and backups resulting in unsatisfactory conditions.
Utilizing phase scheduling will ensure that traffic flow interruption to these locations will be minimal. GLAD will also create public awareness through signs, brochures, and updates on the company website.Our firm is committed to providing environmentally sensible proposals while addressing both the economic and social constraints of the project.
The full Impact Report can be viewed using the PDF button to the left.
Alternatives
The proposed alternatives are: additional turn lanes, a roundabout, and repainting lane lines and adding signage. These alternatives will be explored in the following weeks and judged on safety, cost, and efficiency. A final decision will be made by December.
Site Visit
Green Light American Designs visited the intersection of Olive and Western to assess the layout and observe how the geometric design causes traffic problems. The occupancy of the four corners of the intersection were observed. The northeast corner holds a Wells Fargo bank and tall power lines. The southeast corner holds an operating Marathon gas station. The southwest corner holds a vacated, former gas station, and, lastly, the northwest corner holds the waning PNA building. The availability of these corners are important to the design of the intersection in order to determine if lanes can be added, or if there is enough room for a traffic circle. The east corners of the intersection cannot be expanded, due to the operating companies and built infrastructure. However, the PNA building is already bought by the City of South Bend, and the vacant gas station could possibly be attained, as well. This allows for some freedom of expansion.
While observing the traffic, it became apparent that the north bound traffic turning west experienced difficulty. The east bound left turn lane on Western Ave is angled so that it is difficult for the north bound traffic to turn west.
Some improvements for the intersection were brainstormed. The right turn lane for east bound traffic turning south could be extended. Also, a right turn lane could be added in place of the PNA building for south bound traffic turning west. A complication with this improvement is that the traffic would then have to merge, since Western becomes a two lane road. It was also observed that the left-turn only lane on Western is extremely long on the west side and wide on the east side. Our team wondered why there aren't two lanes heading west, if we can use the parking area behind the PNA building, and if we could obtain the parking spaces in front of Chico's restaurant.
10% Submittal
Green Light American Designs submitted a 10% Submittal report and presentation on December 15, 2015. The report includes an outline of the need for the project, a detailed alternative analysis including a decision matrix, design issues and decisions, and a preliminary cost estimate. The report can be viewed by clicking on the PDF logo to the right. The presentation gave an overview of the project and the important decision already made and the next key steps in the design process. The presentation can be accessed by clicking here or the Prezi logo on the right.
Single-Lane Roundabout
Green Light American Designs completed a preliminary traffic analysis and has decided to move forward with the design process of a single-lane roundabout. Single-lane roundabouts provide the necessary capacity of the intersection, while minimizing cost and other impacts. The client also prefers a single-lane roundabout for the surrounding area.
The next step of the design process is creating a general geometric plan and making sure all requirements are met.
Week of 1/25
Green Light American Designs has made significant progress on the general geometric plan for the single-lane roundabout for the intersection at Olive St and Western Ave. The FHWA "Roundabouts: An Informational Guide" is being used as a resource to aid in the preliminary design. The inscribed circle diameter has been set at 140 ft, which based on preliminary calculations and observatons fits in the current intersection's space and the PNA lot. Moving forward, the entry and exit ways, splitter islands, and center island are being designed.
Once the preliminary design is completed, Rodel is going to be used to model the roundabout to ensure that the design vehicle, a WB-67, can safely pass through the roundabout.
Week of 2/1
This past week, Green Light American Designs worked on preparing the 30% Submittal. This included updating the cost estimate with more specifics, preliminary geotechnical calculations for cut and fill work, maintenance of traffic preliminary work, including detour plans and signage, and finalizing the general geometric plan for the roundabout.
The 30% Submittal will include a preliminary set of drawings for the geometric plan, including horizontal and vertical alignments, maintenance of traffic details, and general notes. Included with the drawings will be a submittal letter, with a short report about recent developments in the project scope and changes since the 10% Submittal.
Week of 2/8
Over the past week, Green Light American Designs continued finalizing the 30% Submittal materials. The main aspect of this work was editing and finishing the CAD drawings. The majority of the report was also finished, which includes a brief summary of the project tasks, objectives, and progress to date, as well as all significant changes since the 10% submittal, and major design criteria and decisions for each project focus area. These focus areas are Geotechnical work, vertical and horizontal alignments, and maintenance of traffic.
Green Light American Designs also launched a social media campaign for the project this week. The twitter account can be accessed at @olive_western and instagram at @olive_western. These accounts will be used to post updates and photos of the progress of the project. GLAD is excited about the opportunities these platforms present!
Week of 2/15
Green Light American Designs completed the 30% Submittal this past week. This included a report, outlining the current progress of the project and the future needs of the project scope. Also submitted was a preliminary drawing set. The report can be found here and the drawings can be accessed here, or by using the icons to the left.
Moving forward, some of the main goals that need to be accomplished are: modeling the roundabout using Rodel to ensure that the roundabout is of adequate size, and Landscaping, Lighting, Pavement Marking, and Drainage plans.
Week of 2/22
On Wednesday, February 24th, Green Light American Designs had a 30% Design Submittal meeting with the client and other interested parties. The team presented the progress thus far, focusing on the advantages of the chosen geometric plan. Other items discussed were vertical and horizontal alignments and issues involved with those, Maintenance of traffic and cost engineering were also covered in the meeting.
Future goals were also discussed and the client had many useful and important notes on work that has been done, and also on future work.
Week of 3/14
Green Light American Designs has finalized the design of the roundabout, ensuring the safety and efficiency of the design. Moving forward, the team will be working on the 60% Submittal that will be presented next week. Included in this submittal will be a more detailed geometric plan, Typical Sections, Erosion Control, preliminary Signage, Lighting, and Landscaping plans, and Maintenance of Traffic sheets. Preliminary Specifications have also been written. A transmittal letter will also be submitted, outlining the progress made and major design decisions.
Week of 3/21
On Monday, March 21st, Green Light American Designs submitted a 60% Submittal, including a transmittal letter detailing the progress thus far, as well as a preliminary set of Specifications and an updated Drawing Set. Drawings included in the submittal are: General Geometric Plan, Roundabout Cross Section, Splitter Island detail sheets, Drainage Plan, Signage Plan, Pavement Markings, and MOT sheets. Moving forward, the detail sheets will be finalized, as well as the addition of more detailed plans.
The Transmittal Letter and Specifications can be accessed here or using the PDF link to the right. The Drawing Set can be viewed here or using the gray button on the right.
Week of 3/28
Green Light American Designs continues to make progess on the 90% Submittal. Some of the major design decision being made currently inlcude: laying out a sidewalk plan, Landscaping plan, Lighting plan, finalizing a Maintenance of Traffic scheme, and expanding on the preliminary list of Specifications. The team is working through minor logistical issues with the sidewalk and available land adjacent to the roadway, continually striving to create a pedestrian and bike friendly environment.
Be sure to follow the team on twitter and instagram to stay up-to-date on on the project! Click the links on the left to access the accounts!
Week of 4/4
Last week, Green Light American Designs continued working on the 90% Submittal for next week. Progress was made on expanding the Specifications, finishing the Landscaping Plan, the Drainage Plan, and finalizing design decisions involving the layout of sidewalks/bike lanes.
This week, the most important items for the team to finish are the Spot Elevation sheet, Lighting Plan, Erosion Control, Construction Details, and Maintenance of Traffic sheets. Artisitic renderings will also be done to help visualize how the new construction will fit into the existing surrounding area. To the right, a preliminary rendering of the landscaping plan for the center island can be seen.
Week of 4/11
Green Light American Designs submitted the 90% Submittal today, which includes a more detailed drawing set, as well as a transmittal letter outlining major design decisions and progress made thus far. A list of Specifications has also been finalized, and four have been fully written. Some exiciting progress made in the design is the choice of a clock tower to go in the center of the central island.
The transmittal letter, as well as the Specifications can be accessed using the PDF logo to the left. The Drawing Set can be found using the Drawings button also to the left.