01043953

Component

Simpson County, Kentucky is an area in southwestern Kentucky that rests between the city of Bowling Green, Kentucky and the Tennessee State Line. The county seat of Simpson County is Franklin, a small urban area that contains over 50% of the 16,700 people living in the county. As a result of growth within the city and the continual presence of truck traffic in the downtown area due to sub-standard segments of the existing bypass, traffic congestion has become an ever-increasing issue, especially along US 31W, a major north-south route in Franklin. Current growth trends indicate major congestion issues along this route in the year 2025. Discussion of completing a northwest section of the bypass has surfaced several times in the past 20 years. However, strong public opposition has halted the project from the construction phase after design plans were developed, citing that the bypass would attract small volumes of diverted vehicles among other reasons. A recent planning study initiated by the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) Division of Planning was conducted to help better define the need for a Franklin Northwest Bypass, which would complete a bypass corridor around the city. A separate project coordinated by both the KYTC Division of Planning and Division of Multimodal Programs involved the development of a travel demand model for Simpson County to assist in the analysis of the proposed Franklin Northwest Bypass, including the use of a model to forecast future traffic volumes expected on the bypass, if built. Based upon the model results, up to a 15% reduction in traffic could be expected along US 31W in Franklin if the bypass were built. Also, a tool now exists for future planning in both Franklin and Simpson County outside of the bypass study. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the processes, coordination and tools necessary to evaluate the need for a complete bypass around a small urban area. The paper focuses on practical aspects of the study that may be useful to other practitioners. Lessons learned are covered as well as many of the items that worked well.

01043941

English

11p

2004

9th National Conference on Transportation Planning for Small and Medium-Sized Communities

CD-ROM

Maps (1) ; References (5) ; Tables (1)

Bypasses; Impact studies; Lessons learned; Mathematical models; Small cities; Traffic congestion; Traffic forecasting; Traffic mitigation; Transportation planning; Travel demand; Truck traffic

Franklin (Kentucky); Simpson County (Kentucky)

Highways; Planning and Forecasting; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning

TRIS, TRB

Mar 9 2007 1:53PM

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