3.0 TRANSPORTATION EFFECTS...Draft Environmental Impact Statement Transportation Effects Long Island...

Long Island Truck-Rail Intermodal Facility 3-1 May 2007

3.0 TRANSPORTATION EFFECTS This chapter describes the Long Island Truck-Rail Intermodal (LITRIM) Facility Project’s effects on the surrounding transportation network. First, the project’s impacts on the rail network, including both Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) commuter rail service and the regional rail freight system are considered. This is followed by a discussion of the project’s implications on the roadway network in the immediate vicinity of the proposed intermodal yard site. Finally, the potential for the project to affect other transportation services and facilities, including local bus routes and pedestrian and bicycle facilities, is also examined.

3.1 PASSENGER RAIL EFFECTS

This section describes the effects of the LITRIM Facility and proposed roadway mitigations on the local and regional passenger rail service. The greatest potential effect will be on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s LIRR commuter service, as freight trains would access the LITRIM Facility on existing LIRR tracks running along a corridor from Fresh Pond in Long Island City to the LITRIM Facility east of LIRR’s Deer Park Station (Figure 3-1). The LIRR commuter service was analyzed to determine the capacity of the system to serve the proposed facility and avoid schedule conflicts between freight and passenger trains.

3.1.1 Existing Conditions and Level of Service

The LIRR is comprised of more than 700 miles of track on 11 different branches, stretching from Montauk in the east to Penn Station in Manhattan (Figure 3-1). The system includes 124 stations and provides service for some 81 million customers each year. The LIRR provides service 24-hours-a-day, 7-days-a-week, carrying an average of 282,400 customers each weekday on 728 daily trains.

Most LIRR trains originate or terminate at Penn Station in Manhattan. Many of the remaining trains originate or terminate at Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn, and a small number originate or terminate at Hunterspoint Avenue and Long Island City in Queens. The LIRR is also preparing for the future with several projects, including the Main Line Third Track Project and the East Side Access Project, which will bring LIRR trains to Grand Central Terminal (GCT) in Manhattan. During the planning for the East Side Access Project, the LIRR OP3 Operating Plan was developed to include the additional train service to GCT. The plan increases service levels on the LIRR with more trains operating in its commuter service area, including the Ronkonkoma Branch, on which the LITRIM Facility would be located.

The proposed corridor for freight trains traveling between the LITRIM Facility and Fresh Pond would run on three lines: the Montauk Branch between Fresh Pond and Jamaica Station, the Main Line between Jamaica Station and Hicksville, and on the Ronkonkoma Branch between

Draft Environmental Impact Statement Transportation Effects


Hicksville and the LITRIM Facility entrance (Figure 3-2). Commuter service running on this proposed freight corridor includes the Hempstead, Oyster Bay, Port Jefferson, Montauk, and Ronkonkoma lines (Figure 3-1). LIRR commuter lines that stop at Jamaica but do not operate on the Main Line to Hicksville and therefore would not conflict with the proposed LITRIM freight trains (i.e., the West Hempstead, Far Rockaway, Long Beach, and most Babylon trains) were not included in the analysis.

3.1.2 Effects on Passenger Rail Operations

The LITRIM Facility would require the operation of three daily inbound and outbound freight trains in order to meet the projected demand. The freight trains, as previously mentioned, must traverse the LIRR commuter lines between Jamaica station and the entry to the LITRIM Facility east of LIRR’s Deer Park Station (Figure 3-1). The future levels of passenger service were used from the LIRR OP3 Operating Plan, which includes East Side Access service and planned increases in service on the LIRR branches that run on the Main Line east of Jamaica, including the Ronkonkoma Branch.

The forecasted LIRR commuter train schedules were used to identify potential schedule “slots,” or windows when freight trains can operate without conflicting with passenger service in the corridor. These schedules (Table 3-1) include all commuter train movements, both revenue and non-revenue, made during the weekdays Monday through Friday. The schedules exclude any specials, work trains, and extras, as well as any freight trains run by New York & Atlantic Railway (NY&A), the current freight service provider on the LIRR.

TABLE 3-1: EXISTING AND PROPOSED MAIN LINE LIRR SCHEDULES

Sept 2005 Timetable OP3 Timetable % Increase

Eastbound LIRR Trains 171 178 4.1%

Eastbound Ronkonkoma Trains 34 41 20.6%

Westbound LIRR Trains 165 182 10.3%

Westbound Ronkonkoma Trains 34 43 26.5%

Total 336 360 7.1%

A stringline analysis of the train schedules was used to identify gaps in the forecasted LIRR commuter operation when freight trains can operate without conflict during the weekday (see Appendix F). Freight trains were projected to operate at an average speed of 30 mph between Fresh Pond Junction (Mile Post 4.4) and the LITRIM siding (Mile Post 38.9), a distance of 34.5 miles. The LIRR permits freight trains led by locomotives equipped with cab signals to operate at up to 45 mph, so the 30 mph average speed is a conservative assumption to allow for approach signals and some possible delay getting through Jamaica Station and through the other major junction point on the route at Divide (Hicksville). Based on this assumption, a 70-minute window in the commuter schedule for freight service is sufficient to avoid conflicts with the commuter trains.

The analysis indicates that there are 13 potential eastbound and 14 westbound train slots when freight trains could be operated without conflicting with LIRR commuter operations. The available eastbound and westbound freight slots are shown in Table 3-2.

Figure 3-1LIRR System Plan

LONG ISLAND TRUCK-RAIL INTERMODAL (LITRIM) FACILITYPROJECT New York State

Department of Transportation

NOT TO SCALE

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LITRIM Facility

Babylon

Mineola

Jamaica

Lynbrook

Woodside

Hempstead

Oyster Bay

Long Beach

Floral Park

Far Rockaway

Flatbush Ave

Penn Station

Valley Stream

Port Jefferson

West Hempstead

Port Washington

Long Island City

Hicksville

CITY TERMINAL ZONE

FAR ROCKAWAY BRANCH

LONG BEACH BRANCH

WEST HEMPSTEAD BRANCH

PORT WASHINGTON BRANCH

OYSTER BAY BRANCH

PORT JEFFERSON BRANCH

RONKONKOMA BRANCH

HEMPSTEAD BRANCH

BABYLON BRANCH

MONTAUK BRANCH

StatenIsland

TheBronx

Brooklyn

Nassau

SuffolkNew Jersey

Man

hatta

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Farmingdale

Yaphank

Speonk

Fresh Pond

Long Island Sound

Figure 3-2LITRIM Freight Access

0 4 8Miles

0 5 10Kilometers



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MONTAUK BRANCH

MontaukGreenport

RONKONKOMA BRANCH

MONTAUK BRANCH

Ogdensburg

SyracuseAlbanySelkirk

Rochester

Newburgh

Blasdell

Philadelphia

KearnyNYC

BuffaloCheektowagaLackawanna

Regional Access

LITRIM Freight AccessNew York Cross Harbor Railroad Carfloat



TABLE 3-2: AVAILABLE FREIGHT SLOTS

Eastbound Freight Slots Westbound Freight Slots Leave

Fresh Pond Arrive

LITRIM Facility Leave

LITRIM Facility Arrive

Fresh Pond

1 12:15 AM 1:25 AM 12:20 AM 1:30 AM

2 1:15 AM 2:25 AM 1:20 AM 2:30 AM

3 2:30 AM 3:40 AM 2:20 AM 3:30 AM

4 3:45 AM 4:55 AM 3:20 AM 4:30 AM

5 10:15 AM 11:25 AM 4:20 AM 5:30 AM

6 11:15 AM 12:25 PM 9:20 AM 10:30 AM

7 12:15 PM 1:25 PM 10:20 AM 11:30 AM

8 1:15 PM 2:25 PM 11:20 AM 12:30 PM

9 2:15 PM 3:25 PM 12:20 PM 1:30 PM

10 3:15 PM 4:25 PM 1:20 PM 2:30 PM

11 9:15 PM 10:25 PM 2:20 PM 3:30 PM

12 10:15 PM 11:25 PM 9:20 PM 10:30 PM

13 11:15 PM 12:25 AM 10:20 PM 11:30 PM

14 – – 11:20 PM 12:30 AM

This number of freight train schedule slots provides enough access and schedule flexibility for freight trains to service the LITRIM Facility without conflicting with LIRR commuter rail service. Therefore, no impacts to Long Island’s passenger rail network are anticipated.

3.1.3 Mitigation Summary

As indicated above, no schedule or service changes to the planned LIRR OP3 Operating Plan would be required to accommodate the proposed LITRIM Facility.

3.2 FREIGHT EFFECTS

This section describes the effects of the LITRIM Facility on regional freight movement (truck and rail) and on specific local components of the region's transportation system. In terms of regional travel, the project would provide an overall benefit by removing long haul truck trips from the regional and arterial roadway system and reduce overall truck vehicle miles traveled (VMT) on Long Island. However, at the same time, the increase in the amount of freight moved by rail will increase the utilization of the regional rail network and increase the number of local truck trips to and from the facility, as trucks travel to the facility to pick up bulk and intermodal freight for local delivery. The effects of the proposed LITRIM Facility on the existing regional rail network are discussed below; the localized traffic effects on the surrounding roadways were described earlier in Section 3.3.



3.2.1 Existing Rail Freight Network

Currently, there are two major routes for rail freight access to Long Island (Figure 3-3). The first major rail freight access route is via the corridor beginning at Selkirk (CSX) and Saratoga (CP) Yards, which are located on the west side of the Hudson River near Albany. Trains destined for Long Island cross the river and join the multi-track CSX Hudson Line at Castelton, New York. Freight traffic on the Hudson Line shares track usage with Amtrak and, south of Poughkeepsie, with Metro-North Railroad passenger trains. There are approximately 28 Amtrak and 134 Metro-North trains operating on the Hudson Line each weekday.

Traveling south, freight trains are routed to the Oak Point Link in the Bronx. This single-track, freight-only alignment provides a grade separated route through the Bronx to Oak Point Yard, from which trains are then dispatched to Long Island. The corridor to Long Island is the single track Fremont Industrial Track via the Hell Gate Bridge. Train movement on the Fremont Industrial Track is under the control of the yardmaster at Oak Point Yard. Freight cars are interchanged with the New York & Atlantic Railway (NY&A) at Fresh Pond Junction, which is grade separated from the LIRR Montauk Branch. It is expected that the vast majority of the freight moving to the proposed LITRIM Facility would use this corridor.

The second major rail freight corridor is via New York Cross Harbor Railroad's carfloat between Greenville Yard in New Jersey and Brooklyn. This route provides access for rail freight traveling to the New York region from the south and southwest. The New York Cross Harbor Railroad performs local switching services along the Brooklyn waterfront and interchanges cars with the NY&A at Bush Junction in Bay Ridge. The cars are then moved via the Bay Ridge Branch, by NY&A, to Fresh Pond Junction where they are stored, classified, and shipped to destinations on Long Island.

There are no vertical constraints along either route for the types of rail cars that would operate to and from the proposed LITRIM Facility, which would include trailer on flat car (TOFC), container on flat car (COFC), and bulk rail cars.

Train service from Selkirk to Long Island via the Hell Gate Bridge and Fresh Pond Junction typically involves one round trip CSX train consisting of an average of 30 freight cars per weekday. This traffic is supplemented by one round trip operated by CP on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday that consists of an average of 10 cars and by an occasional stone train hauled by the P&W from Connecticut. All cars delivered at Fresh Pond Junction are received in the West Yard at Fresh Pond, where they are stored pending classification. Trains are then moved to Fresh Pond’s East Yard, where they are classified by Long Island destination and then dispatched (by LIRR) to one of several branch lines for delivery to individual consignee sidings. Train movement is performed by NY&A crews and locomotives.

It is important to note that the LITRIM project has separate and independent utility from the proposed Cross Harbor Freight Movement project, which proposes to construct a new rail freight tunnel and an intermodal rail terminal in Queens (see Section 1.7.1). A marketing study conducted as part of the 2001 Feasibility Study of the proposed LITRIM project found that a market currently exists for an intermodal facility on Long Island based on the existing

Figure 3-3New York and Atlantic Railway - Long Island Freight Service Plan



NOT TO SCALE



infrastructure in the New York City/Long Island region. This study acknowledged that the development of a Cross Harbor Tunnel could increase the benefits of this facility; however, the LITRIM Facility would not be dependent on the Cross Harbor Tunnel to operate.

3.2.2 Effects on Freight Operations

The LITRIM Facility rail tonnage in 2030 is forecast to be 1.52 million tons per year. As shown in Table 3-3, that tonnage will consist primarily of bulk goods: 622 thousand tons of bulk transload, bulk goods shipped to and from a rail terminal but delivered to receivers and from shippers by truck; and 380 thousand tons of bulk carload, goods delivered to and from a site by rail only. Intermodal container tonnage, trailer on flat car and container on flat car shipped to and from a rail terminal but delivered to and from the LITRIM Facility by truck, is forecast to be 517 thousand tons.

TABLE 3-3: 2030 LITRIM FACILITY FORECAST (ANNUAL TONS)

LITRIM Tonnages Bulk Transload Bulk Carload Intermodal

TOFC/COFC Total

Inbound 469,980 280,647 291,123 1,041,750

Outbound 152,689 99,694 226,040 478,422

Total 622,669 380,341 517,162 1,520,172

Percent 41% 25% 34% 100% Source: Cambridge Systematics. May 2005. 2030 Freight Rail Forecast Update: Pilgrim Intermodal Freight Transportation Center.

The 2030 service is forecast to serve more inbound traffic to Nassau and Suffolk counties, which is consistent with the general shipment pattern of freight to central Long Island, where inbound shipments are much larger than outbound shipments. However, the freight forecast for LITRIM shipments is more balanced than the general shipment pattern with 291 thousand tons inbound and 226 thousand tons outbound.

The majority of rail freight will reach Long Island via the Hudson Line through Oak Point Yard, since the float bridges have limited capacity. The result is likely to be two additional southbound and two additional northbound trains traveling on the Hudson line and two additional eastbound and two westbound trains traveling on the LIRR tracks each day. Although this is an increase over the traffic levels utilizing the rail freight corridor today, these levels are well below the capacity of the network from Selkirk to Fresh Pond.

The 2030 forecasted rail freight tonnage was used to calculate and forecast the truck traffic that would be generated by the LITRIM Facility (see Appendix G). Assuming the worst case, each truck makes a round trip in and out, does not load and unload on the same trip, and only one container of any size is carried per truck, the freight tonnage forecast for 2030 translates to 288 trucks per day, (576 truck trips per day). For analysis in the Draft EIS, this figure was rounded up to 600 truck local trips per day.

This same freight tonnage forecast was used to estimate the reduction in regional VMT described in the air quality discussion in Chapter 5. The equivalent of 600 trucks per day making an average 55-mile trip from existing intermodal facilities to the Pilgrim site translates to a VMT reduction of 33,000 miles per day.



3.2.3 Mitigation Summary

The LITRIM Facility will not have a negative effect on existing freight service and in fact will provide additional capacity and flexibility for freight service on Long Island. Freight service to and from Long Island has more than adequate capacity to provide for any increase due to the availability of the LITRIM Facility. Therefore, no mitigation of the project’s effects on the existing rail freight network is necessary.

3.3 ROADWAY EFFECTS

This section describes the roadway mitigations included in the Build Alternative and provides a detailed assessment of existing traffic and capacity conditions in the study area, as well as the potential impacts to vehicular traffic resulting from the implementation of the proposed project.

The existing roadway network within the study area includes G Road, Crooked Hill Road, Sagtikos Parkway, and the Long Island Expressway (I-495) and its corresponding Service Roads and Express Drives (Figure 3-4). The typical roadway sections, right-of-way (ROW) widths, lane configurations and roadway geometries are described in detail in Appendix A.

G Road. G Road extends west to east and connects the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) and New York Power Authority (NYPA) electric generating facilities to the west of the proposed site with Wicks Road to the east. G Road is an Urban Local Street with a regulatory speed limit of 20 mph (32 kmh) west of Crooked Hill Road and 40 mph (64kmh) east of Crooked Hill Road. The 85th percentile speed along G Road is 42 mph (68kmh). G Road consists of one lane in each direction with dedicated turn lanes at the intersection with Crooked Hill Road.

Crooked Hill Road (CR 13). Crooked Hill Road extends north to south and connects Wicks Road to the south with Commack Road to the north. Crooked Hill Road is an Urban Minor Arterial with a regulatory speed limit of 40 mph (64kmh). The 85th percentile speed along Crooked Hill Road is 55 mph (89kmh). Crooked Hill Road consists of two lanes in each direction between G Road and the bridge over the Sagtikos Parkway. North of the bridge, Crooked Hill Road consists of one lane in each direction. There are dedicated turn lanes at the intersection with G Road.

Sagtikos Parkway. Sagtikos Parkway extends north to south and provides access between the north and south shore communities of Long Island. Sagtikos Parkway is an Urban Principal Arterial (Expressway) with a posted and regulatory speed limit of 55 mph (89kmh). The 85th percentile speed along the Sagtikos Parkway is 68 mph (109kmh). Sagtikos Parkway consists of two lanes in each direction and includes interchanges with G Road and the Long Island Expressway within the project limits. Trucks are prohibited from using the Sagtikos Parkway.

Long Island Expressway (LIE) Mainline. The LIE extends west to east and provides access to the numerous north south highways on Long Island. The LIE is an Urban Principal Arterial (Interstate) with a posted and regulatory speed limit of 55 mph (89kmh). Within the project area, the LIE mainline consists of 3 general use lanes and one HOV lane in each direction. A collector-distributor system including service road and express drives makes up the major interchange with the Sagtikos Parkway.

LONG ISLAND TRUCK-RAILINTERMODAL (LITRIM) FACILITY

Crooked Hill Rd

Grand Blvd

Northern Pkwy

Crooked Hill Rd

Long Island Ave.

Sagt

ikos

Pkw

y

Wicks Rd.

Long Island Expressway

Com

mac

k R

d

G Road

Figure 3-4Study Area

0 1,100 2,200Feet

0 300 600Meters





LIE Service Roads/Express Drives. Multiple frontage roads parallel the LIE within the project limits to form a collector-distributor system that provides access to the Sagtikos parkway and other north-south roadways. The frontage roads are Urban Principal Arterials (Other) with regulatory speed limits of 40mph (64kmh).

3.3.1 Roadway Mitigations Included in the Build Alternative

As described in Chapter 2, a series of roadway improvements were incorporated into the Build Alternative in order to mitigate the traffic generated by the proposed LITRIM Facility. These mitigations were developed based on traffic analyses, input from the Stakeholder Working Group (SWG) meetings, and written comments received at the June 2004 Public Scoping Meeting, and include:

Reconstruct “G” Road;

Construct new direct truck access ramps to Crooked Hill Road adjacent to the southbound Sagtikos Parkway ramp from the westbound Long Island Expressway;

Construct new ramps from the eastbound Long Island Expressway for a direct connection to Crooked Hill Road; and

Construct a new direct truck access from northbound Crooked Hill Road to the eastbound Long Island Expressway.

Appendix A presents typical sections, general plans, and profile drawings of the proposed mitigations.

The intent of the proposed roadway mitigations is to provide direct access to the site from the Long Island Expressway in order to minimize impacts to the surrounding neighborhoods by reducing the likelihood that LITRIM vehicles would utilize local roadways such as Wicks Road and Commack Road, which pass by residences and the Edgewood Preserve. These mitigations would instead direct trucks to a segment of Crooked Hill Road that contains no residences or environmental resources. As shown in Figure 3-5, the proposed roadway mitigations would facilitate access to and from the site along the following routes:

Inbound intermodal traffic originating from the east on the LIE would exit at the westbound Long Island Expressway Exit 53, follow existing ramp towards southbound Sagtikos Parkway (Ramp Q), diverge onto new Ramp Q1, and proceed to Crooked Hill Road. Vehicles would turn left onto Crooked Hill Road and proceed towards G Road, then right onto G Road and proceed to yard entrance.

Inbound intermodal traffic originating from the west on the LIE would exit at eastbound Long Island Expressway Exit 53, follow Express Drive South towards existing Ramp B for the southbound Sagtikos Parkway, diverge onto new Ramp B1, and proceed to Crooked Hill Road. Vehicles would turn left onto Crooked Hill Road and proceed towards G Road, then right onto G Road and proceed to yard entrance.

Outbound intermodal traffic destined to the east on the Long Island Expressway would proceed east on G Road towards Crooked Hill Road, turn left onto Crooked Hill Road and proceed north, diverge existing Ramp CHA to northbound Long Island Expressway, diverge onto new Ramp E1 and proceed north, then weave onto existing Ramp E and proceed onto eastbound Long Island Expressway.



Outbound intermodal traffic destined to the west on the Long Island Expressway would proceed east on G Road towards Crooked Hill Road, turn left onto Crooked Hill Road and proceed west to the LIE North Service Road, turn left onto the LIE North Service Road, and proceed westward to the entrance ramp connecting to the westbound Long Island Expressway mainline.

The proposed roadway mitigations can be categorized into three groups: inbound, outbound, and G Road/G Road Extension. Appendix B provides specific information regarding design speed and criteria and non-standard features for each proposed improvement.

Inbound Mitigations

Inbound access from the LIE would be accommodated via two proposed ramps, Ramp B1 and Ramp Q1, and modifications to existing Ramp B (Figure 3-6). Intermodal traffic from the east on the LIE would use existing Ramp Q and proposed Ramp Q1 to access Crooked Hill Road.

Ramp Q1 would have a design speed of 80kmh and would consist of a 4.5m travel way, 1.0m left shoulder and a 2.0m right shoulder. There are no proposed non-standard features for proposed Ramp Q1. The proposed ramp begins immediately south of the existing bridge over the eastbound LIE Service Road; bridges over a lowered Ramp B; extends through existing recharge basin #99; and continues to its new intersection with Crooked Hill Road. Ramp Q1 was designed as a right side exit from a roadway curving left. This is not a typical or necessarily desirable condition but one required to make the connection to Crooked Hill Road. The horizontal sight distance on existing Ramp Q is limited to approximately 110m due to the presence of the concrete barrier located along the left edge of road (in direction of travel). Accordingly, the terminal location along Ramp Q for proposed Ramp Q1 will require extensive advance warning signs to notify motorists of the ramp location.

The proposed Ramp Q1 Bridge would provide a minimum of 4.3m vertical clearance over the lowered Ramp B. The proposed bridge would be simple span steel girder bridge with concrete deck. A retaining wall will be required to accommodate the grade differences between proposed Ramps Q1 and B1. The wall would extend for approximately 60m and have a maximum height of approximately 5m.

Intermodal traffic from the west on the LIE would use the existing Express Drive South and proposed Ramp B1 to connect to Crooked Hill Road. Ramp B1 would have a design speed of 80kmh and would consist of a 4.5m travel way, 1.0m left shoulder and a 2.0m right shoulder. Ramp B1 was designed to operate as a second single-lane exit ramp, adjacent to existing Ramp B. Ramp B1 would contain several non-standard features due to the multiple design constraints associated with meeting existing Ramp B, proposed Ramp Q1 and existing Crooked Hill Road.

In plan view, Ramp B1 consists of a 30m taper, an 85m deceleration lane and a compound horizontal curve with radii of 252m and 175m. The 30m taper is nonconforming (AASHTO requires 90m) and is required to prevent impacting the existing eastbound LIE Express Drive Bridge over Commack Road. The deceleration lane provides sufficient distance to decelerate from the 100 kmh design speed of the Express Drive to the 80kmh design speed of the ramp. The nonstandard horizontal curve of 175m is required to connect to proposed Ramp Q1. The nonstandard curve provides for a safe speed of 50kmh. There is sufficient distance between the

Figure 3-5Roadway Mitigations



Outbound Intermodal Truck Traffic Flow

Inbound Intermodal Truck Traffic Flow

Figure 3-6Proposed Ramps B1 and Q1





deceleration lane and the nonstandard curve for vehicles to slow down to the 50 kmh. The detailed design for this ramp will need to include speed reduction measures such as advance warning signs and traffic calming striping.

The vertical alignment of Ramp B1 is controlled by the alignments of existing Ramp B and proposed Ramp Q1. The vertical alignment provides for a nonstandard stopping sight distance of 88m on the crest curve required to connect to Ramp Q1. The crest provides for safe speed of 50km/h and occurs after (in direction of travel) the nonstandard horizontal curve.

Ramp B1 diverges from existing Ramp B and curves to follow the horizontal alignment of proposed Ramp Q1. Ramp B1 and Q1 would extend through existing recharge basin #99 and would require filling in approximately 30 percent of the basin. Refer to Appendix B for specific discussion on drainage and impacts to this recharge basin.

The horizontal alignments for Ramp B1 and Q1 converge approximately 50m from Crooked Hill Road. However, the vertical alignments do not coincide until approximately 20m from Crooked Hill Road. As such, the proposed retaining wall between the two proposed ramps would transition to a concrete median barrier, which would extend to Crooked Hill Road. There is insufficient distance for the two ramps to merge and form a one-lane approach to Crooked Hill Road. As such, two separate turn lanes are required at the proposed intersection with Crooked Hill Road. The new intersection would be signalized to accommodate the separate two turn lanes. Because the two lanes are separate, the traffic on Ramp Q1 would only be able to turn left onto Crooked Hill Road. However, Ramp B1 traffic would be able to turn right and left onto Crooked Hill Road.

Minor improvements are required along the west side of Crooked Hill Road to accommodate the two separate left turn lanes. The widening would be limited to accommodating two turning trucks and the distance needed for them to merge.

Although intermodal traffic would not use Ramp B, the ramp needs to be lowered to accommodate proposed Ramp Q1. The lowering of Ramp B in vicinity of the Ramp Q1 Bridge requires construction of retaining walls along the left side (in direction of travel) of Ramp B. The walls are needed on each side of the bridge. The wall located north of the Ramp Q1 Bridge would be approximately 20m long with a maximum height of 5m. The wall located south of the Ramp Q1 Bridge would be approximately 50m long with a maximum height of 5m.

Outbound Mitigations

Outbound access to the east on the LIE would be accommodated via modifications to existing G Road, existing Crooked Hill Road and proposed Ramp E1 (Figure 3-7). Improvements required for G Road are described in the following section and improvements are not proposed for Crooked Hill Road. Ramp E1 would have a design speed of 80kmh and would consist of a 4.5m travel way, 1.0m left shoulder and a 2.0m right shoulder. Due to its proximity to existing Ramp E, proposed Ramp E1 will have both non-standard horizontal curvature and vertical stopping sight distance.

Ramp E1 diverges from the Crooked Hill Road existing on ramp to northbound Sagtikos Parkway (Ramp CHA). The proposed ramp would run adjacent and parallel to existing Ramp CHA and would be separated from Ramp CHA traffic by a concrete median barrier. As proposed Ramp E1 extends northward it would connect to the existing on ramp for eastbound



Long Island Expressway and form a two-lane ramp. The two-lane ramp would extend for approximately 200m and then split at existing Ramp F (ramp to stay on the South Service Road). Within this 200m segment intermodal traffic would weave to the left lane, which ultimately leads directly to the eastbound LIE.

Outbound access to the west on the LIE would be accommodated via modifications to existing G Road and existing Crooked Hill Road. No specific improvements are required to accommodate intermodal traffic destined to the west on the LIE.

G Road/G Road Extension

Intermodal traffic to or from the proposed yard would use G Road between the yard and Crooked Hill Road (Figure 3-8). G Road would have a design speed of 50kmh and would be widened to the north to accommodate a 3.6m travel lane and a 2.4m shoulder/parking lane in each direction. The widening is proposed to the north to minimize impacts to the existing LIPA facilities extending along the south side of G Road. No improvements are proposed for the existing G Road Bridge over the Sagtikos Parkway.

Currently, G Road provides access to the LIPA and NYPA electric generating facilities. The proposed intermodal yard would interrupt this access and necessitate the construction of what would be called the G Road Extension. The G Road extension would have a design speed of 30kmh in an effort to avoid existing LIPA easements and to maximize the size of the intermodal yard. Similar to G Road, the extension would have one 3.6m travel lane and a 2.4m shoulder in each direction.

3.3.2 Traffic Analysis

This section analyzes existing traffic and capacity conditions as well as the potential impacts to vehicular traffic resulting from the implementation of the proposed project. The analysis addresses whether the project-generated traffic can be accommodated on the roadway system surrounding the project site. Traffic impacts for the project were evaluated for typical workday morning and evening peak hours. The base year of the project analysis is 2004 and the project’s estimated time of completion (ETC) year is 2010. Traffic scenarios analyzed include the existing conditions and future 2010 conditions with and without the project.

Methodology

The objectives of the traffic analysis are to quantify the impacts of the proposed project on operational performance of the roadway system, and to identify potential improvements to mitigate the traffic impacts of the proposed project. To accomplish these objectives, the following procedures were undertaken:

Define study area. The study area is bounded by LIE on to the north, Pine Aire Drive to the south, Wicks Road to the east, and Commack Road to the west.

Collect data. Data sets were compiled for both traffic operational and safety analysis and model development. The traffic data collected include Automatic Traffic Recorder (ATR) volume counts, turning movement counts, vehicle classification counts, and speed, delay and travel time. In addition, signal timing and roadway geometrics were collected to construct a highway network, accident data was

Figure 3-7Proposed Ramp E1



Figure 3-8G Road and G Road Extension





reviewed to identify safety deficient locations, and planned land use/transportation projects were evaluated to identify anticipated future developments/improvements in the study area.

Develop simulation models. A traffic simulation model VISSIM was prepared to simulate the existing (2004) and future (2010) traffic operating conditions on the roadway system during the AM and PM peak hours. The model outputs were used to determine how well the roadway system operates for a given set of design parameters relating to geometric, traffic control, and operating issues.

Analyze existing conditions. The existing roadway conditions were evaluated in terms of traffic accident history and levels of service (LOS) on the highway and street network. The LOS was developed based on the performance measures (e.g., density, delay) generated from VISSIM software and the criterion listed in the 2000 Highway Capacity Manual (HCM). Through the LOS and safety analysis, the existing roadway segments and intersections with capacity and/or safety deficiencies were identified.

Determine future (2010) traffic projections. Traffic projections were prepared for two scenarios: future No Build and Build conditions. Future No Build traffic projections were based on the programmed transportation system improvements, planned or in process development projects, and background traffic growth. The Build traffic projections would include the future No Build traffic plus the new traffic generated by the project and potential diversion traffic caused by the proposed ramp modifications and improvements at the LIE/Sagtikos Parkway interchange.

Distribute and assign project-generated trips. Project-generated traffic is typically distributed and assigned to the roadway system based on site access parameters and roadway system characteristics. For this project, the site-generated truck trips were assumed to access the project site to and from the LIE, based on the inherent characteristics of the site’s design. In addition, the approach and departure routes between the LIE and the intermodal yard were established via the designated existing local roadways and new highway ramps.

Quantify traffic impacts of the proposed project. Given the future networks and traffic volumes, the VISSIM models were run to produce forecasts of traffic operational measures for both AM and PM peak hours. These VISSIM results, in combination with the HCM methodology, were used to conduct a LOS analysis for future traffic conditions. Future Build (with project) traffic conditions were compared to future No Build (without project) traffic conditions to determine the incremental impacts.

Identify and evaluate potential mitigation measures. The LOS/safety analysis identifies locations where the project would result in a substantial traffic impact. Improvements that would mitigate these impacts were identified and addressed. Improvements that are most effective in mitigating the project’s impacts and are feasible are recommended.



Data Collection

A comprehensive traffic data collection program for the project area was submitted to the NYSDOT for review and approval prior to conducting initial field surveys in June 2004. The approved data collection plan is summarized in Technical Memorandum #1, February 2005 (NYSDOT, 2005) and consists of the following elements:

Automatic Traffic Recorders (ATRs). Continuous, 24-hour, directional ATR machine counts were conducted at a total of 37 locations for one-week period from June 13 to June 21, 2004. The ATR count locations on local street segments, the Sagtikos Parkway interchange count locations, and the hourly traffic flow variation patterns in each direction for each day of week at these 37 ATR count locations are shown in Technical Memorandum #1, Appendix D (NYSDOT, 2005).

Turning Movement Counts. Manual turning movement counts were compiled for the morning (7:00-10:00 A.M.), midday (11:00 AM-2:00 PM) and afternoon (3:00-7:00 PM) peak periods on Thursday, October 28, 2004 at 25 intersection locations within the study area (Table 3-4). Individual 15-minute interval summaries of turning movement counts, as well as the peak-hour summary, at the selected 25 intersections are provided in Technical Memorandum #1, Appendix F (NYSDOT, 2005).

TABLE 3-4: INTERSECTION LOCATIONS

Location Traffic Control

1 Wicks Road @ Motor Parkway Signalized

2 Wicks Road @ South Service Road Signalized

3 Wicks Road @ Community College Road (G Road) Signalized

4 Wicks Road @ Crooked Hill Road Signalized

5 Wicks Road @ Suffolk Avenue Signalized

6 Wicks Road/5th Avenue @ Pine Aire Drive/3rd Avenue Signalized

7 Crooked Hill Road @ North Service Road Signalized

8 Crooked Hill Road @ South Service Road Signalized

9 Crooked Hill Road @ Pilgrim Psychiatric Hospital Entrance Unsignalized

10 Crooked Hill Road @ Community College Road (G Road) Signalized

11 Pine Aire Drive @ Manatuck Boulevard Signalized

12 Pine Aire Drive @ Sagtikos Parkway (NB) Entrance and Exit Ramps Signalized

13 Pine Aire Drive @ Sagtikos Parkway (SB) Entrance and Exit Ramps Signalized

14 Pine Aire Drive @ Executive Drive Signalized

15 Long Island Avenue @ Executive Drive Signalized

16 Long Island Avenue @ Commack Road Signalized

17 Commack Road @ Nicholls Road Signalized

18 Commack Road @ Pilgrim Psychiatric Hospital Entrance Unsignalized

19 Crooked Hill Road @ Henry Street Signalized

20 Commack Road @ Crooked Hill Road Unsignalized

21 Commack Road @ South Service Road Signalized

22 Commack Road @ North Service Road Signalized



TABLE 3-4: INTERSECTION LOCATIONS

Location Traffic Control

23 Crooked Hill Road @ Suffolk County Community College Driveway Signalized

24 Community College Road (G Road) @ Suffolk County Community College Driveway

Unsignalized

25 Sagtikos Parkway NB Exit Ramp @ Community College Road Unsignalized

Vehicle Classification Counts. Manual vehicle classification counts were conducted concurrently with the turning movement counts on Thursday, October 28, 2004 at 25 intersection locations within the study area. Vehicles were classified into three categories; passenger cars, buses, and trucks (vehicles with two or more axles and six tires or more). The resulting vehicle classification counts are provided in Technical Memorandum #1, Appendix F (NYSDOT, 2005).

Radar Spot Speed Survey. The actual operating speeds are usually measured by the off peak 85th percentile speeds. These speeds represent the typical vehicle running speeds at free flow conditions. Hence, a radar spot speed survey was conducted during the off-peak hours between 6:00 AM and 9:30 AM on Saturday, June 19, 2004, to insure low traffic flow volumes under free-flow condition. The survey was conducted at 10 mid-block locations along ten major access roadways. Detailed description of these locations and results of the spot speed survey are presented in Technical Memorandum #1, Appendix B (NYSDOT, 2005).

Travel Time and Delay Runs. In contrast to running speeds based on running time only, travel speeds are based on total time, including travel time and delay time. Using the “floating-car” method, travel time and delay surveys were conducted during the three weekday peak periods (7:00 AM-10:00 AM, 11:00 AM-2:00 PM, and 3:00 PM-7:00 PM) on Thursday, October 28, 2004. The travel time data provides a general measure of how well traffic flows along the travel route. The delay data identifies the location, type and extent of traffic congestion problems at specific locations on the travel route. Nine travel routes were selected to represent the primary travel patterns in the study area. The routes include:

Commack Road from Grand Boulevard to Daly Road;

Crooked Hill Road from Commack Road to Wicks Road;

Long Island Avenue from Prospect Place to Grant Avenue;

Pine Aire Drive from Grant Avenue to Stein Drive;

Wicks Road from 3rd Avenue to Austin Boulevard;

Suffolk Avenue from Emjay Boulevard to Hamilton Avenue;

Campus Road from Old Commack Road (Pilgrim Psychiatric Center) to Par Lane;

LIE Service Roads from Interchange 52 to Interchange 54; and

Sagtikos Parkway from LIE Interchange to Pine Aire Drive.

Detailed summaries of individual travel time runs along these travel routes for each weekday peak period are provided in Technical Memorandum #1, Appendix C (NYSDOT, 2005).



Field Inventory. Inventories of existing conditions were performed during the field investigation and site review. Collected data included existing intersection configurations, lane widths, speed limits, and traffic control measures (e.g., signing, signals, pavement markings, etc.). Traffic signal plans were also received from NYSDOT to provide information relative to signal operations, such as signal timing and phasing. Physical intersection inventory are included in Technical Memorandum #1, Appendix G (NYSDOT, 2005).

Accident Data. Accident data was collected for several major roadways expected to be affected by the proposed Pilgrim Intermodal Center traffic activity. These major roadways included: Long Island Expressway, Sagtikos Parkway, Crooked Hill Road, Commack Road, and Wicks Road/5th Avenue. Copies of actual police accident reports (Form MV-104AN) on these roadways for a 3-year period from June 1999 to May 2002 were compiled from the files of the State Accident Surveillance System (SASS) and Centralized Local Accident Surveillance System (CLASS) database.

Traffic Model Development

For the purpose of this project, a VISSIM traffic simulation model was developed to simulate traffic operating conditions on the roadway system. Input data to VISSIM can be grouped into supply, demand and control. Demand data include link volumes, turning movements (at intersections or junctions), traffic compositions, and fixed route information. For this project, traffic demands were represented by the AM and PM peak hours. Each peak-hour demand was partitioned into 15-minute increments to replicate the temporal variation of traffic. Control data consist of the locations of traffic control devices and signal timing settings. Supply data consist of design and traffic flow characteristics of each link and node, such as number of lanes, lane width, grades, curvature, speed limit, lane restriction/prohibition, vehicle classifications, acceleration and deceleration distributions, etc. In addition, aerial photography and as-built plans were used to develop simulation networks with roadway layout and geometry consistent with the actual network.

The VISSIM model was run for the AM and PM peak hour scenarios. For each scenario, the error checking procedure was undertaken by reviewing the on-screen animation and model outputs to determine the model’s accuracy in simulating field operations. Input coding error checking was also performed so that the later calibration process would not result in parameters that were distorted to compensate for overlooked coding errors.

Once the error checking and correction step were completed, the calibration process proceeded with appropriate refinement of the input parameters so that the resulting VISSIM model could reasonably represent the existing observed traffic conditions on the simulation network. These input parameters consisted of network geometry, traffic demand, general configuration parameters, driver behavior parameters, and route choice strategies. The simulated trips in the networks were compared to the observed link volumes and travel speeds. The model calibration process was terminated when the discrepancy in volumes and speeds fell within an acceptable error. The criteria used for acceptance of the calibrated models were listed in the following documents: Calibrating and Adjustment of System Planning Models (FHWA-ED-90-015, Federal Highway Administration, December 1990); and Volume III – Guidelines for Applying Traffic Microsimulation Modeling Software (Federal Highway Administration, August 2003).



Existing Conditions

Traffic Volumes. A review of the ATR count data on the major study area access roadways identified the weekday AM and PM peak hours as the highest volume hours. Therefore, the traffic analysis was performed for the following periods:

AM peak hour: 7:30 – 8:30 AM; and

PM peak hour: 5:00 – 6:00 PM

The average weekday peak hour volumes on the roadway segments and at intersections were obtained based on the ATR and turning movement counts from the three middle weekdays only, i.e., Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. The balanced traffic flow networks are shown on Figures 3-9 and 3-10. Traffic volumes on the LIE mainlines and service roads were taken from the Long Island Travel and Information Center Study. Also note that since numerous intersections were not counted between the selected 25 intersections, traffic flow volumes were balanced only at adjacent intersections. Actual turning movement counts without any further adjustments were utilized at individual isolated intersections.

Travel Time and Speed. To measure peak hour travel time and vehicular speeds in the study area and identify locations with traffic delay, travel time and speed surveys were conducted along nine routes. Table 3-5 summarizes the average travel speeds for each surveyed route by direction during the AM and PM peak hours. In general, travel speeds on all routes were observed to be lower than the posted speed limits. Travel speeds throughout the study area for the AM peak hour range from 23 kph to 87 kph and for the PM peak hour range from 13 kph to 85 kph. For most routes, PM peak hour travel speeds are lower than AM peak hour speeds. The travel routes with low speeds, i.e., less than 32 kph during one or more peak hours, are:

Pine Aire Drive from Executive Drive to Stein Drive;

Wicks Road from 3rd Avenue/Pine Aire Drive to Vanderbilt/Motor Parkway; and

Suffolk Avenue from Hamilton Avenue to Mimitz Avenue.

The route with the lowest travel speed is Suffolk Avenue, ranging from 13 kph to 34 kph during the AM and PM peak hours. This is mainly because: (1) a short section of Suffolk Avenue (approximately 518 meters) was included in the VISSIM network and used to compute travel speeds, and (2) heavy volumes and intersection delays contributed to the lower speeds experienced on this short route.

TABLE 3-5: 2004 EXISTING TRAVEL TIME AND SPEEDS

Travel Time (sec)

Travel Speed (kph)

No. Route Direction Distance (m) AM PM AM PM

1 Commack Rd from Grand Blvd to Vanderbilt Pkwy

NB SB

6,782 6,782

454 424

463 437

53 58

53 56

2 Crooked Hill Rd from Commack Rd to Wicks Rd

NB SB

4,828 4,828

342 296

305 295

52 60

56 60

3 Long Island Ave from Prospect Place to Executive Dr

EB WB

1,803 1,803

117 145

111 119

56 45

58 55



TABLE 3-5: 2004 EXISTING TRAVEL TIME AND SPEEDS

Travel Time (sec)

Travel Speed (kph)

No. Route Direction Distance (m) AM PM AM PM

4 Pine Aire Drive from Executive Dr to Stein Dr

EB WB

2,896 2,896

291 334

365 402

35 31

29 26

5 Wicks Rd from 3rd Ave/Pine Air Dr to Vanderbilt/Motor Pkwy

NB SB

3,371 3,371

382 344

387 486

32 35

32 26

6 Suffolk Ave from Hamilton Ave to Mimitz Ave

EB WB

523 523

84 56

134 141

23 34

15 13

7 Campus Rd from Crooked Hill Rd to Wicks Rd

EB WB

751 752

67 76

81 62

40 35

39 43

8 LIE Express Dr. S LIE Express Dr. N

EB WB

2,441 2,833

115 128

127 127

77 80

69 80

9 Sagtikos Pkwy from LIE interchange to Pine Aire Dr

NB SB

4,045 4,045

181 167

172 177

80 87

85 82

Vehicle Hours of Delay. Delay is defined as the additional time required by the motorists to travel some distance due to impeding travel conditions on the road. Hence, this measurement provides a general indication of traffic congestion. Delay per vehicle can be computed by finding the difference in travel times between free flow speed and the actual travel speed between two given points. The combined total of “delay per vehicle” for all vehicles traveling in the roadway network during a specified time period is the vehicle hours of delay (VHD), providing a system-wide assessment of overall delay. The lower the value of VHD, the better the network is operating.

Existing VHD for the roadway system in the study area was obtained from the VISSIM model. The model results indicate that the base year (2004) VHD was 446 vehicle-hours in the AM peak hour and 546 vehicle-hours in the PM peak hour.

Existing Level of Service

Level of Service Methodology. The operating performance of a roadway segment or intersection is commonly measured by level of service (LOS), based on such factors as speed and travel time, freedom to maneuver, traffic interruptions, comfort and convenience. The 2000 Highway Capacity Manual (HCM) defines six LOS ratings (letters A through F), with LOS A representing free-flow conditions and LOS F signifying unstable or breakdown conditions. The remaining LOS letters represent gradually declining traffic conditions as traffic performance drops from LOS B through LOS E.

Specific criteria/measures are used to define LOS for different types of roadway facilities. In the case of basic freeway segments, LOS is based on the density of vehicles in the traffic stream, defined in terms of passenger car equivalents per mile per lane (pcpmpl). LOS for ramp operations is determined based on the density of the vehicles within the influence areas (typically including the outer two lanes of the freeway) created by the merging or diverging vehicles. The influence area for these movements usually extends 1,500 feet downstream of an

Figure 3-92004 Existing AM Peak

Hour Traffic Volume



NOT TO SCALE

Figure 3-102004 Existing PM Peak

Hour Traffic Volume



NOT TO SCALE



entrance ramp or 1,500 feet upstream of an exit ramp. LOS for weaving areas is also determined by density. Traffic within a weaving area is subject to turbulence normally in the form of forced lane changes within a restricted distance. Although there are both weaving and non-weaving vehicles within a weaving area, a single LOS is used to describe operations within the weaving area. The LOS criteria for freeway mainlines, freeway ramps, and weaving segments, as defined in the 2000 HCM, are provided in Table 3-6.

TABLE 3-6: FREEWAY LEVEL OF SERVICE CRITERIA

Maximum Density (pc/mi/ln) Level of Service (LOS) Basic Segments Ramp Merge and Diverge Areas Weaving Segments

A ≤ 11 ≤ 10 ≤ 10

B > 11 - 18 > 10 - 20 > 10 - 20

C > 18 - 26 > 20 - 28 > 20 - 28

D > 26 - 35 > 28 - 35 > 28 - 35

E > 35 - 45 > 35 > 35 - 43

F > 45 Demand exceeds capacity > 43

LOS for intersections is defined in terms of average control delay (in seconds) per vehicle during peak traffic demand periods. Control delay is defined as the portion of the total delay attributed to traffic control measures, either traffic signals or stop signs. Control delay includes initial deceleration delay, queue move-up time, stopped delay, and final acceleration delay.

For signalized intersections, LOS is related to the control delay for all movements, while for unsignalized intersections, LOS is for each stop-controlled movement. For two-way stop-controlled intersections, LOS depends on the amount of delay experienced by drivers on the minor (stop-controlled) approaches. All-way stop-controlled intersections require drivers on all approaches to stop before proceeding into the intersection, so LOS is determined by the average computed delay for all movements. The LOS criteria for signalized and unsignalized intersections, as defined in the 2000 HCM, are provided in Table 3-7.

TABLE 3-7: INTERSECTION LEVEL OF SERVICE CRITERIA

Average Control Delay (sec/veh)

Level of Service (LOS) Signalized Intersection Unsignalized Intersection

A ≤ 10 ≤ 10

B > 10-20 > 10-15

C > 20-35 > 15-25

D > 35-55 > 25-35

E > 55-80 > 35-50

F > 80 > 50

Freeway Level of Service. In this study, AM and PM peak hour LOS analyses were conducted for both the Long Island Expressway (LIE) and Sagtikos Parkway. Limits of the Sagtikos Parkway studied include the northbound section from the Pine Aire Drive entrance ramp to the



LIE eastbound entrance ramp and the southbound section from the LIE westbound exit ramp to the Pine Aire Drive exit ramp. Study area limits for the Long Island Expressway include the eastbound section from the South Service Road exit ramp (west side of Commack Road) to the South Service Road entrance ramp (west side of Wicks Road) and the westbound section from the North Service Road entrance ramp (east side of Wicks Road) to the North Service Road entrance ramp (west side of Commack Road). Levels of service were calculated for the basic freeway segments, freeway ramps, and weaving segments using the VISSIM models. VISSIM accounts for operating characteristics of all individual vehicles traveling over a freeway segment or ramp and determines the segment or ramp LOS based on the density of vehicles in the traffic stream. The results of the freeway segment, ramp merging and diverging, and weaving analysis are presented in Tables 3-8 and 3-9.

The results of basic freeway segment analysis show that most segments of LIE and Sagtikos Parkway currently operate at LOS D or better during the AM and PM peak hours. The segments that operate at unacceptable LOS (i.e., LOS E or LOS F) include:

Northbound Sagtikos Parkway from Pine Aire Drive entrance ramp to Campus Road exit ramp (AM peak hour);

Northbound Sagtikos Parkway from Campus Road exit ramp to Crooked Hill Road southbound entrance ramp (AM peak hour);

Northbound Sagtikos Parkway from Crooked Hill Road southbound entrance ramp to Crooked Hill Road northbound entrance ramp (AM peak hour);

Southbound Sagtikos Parkway from Pilgrim Hospital exit ramp to Pilgrim Hospital entrance ramp (PM peak hour);

Southbound Sagtikos Parkway from Pilgrim Hospital entrance ramp to Pine Aire Drive exit ramp (PM peak hour);

Eastbound LIE mainline before the South Service Road exit ramp (west side of Commack Road) (AM and PM peak hours);

Easbound LIE from the South Service Road exit ramp (west side of Commack Road) to the Express Drive South exit ramp (east side of Commack Road) (PM peak hour);

Westbound LIE from the Express Drive North entrance ramp (east side of Commack Road) to the North Service Road entrance ramp (west side of Commack Road) (AM peak hour); and

Westbound LIE mainline after the North Service Road entrance ramp (west side of Commack Road) (AM and PM peak hours).

During the AM peak hour, the segments operating at LOS E or F are only located on the northbound section of Sagtikos Parkway while during the PM peak hour, on the southbound section of Sagtikos Parkway. In contrast, LIE mainline segments in both (eastbound and westbound) operate at unacceptable LOS in the AM and PM peak hours.

The results of the merging and diverging analysis indicate that most ramps operate at LOS D or better during the AM and PM peak hours. However, the eastbound LIE exit ramps to the South Service Road (on the west side of Commack Road) and to the Express Drive South (on the east side of Commack Road) currently operate at LOS F during the PM peak hour.



The results of the weaving analysis show that many weave segments operate at unacceptable LOS during the AM and PM peak hours. These weave segments include:

Northbound Sagtikos Parkway from Crooked Hill Road northbound entrance ramp to LIE eastbound exit ramp (AM and PM peak hours);

Southbound Sagtikos Parkway from LIE eastbound/westbound entrance ramp to Pilgrim Hospital exit ramp (PM peak hour);

Express Drive South from Sagtikos Parkway southbound entrance ramp to Sagtikos Parkway northbound exit ramp (PM peak hour); and

Express Drive North from Motor Parkway entrance ramp to Sagtikos Parkway northbound/southbound exit ramp (PM peak hour).

TABLE 3-8: 2004 EXISTING SAGTIKOS PARKWAY LEVEL OF SERVICE

AM PM

No. Segment Type Density LOS Density LOS

Northbound Sagtikos Parkway

1 Pine Aire Dr Entrance to Campus Rd Exit Basic Segment 40.6 E 34.5 D

2 Campus Rd Exit Diverge Diverging 30.1 D 23.2 C

3 Campus Rd Exit to Crooked Hill Rd SB Entrance

Basic Segment 37.1 E 31.7 D

4 Crooked Hill Rd SB Entrance Merge Merging 25.7 C 21.4 C

5 Crooked Hill Rd SB Entrance to Crooked Hill Rd NB Entrance


6 Crooked Hill Rd NB Entrance to LIE EB Exit Weaving 57.2 F 35.2 E

7 LIE EB Exit to LIE EB Entrance Basic Segment 24.3 C 23.6 C

8 LIE EB Entrance to LIE WB Exit Weaving 28.1 D 33.2 D

9 LIE WB Exit to LIE EB Entrance Basic Segment 20.0 C 25.4 C

Southbound Sagtikos Parkway

10 LIE WB Exit to LIE EB Exit Basic Segment 33.4 D 24.5 C

11 LIE EB Exit Diverge Diverging 21.3 C 15.5 B

12 LIE EB Exit to LIE EB/WB Entrance Basic Segment 19.0 C 13.7 B

13 LIE EB/WB Entrance to Pilgrim Hospital Exit Weaving 33.6 D 38.7 E

14 Pilgrim Hospital Exit to Pilgrim Hospital Entrance

Basic Segment 29.0

D

36.5 E

15 Pilgrim Hospital Entrance Merging 19.8 B 23.5 C

16 Pilgrim Hospital Entrance to Pine Aire Dr Exit Basic Segment 31.3 D 35.7 E



TABLE 3-9: 2004 EXISTING LONG ISLAND EXPRESSWAY LEVEL OF SERVICE

AM PM


Eastbound Long Island Expressway (LIE) – Mainline

1 Mainline before LIE South Service Rd Exit (West Side of Commack Rd)

Basic Segment 37.7

E

94.3 F

2 LIE South Service Rd Exit (West side of Commack Rd)

Diverging 26.2

C

61.0 F

3 LIE South Service Rd Exit (West side of Commack Rd) to Express Drive South Exit (East side of Commack Rd)

Basic Segment 31.9

D

74.3 F

4 Express Drive South Exit (East side of Commack Rd)

Diverging 30.2

D 59.5 F

5 Express Drive South Exit (East side of Commack Rd) to Express Drive South Entrance (west side of Wicks Rd)

Basic Segment 21.9 C

18.0 B

6 Express Drive South Entrance (west side of Wicks Rd)

Merging 22.9 C 16.1 B

7 Mainline after Express Drive South Entrance (west side of Wicks Rd)

Basic Segment 30.2

D

21.6 C

Westbound Long Island Expressway (LIE) – Mainline

8 Mainline before Express Drive North Entrance (East Side of Commack Rd)

Basic Segment 23.0 C 21.0 C

9 Express Drive North Entrance (East side of Commack Rd)

Merging 31.4 D 26.6 C

10 Express Drive North Entrance (East side of Commack Rd) to North Service Rd Entrance (West side of Commack Rd)


11 LIE North Service Rd Entrance (West side of Commack Rd)

Merging 33.4 D 27.6 C

12 Mainline after LIE North Service Rd Entrance (West side of Commack Rd)

Basic Segment 41.8 E 37.7 E

Eastbound Long Island Expressway (LIE) – Express Drive South

13 Commack Rd Entrance to Sagtikos Parkway SB Exit

Weaving 19.4 B 34.8 D

14 Sagtikos Parkway SB Exit to Sagtikos Parkway SB Entrance

Basic Segment 15.3 B 28.8 D

15 Sagtikos Parkway SB Entrance to Sagtikos Parkway NB Exit

Weaving 27.9 C 47.5 F

16 Sagtikos Parkway NB Exit to Wicks Rd Exit Basic Segment 25.2 C 31.2 D

17 Wicks Rd Exit Diverging 16.5 B 20.3 C

18 After Wicks Rd Exit Basic Segment 19.6 C 24.7 C



TABLE 3-9: 2004 EXISTING LONG ISLAND EXPRESSWAY LEVEL OF SERVICE

AM PM


Westbound Long Island Expressway (LIE) – Express Drive North

19 Motor Parkway Entrance to Sagtikos Parkway NB/SB Exit

Weaving 34.8 D

43.1 F

20 Sagtikos Parkway NB/SB Exit to Sagtikos Parkway NB Entrance

Basic Segment 18.4

C

16.2 B

21 Sagtikos Parkway NB Entrance Merging 15.7 B 14.5 B

22 Sagtikos Parkway NB Entrance to Sagtikos Parkway SB Entrance

Basic Segment 23.6 C

21.9 C

23 Sagtikos Parkway SB Entrance to Commack Rd Exit

Weaving 29.9

D

26.4 C

Intersection Level of Service. VISSIM was used to conduct signalized and unsignalized intersection analyses for the weekday AM and PM peak hours under existing (2004) conditions. VISSIM keeps track of the operating characteristics of each individual vehicle passing through an intersection and determines the LOS through the intersection using parameters such as average vehicle delay for the approaches. A total of 25 intersections in the study area were analyzed to evaluate existing traffic operations. The results of the LOS analysis for these intersections are presented in Table 3-10.

The analysis indicates that, under existing conditions, most intersections operate at an acceptable level-of-service with LOS D or better during the AM and PM peak hours. Of the 25 intersections, only two signalized intersections operate at saturated levels (overall LOS E or LOS F) during the AM peak hour while five signalized intersections operate unacceptably during the PM peak hour as follows:

Intersection 16 - Commack Road and Long Island Avenue (AM and PM peak hours);

Intersection 22 - Commack Road and North Service Road (AM peak hour);

Intersection 4 - Wicks Road and Crooked Hill Road (PM peak hour);

Intersection 11 - Pine Aire Drive and Manatuck Boulevard (PM peak hour); and

Intersection 15 - Long Island Avenue and Executive Drive (PM peak hour).

Most of the failures experienced at these intersections are caused by the failure in one or more of the approach movements. Generally, the exceedingly high movement demand, in particular the left turn movement, leads to the failure of the entire intersection by blocking the through movement on the same intersection approach.



TABLE 3-10: 2004 EXISTING INTERSECTION LEVEL OF SERVICE

AM Peak Hour PM Peak Hour

No. Intersection/Approach Delay LOS Delay LOS

1 Wicks Rd & Motor Parkway Eastbound Westbound Northbound Southbound Intersection

34.4 67.4 11.3 27.0 35.7

C E B C D

31.1 31.4 24.8 21.9 26.9

C C C C C

2 Wicks Rd & South Service Road Eastbound Northbound Southbound Intersection

39.4 14.9 12.3 24.8

D B B C

41.5 17.6 16.1 25.3

D B B C

3 Wicks Rd & Community College Rd Eastbound Northbound Southbound Intersection

40.7 9.9 3.1

11.2

D A A B

31.8 31.9 21.1 27.6

C C C C

4 Wicks Rd & Crooked Hill Rd Eastbound Westbound Northbound Southbound Intersection

29.6 12.1 26.7 16.5 23.6

C B C B C

217.1 21.6 11.6 44.9 80.9

F C B D F

5 Wick Rd & Suffolk Ave Eastbound Westbound Northbound Southbound Intersection

93.8 29.6 12.1 11.6 19.8

F C B B B

70.7 31.8 20.6

108.0 63.4

E C C F E

6 Wicks Rd/5th Ave & Pine Aire Drive/3rd Ave Eastbound Westbound Northbound Southbound Intersection

49.0 55.9 20.3 28.6 33.0

D E C C C

47.7 15.8 25.4

159.4 47.3

D B C F D

7 Crooked Hill Rd & LIE North Service Rd Westbound Northbound Southbound Intersection

47.5 2.7 1.4 9.6

D A A A

54.5 6.9 3.7

12.6

D A A B






8 Crooked Hill Rd & LIE South Service Rd Eastbound Northbound Southbound Intersection

31.6 5.0 7.5

11.5

C A A B

12.0 25.4 30.1 21.5

B C C C

9 Crooked Hill Rd & Pilgrim Psychiatric Hospital Entrance Eastbound Northbound Southbound Intersection

9.3 0.3 2.8 2.0

A A A A

11.7 1.2 5.8 4.8

B A A A

10 Crooked Hill Rd & Community College Rd Eastbound Westbound Northbound Southbound Intersection

40.2 26.6 10.6 4.3

19.0

D C B A B

24.8 22.7 10.2 8.0

15.4

C C B A B

11 Pine Aire Drive & Manatuck Blvd Eastbound Westbound Northbound Southbound Intersection

8.6 7.2

34.3 4.4

13.7

A A C A B

13.9 23.8

355.4 34.5 56.3

B C F C E

12 Pine Aire Dr & NB Sagtikos Pkwy Entrance/Exit Ramps Eastbound Westbound Southbound Intersection

7.0

14.4 38.1 16.4

A B D B

13.8 8.5

42.5 16.0

B A D B

13 Pine Aire Dr & SB Sagtikos Pkwy Entrance/Exit Ramps Eastbound Westbound Southbound Intersection

14.7 24.6 12.7 19.3

B C B B

73.1 8.2

28.3 46.3

E A C D

14 Pine Aire Drive & Executive Drive Eastbound Westbound Southbound Intersection

5.5 2.2

64.1 11.2

A A E B

16.2 18.0 23.5 19.3

B B C B






15 Long Island Ave & Executive Drive Eastbound Westbound Northbound Southbound Intersection

9.5

50.2 50.4

120.1 42.5

A D D F D

18.1

194.4 9.8

293.7 144.0

B F A F F

16 Long Island Ave & Commack Rd Eastbound Westbound Northbound Southbound Intersection

265.4 123.6 37.7 7.9

74.6

F F D A E

33.1

240.2 14.7 12.0 73.5

C F B B E

17 Commack Rd & Nicolls Rd Eastbound Westbound Northbound Southbound Intersection

37.7 41.9 10.6 7.3

14.1

D D B A B

29.8 32.4 6.4

10.3 9.9

C C A B A

18 Commack Rd & Pilgrim Psychiatric Hospital Entrance Eastbound Northbound Southbound Intersection

2.8 4.6 2.5 3.6

A A A A

12.1 7.3 0.6 3.7

B A A A

19 Crooked Hill Rd & Henry St Eastbound Westbound Northbound Southbound Intersection

79.3 69.5 2.7 2.2

19.9

E E A A B

23.3 12.8 8.0

11.5 15.3

C B A B B

20a Commack Rd & Crooked Hill Rd Northbound Southbound Intersection

1.0 2.3 1.6

A A A

5.9 8.8 7.3

A A A

20b Commack Rd & Mall Driveway Eastbound Northbound Southbound Intersection

0.9 0.5 0.5 0.6

A A A A

1.4 1.9 1.8 1.6

A A A A






21 Commack Rd & LIE South Service Rd Eastbound Northbound Southbound Intersection

23.8 10.9 16.8 17.0

C B B B

38.1 26.8 21.6 29.4

D C C C

22 Commack Rd & LIE North Service Rd Westbound Northbound Southbound Intersection

51.0 16.2

117.7 59.9

D B F E

38.9 5.3

20.0 23.1

D A B C

23 Crooked Hill Rd & Suffolk County Community College Driveway Eastbound Westbound Northbound Southbound Intersection

41.0 35.1 2.3 1.2 3.5

D D A A A

0.6 35.8 3.2 2.5 5.1

A D A A A

24 Community College Rd & Suffolk County Community College Driveway Eastbound Westbound Southbound Intersection

1.6 0.1 7.6 1.3

A A A A

1.0 0.8

11.4 2.9

A A B A

25 NB Sagtikos Pkwy Exit Ramp & Community College Rd Eastbound Westbound Southbound Intersection

0.7 1.8

20.3 10.5

A A C B

0.9 0.7

15.0 6.5

A A B A

Safety Analysis Methodology

The general form of safety analysis is the study of specific locations where a safety problem is deemed to exist. To identify high accident locations, the highway limits within the study area were divided into homogeneous segments with uniform geometric and traffic flow volume characteristics. Local roadways were disaggregated into nodes (intersections) and links (segment between intersections). Accident rates are primarily a function of the number of accidents over a period of time and the AADT volumes. Since the accident database encompassed the 1999 to 2002 period, the actual 2004 AADT volumes were adjusted to reflect the 2002 AADT volume estimate, based on a generalized annual 1 percent traffic growth rate. For roadway segments, accident rates were computed in terms of the number of accidents per million vehicle miles of travel (MVM). For intersections, accident rates were calculated in terms of the number of accidents per million entering vehicles (MEV). Table 3-11 lists the locations included in this analysis.



TABLE 3-11: SAFETY ANALYSIS LOCATIONS

Segments Intersections

Long Island Expressway (eastbound) 0 N/A

Long Island Expressway (westbound) 0 N/A

Commack Road 0 3

Crooked Hill Road 1 7

Wicks Road-5th Avenue 0 10

Existing Safety Conditions

The following paragraphs describe existing accident patterns on major study area roadways.

Long Island Expressway (eastbound). This 2.1-mile segment of the eastbound expressway mainline incurred a total of 115 accidents, including one fatality accident that involved a vehicle running off the roadway between Exit 52 and Commack Road on July 13, 2000. Of the total 115 mainline accidents, over 45 percent (52) occurred during the 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM peak period, 53 percent (61) were rear-end accidents, over 75 percent (87) occurred on dry pavement, nearly 35 percent (40) involved injury accidents, and nearly 95 percent of the vehicles involved passenger cars. The preponderance of afternoon peak period accident occurrences is generally attributed to congested traffic flows with extensive queues and stop-and-go condition, further exacerbated by improper driver behaviors (i.e., “following too closely” and “driver inattention”), during commuter peak periods. The highest number of accidents (38) occurred in the eastbound mainline section between Commack Road Exit 52 and Sagtikos Parkway/Wicks Road Exit 53, with an average rate of 1.79 accidents per MVM. However, the adjoining eastbound segment approach to Commack Road exhibited the highest accident rate of 1.95 accidents/MVM. Relatively negligible number of 7 and 2 accidents occurred on the Express Drive South collector-distributor road and the LIE South Service Road, respectively. Another fatal accident was reported on the Express Drive South near the Sagtikos Parkway overpass, where a vehicle ran off pavement onto grass shoulder and overturned on June 18, 2000.

Long Island Expressway (westbound). This 2.1-mile segment of the westbound expressway mainline reported a total of 61 accidents over a three-year period. The rear-end accidents accounted for the majority of reported incidents (34 percent), followed by 28 percent percent overtake accidents, and 26 percent fixed object accidents. Most of the rear-end accidents are attributed to improper driver behaviors, such as “driver inattention” and “following too closely.” As expected, the predominance of nearly 38 percent (23) of total accident occurrences during the 6:00 AM to 10:00 AM morning peak period and 71 percent (43) on dry pavement surface also indicated that traffic congestion factor may had a greater influence on accident pattern on the westbound mainline roadway. The adjoining Express Drive North collector-distributor road and LIE North Service Road exhibited relatively low 10 and 1 accidents, respectively, over a three-year period. A fairly high proportion of wet pavement accidents (50 percent) on Express Drive North in non-winter months would warrant new pavement overlay to improve skid resistance for wet pavement condition.

Commack Road. A total of 155 accidents were reported on this 2.3-mile segment of a four-lane roadway with a 2004 annual AADT of approximately 29,000 vehicles. Nearly 29 percent (44) of the total accidents were rear-end types, 21 percent (32) were left-turn conflicts, 21 percent (32)



were overtaking and 12 percent (19) were right-angle accidents. As expected, the greatest accident occurrences were reported at the intersections, as compared to occurrences on the segments between the intersections. The highest frequency of accidents occurred in the vicinity of signalized Commack Road/Long Island Avenue intersection with a total of 70 occurrences over a three-year period. The second highest accident location was identified at the Nicolls Road intersection with a total of 18 accidents.

Of the two fatal accident occurrences, a left-turn fatal accident involved a southbound left-turn vehicle and a westbound through vehicle at the Commack Road/Long Island Avenue intersection during the late night on Sunday, September 3, 2000. The other fatal accident involved a right-angle collision between a northbound through vehicle and an eastbound through vehicle that ran a red light at the Commack Road/LIE South Service Road intersection during the afternoon peak period on Thursday, July 19, 2001.

The majority of intersection-related accidents on Commack Road are attributed to improper driver behaviors such as “driver inattention,” failure to yield right-of-way,” “traffic control disregarded,” “unsafe speed,” and “improper lane change.”

Crooked Hill Road. Of the total 139 accidents reported on this 4.0-mile segment roadway with an AADT volume of 18,000 vehicles, the predominant accident pattern involved left-turn collisions (32 percent), followed by rear-end (17 percent), right-angle (14 percent), fixed object (14 percent), and overtake (13 percent) collisions. A major portion of Crooked Hill Road south of the northbound Sagtikos Parkway entrance ramps consists of a five-lane section with two travel lanes in each direction plus a two-way, median left-turn lane. North of the northbound Sagtikos Parkway entrance ramps, this major north-south arterial roadway narrows to two travel lanes and provides one travel lane in each direction.

A total of three fatal accidents occurred at Leahy Avenue, between Leahy Avenue and St. Andrews Road, and northbound Sagtikos Parkway entrance ramp over a three-year period. The fatal accident at Leahy Avenue was caused by a southbound driver who fell asleep and collided with a northbound vehicle on August 27, 2000. The second fatal accident involved an intoxicated southbound driver who hit a utility pole located north of Leahy Avenue on January 20, 2001. The third fatal accident involved a loss of vehicle control on a slippery pavement on December 16, 2000.

The presence of numerous cross street intersections also contributed to accidents at eight intersections (i.e., McNair Street, Leahy Avenue, St. Andrews Drive, St. Peters Drive, Pilgrim Road, Community College Drive, LIE North Service Road, and LIE South Service Road) and one roadway segment (i.e., LIE South Service Road to Pilgrim Hospital entrance). The highest frequency of 22 accidents was reported at G Road/Community College Drive with an average accident rate of 1.31 accidents/MVM. Critical contributing factors for the reported accident occurrences include: “failure to yield right-of-way,” “driver inattention,” “traffic control disregarded,” “following too closely,” “unsafe lane change,” “improper turns,” and “slippery pavement.” That the majority of the left-turn and right-angle accidents at unsignalized cross streets and driveways seems to be attributed to drivers not finding sufficient gaps in high speed through traffic movements on the north-south Crooked Hill roadway. Although the posted speed limit on Crooked Hill Road is 40 mph, the 85th percentile speed was observed in the field as 55 mph. In addition, the presence of continued lane markings through these two-way left-turn lane



intersections may not have provided adequate warning to mainline drivers of upcoming unsignalized intersections, thereby resulting in numerous turning movement collisions.

Wicks Road. A total of 102 accidents occurred on the relatively short 0.71-mile segment of Wicks Road between Vanderbilt Motor Parkway on the north and Crooked Hill Road on the south. No fatal accidents were reported on this roadway. The 2002 AADT volumes ranged from 17,000 vehicles to 40,000 vehicles. The predominant accident patterns included 32 percent (33) left-turn, 24 percent (24) rear-end, daylight 61 percent (62), dry pavement surface 71 percent (72), and winter months 34 percent (35) accidents.

The highest frequency of 19 accident occurrences was reported at the Wicks Road/Heyward Street intersection with an average accident rate of 0.80 accident/MVM. The predominant accident type was identified as left-turn collisions (53 percent) at this hazardous location, which also indicated inadequate gaps in mainline traffic flow volumes for left-turn vehicles from minor cross streets and driveways.

Future No Build Conditions

Traffic Volumes. The No Build traffic condition is an interim scenario that establishes a future baseline condition. For the purpose of this project, the future No Build traffic volumes on the roadway system were projected for the 2010 estimated time of completion (ETC). Future No Build traffic volumes are ascertained based on a number of factors:

Improvements in the roadway network that are planned or underway;

Traffic from general population growth in the study area; and

Traffic from identified development projects in the project site vicinity.

Since there are no roadway improvement projects in the site vicinity listed in the STIP, only the two latter factors were considered to forecast traffic volumes for the AM and PM peak hour No Build scenarios. An ambient traffic growth rate of 1.1 percent per year was applied to the 2004 existing traffic volumes for expansion to year 2010 traffic conditions. In addition, the traffic generated by approved developments in the vicinity of the project site was superimposed onto expanded volumes on the roadway network. These approved developments include the following:

Crooked Hill Commons. Approximately 377,200 square feet of retail use recently opened on the east side of Crooked Hill Road, north of Henry Street and west of the Sagtikos Parkway, in the Town of Smithtown, Suffolk County. This project is expected to generate 8,888 new daily trips, with 555 occurring in the AM peak hour, and 666 occurring in the PM peak hour on weekdays.

Heartland Business Expansion Center. Approximately 1,272,000 square feet of light industrial and warehouse uses to be located on the west side of Rodeo Drive and north of Long Island Avenue, in the Town of Islip, Suffolk County.

The Arches Tanger Outlet Center. Approximately 805,000 square feet of outlet stores (complemented by restaurants and entertainment) to be located on the east side of Commack Road and north of Grand Boulevard, in the Town of Babylon, Suffolk County.



The trip generation estimates for these developments were obtained directly from their respective traffic impact studies. The balanced future 2010 No Build traffic volumes are shown in Figures 3-11 and 3-12.

Traffic volumes on the study area roadways were projected to increase by 2010. Table 3-12 summarizes the increase in traffic volumes between the 2004 existing and the 2010 No Build conditions. Commack Road in both directions is expected to experience large increases in traffic volume during the AM and PM peak hours. This is due to several significant planned developments in the vicinity of the Commack Road corridor. 2010 No Build traffic volumes along Sagtikos Parkway are also expected to increase significantly, particularly in the southbound direction (by 19 percent) during the AM peak hour and in the northbound direction (by 22 percent) during the PM peak hour. Traffic volumes on Crooked Hill Road were projected to increase more in the PM peak hour (by 10 to 13 percent) than in the AM peak hour (by 8 to 9 percent). Volumes on LIE, Wicks Road, and G Road would increase more modestly, most increasing by 7 percent.

TABLE 3-12: CHANGE IN TRAFFIC VOLUMES – 2004 EXISTING TO 2010 NO BUILD

AM Peak Hour Volume PM Peak Hour Volume Location

Direction

2002

Existing 2010 No

Build

%

Change

2002

Existing 2010 No

Build

%

Change

Sagtikos Parkway between Pine Aire Drive and G Road

NB SB

4,330 3,190

4,693 3,799

8 19

3,660 3,750

4,475 4,147

22 11

Long Island Expressway between (eastbound) Exit 52 and (eastbound) Exit 53

EB WB

4,411 4,975

4,743 5,309

8 7

5,022 5,316

5,363 5,316

7 7

Commack Road between Pilgrim Hospital entrance and South Service Road

NB SB

934 840

1,098 1,105

18 32

961 1,080

1,409 1,403

47 30

Crooked Hill Road between G Road and Suffolk County Community College Driveway

NB SB

1,023 322

1,100 352

8 9

894 770

985 868

10 13

Wicks Road between G Road and South Service Road

NB SB

617 478

659 511

7 7

565 870

603 929

7 7

G Road between Sagtikos Parkway NB exit ramp and Crooked Hill Road

EB WB

407 246

435 263

7 7

707 137

755 146

7 7

Travel Time and Speed. Travel time and travel speed projections for the 2010 No Build conditions were performed using the VISSIM simulation software. VISSIM computed the average travel time for all vehicles that traveled within a defined segment for a defined period of time. Table 3-13 presents the estimated travel time and speeds for each travel route by direction during the AM and PM peak hours. In general, No Build (2010) travel speeds on all routes would be lower than the existing (2004) travel speeds. Travel speeds throughout the study area for the AM peak hour range from 11 kph to 77 kph and for the PM peak hour range from 10 kph to 69 kph. Most routes in the PM peak hour would operate with lower travel speeds than in the AM



peak hour. Compared to existing (2004) travel speeds, the following travel routes would experience a substantial reduction in speeds under the 2010 No Build conditions:

Route 1 - Commack Road in the northbound direction (AM peak hour);

Route 3 – Long Island Avenue in the westbound direction (PM peak hour);

Route 8 – LIE Service Road in the westbound direction (i.e., North Service Road) (AM and PM peak hours); and

Route 9 – Sagtikos parkway in the northbound direction (PM peak hour) and in the southbound direction (AM peak hour).

TABLE 3-13: 2010 NO BUILD TRAVEL TIME AND SPEEDS

Travel Time (sec)

Travel Speed (kph)

No. Route

Direction

Distance (m) AM PM AM PM


NB SB

6,782 6,782

755 433

488 469

32 56

50 52


NB SB

4,828 4,828

346 303

311 306

50 57

56 56


EB WB

1,802 1,802

117 151

116 226

56 43

56 29


EB WB

2,896 2,896

307 569

418 416

34 18

24 26


NB SB

3,371 3,371

391 344

460 527

31 35

26 23


EB WB

523 523

159 57

134 184

11 34

14 10


EB WB

751 751

69 78

90 96

39 35

31 29


EB WB

2,441 2,833

115 218

127 231

77 47

69 43


NB SB

4,045 4,045

196 205

300 210

74 71

48 69

Vehicle Hours of Delay. The future No Build vehicle hours of delay (VHD) for the roadway system in the study area was obtained from the VISSIM model. The model results indicate that the future No Build (2010) VHD would be 875 vehicle-hours in the AM peak hour and 1310 vehicle-hours in the PM peak hour. Compared to the base year (2004) VHD, this results in increases of 96 percent and 140 percent for the AM and PM peak hours, respectively. A substantial increase in VHD suggests that by 2010, traffic conditions in the study area would deteriorate.

Figure 3-112010 No Build AM Peak

Hour Traffic Volume



NOT TO SCALE

Figure 3-122010 No Build PM Peak

Hour Traffic Volume



NOT TO SCALE



Future No Build Level of Service

Freeway Level of Service. The future No Build freeway LOS is determined by relating the VISSIM density calculations to the LOS criteria in Table 3-6. Levels of service were calculated for the basic freeway segments, freeway ramps, and weaving areas. The results of the LOS analysis for 2010 No Build traffic conditions are presented in Tables 3-14 and 3-15.

Since traffic volumes on the study area roadways were assumed to continuously grow, 2010 traffic conditions on the LIE and Sagtikos Parkway were expected to deteriorate. In comparison to the existing conditions, Tables 3-14 and 3-15 show that vehicle densities in all freeway segments would increase by 2010. Some segments that operated acceptably in 2004 for a particular peak period would operate at LOS E or worse in 2010. These segments include:

Northbound Sagtikos Parkway from Pine Aire Drive entrance ramp to Campus Road exit ramp (PM peak hour);

Northbound Sagtikos Parkway from Crooked Hill Road southbound entrance ramp to Crooked Hill Road northbound entrance ramp (PM peak hour);

Southbound Sagtikos Parkway from westbound LIE exit ramp to eastbound LIE exit ramp (AM peak hour);

Southbound Sagtikos Parkway from Pilgrim Hospital entrance ramp to Pine Aire Drive exit ramp (AM peak hour);

Eastbound LIE from the South Service Road exit ramp (west side of Commack Road) to the Express Drive South exit ramp (east side of Commack Road) (AM peak hour); and

Westbound LIE from the Express Drive North entrance ramp (east side of Commack Road) to the North Service Road entrance ramp (west side of Commack Road) (PM peak hour).

In comparison to the existing conditions, the number of ramps that would operate at an unacceptable LOS increased in 2010. Those ramps that operated acceptably in 2004 and would operate at LOS E or worse in 2010 include:

The northbound Sagtikos Parkway exit ramp to Campus Road (AM peak hour);

The eastbound LIE exit ramp to Express Drive South (east side of Commack Road) (AM peak hour);

The westbound LIE entrance ramp from Express Drive North (east side of Commack Road) (AM peak hour); and

The westbound LIE entrance ramp from Express Drive North (west side of Commack Road) (AM peak hour).

The results of the weaving analysis show that under 2010 peak hour traffic volumes for the No Build Alternative, most weaving segments would operate at unacceptable LOS during the AM and PM peak hours. The weaving sections that operated acceptably in 2004 and would operate at LOS E or worse in 2010 include:

Northbound Sagtikos Parkway from LIE eastbound exit ramp to LIE westbound exit ramp (PM peak hours);



Southbound Sagtikos Parkway from LIE eastbound/westbound entrance ramp to Pilgrim Hospital exit ramp (AM peak hour);

Express Drive South from Commack Road entrance ramp to Sagtikos Parkway southbound exit ramp (PM peak hour); and

Express Drive North from Sagtikos Parkway southbound entrance ramp to Commack Road exit ramp (AM peak hour).

TABLE 3-14: 2010 NO BUILD SAGTIKOS PARKWAY LEVEL OF SERVICE

AM PM



1 Pine Aire Dr Entrance to Campus Rd Exit Basic Segment 48.7 F 38.0 E

2 Campus Rd Exit Diverge Diverging 35.4 E 25.4 C



4 Crooked Hill Rd SB Entrance Merge Merging 33.3 D 23.2 C


Basic Segment 48.1 F 35.7 E

6 Crooked Hill Rd NB Entrance to LIE EB Exit Weaving 69.2 F 43.3 F

7 LIE EB Exit to LIE EB Entrance Basic Segment 26.1 D 26.9 D

8 LIE EB Entrance to LIE WB Exit Weaving 31.5 D 37.7 E

9 LIE WB Exit to LIE EB Entrance Basic Segment 21.7 C 27.3 D


10 LIE WB Exit to LIE EB Exit Basic Segment 40.6 E 26.6 D



13 LIE EB/WB Entrance to Pilgrim Hospital Exit Weaving 50.7 F 41.4 E


Basic Segment 33.6 D 40.4 E

15 Pilgrim Hospital Entrance Merging 22.3 C 24.5 C

16 Pilgrim Hospital Entrance to Pine Aire Dr Exit Basic Segment 35.6 E 37.1 E

TABLE 3-15: 2010 NO BUILD LONG ISLAND EXPRESSWAY LEVEL OF SERVICE

AM PM


Eastbound Long Island Expressway (LIE) - Mainline


Basic Segment 41.1 E 105.1 F


Diverging 29.6 D 80.4 F




AM PM





Diverging 36.5 E 66.5 F






Basic Segment 31.2 D 21.9 C

Westbound Long Island Expressway (LIE) - Mainline




Merging 44.3 F 27.5 C




Merging 44.7 F 28.3 D





Weaving 22.3 C 41.0 E




Weaving 32.4 D 48.6 F

16 Sagtikos Parkway NB Exit to Wicks Rd Exit Basic Segment 28.7 D 34.4 D

17 Wicks Rd Exit Diverging 21.9 C 21.4 C




Weaving 37.5 E 56.5 F





Basic Segment 24.8 C 27.6 D




AM PM



Weaving 39.9 E 29.9 D

Intersection Level of Service. Table 3-16 summarizes the LOS for the 2010 No Build scenario for the signalized and unsignalized intersections during the weekday AM and PM peak hours. As expected, the delay at all intersections would increase due to the considerable increase in traffic volumes for the future years. However, all unsignalized intersections would continue to operate at a LOS D or better. Of the 20 signalized intersections, four intersections would operate at saturated levels (LOS E or F) during the AM peak hour and eight intersections during the PM peak hour. Those signalized intersections that operated acceptably in 2004 and would operate at LOS E or worse in 2010 include:

Intersection 12 - Pine Aire Drive and southbound Sagtikos Parkway exit/entrance ramps (AM peak hour);

Intersection 15 - Long Island Avenue and Executive Drive (AM peak hour);

Intersection 1 - Wicks Road and Motor Parkway (PM peak hour);

Intersection 22 - Commack Road and North Service Road (PM peak hour); and

Intersection 23 - Crooked Hill Road and Suffolk County Community College Driveway (PM peak hour).

TABLE 3-16: 2010 NO BUILD INTERSECTION LEVEL OF SERVICE




34.7

104.3 13.3 28.1 48.9

C F B C D

59.7

138.3 28.1 23.1 60.9

E F C C E

2 Wicks Rd & South Service Rd Eastbound Northbound Southbound Intersection

41.2 16.1 15.4 26.2

D B B C

45.8 22.6 20.5 29.1

D C C C


56.5 10.7 3.3

13.7

E B A B

34.9 38.2 23.7 31.8

C D C C







31.3 14.4 34.4 18.3 28.9

C B C B C

217.5 21.7 11.6 48.4 82.9

F C B D F


129.5 29.7 15.0 16.6 24.8

F C B B C

70.7 31.8 21.2

115.8 67.3

E C C F E


61.6 76.3 22.7 35.2 41.4

E E C D D

47.7 15.9 25.5

161.8 47.5

D B C F D


48.1 3.5 1.7

10.1

D A A A

66.2 8.2 3.7

14.8

E A A B


33.8 6.0 8.0

13.2

C A A B

15.7 25.8 31.5 23.6

B C C C


10.9 0.4 3.3 2.4

B A A A

12.5 1.9 6.5 5.6

B A A A


41.0 26.7 10.8 4.6

18.2

D C B A B

35.6 23.5 11.1 9.4

18.9

D C B A B







10.0 68.2 83.4 12.9 51.9

A E F B D

14.4 24.1

355.4 34.5 56.5

B C F C E


7.1

133.3 345.0 125.7

A F F F

14.7 8.5

48.5 16.8

B A D B


18.8 40.3 13.0 27.4

B D B C

73.9 8.6

28.4 47.8

E A C D


9.4

34.2 74.6 36.1

A C E D

16.3 18.0 23.5 19.4

B B C B


9.9

153.6 106.9 366.6 120.2

A F F F F

18.3

197.1 9.9

294.2 145.6

B F A F F


283.5 145.8 80.4 8.6

104.1

F F F A F

33.2

244.9 14.8 12.5 73.7

C F B B E


39.4 43.5 14.5 8.0

17.4

D D B A B

29.8 32.6 6.4

10.9 9.9

C C A B A







3.6

12.3 2.8 7.9

A B A A

12.3 7.9 0.6 3.9

B A A A


80.7 71.1 3.4 2.7

21.8

F E A A C

24.9 13.2 8.6

12.3 16.1

C B A B B


1.5 3.1 2.3

A A A

9.5

13.6 11.8

A B B


0.9 0.7 0.7 0.8

A A A A

1.5 2.0 1.9 1.7

A A A A


28.0 13.8 17.7 18.5

C B B B

142.3 70.6 25.5 82.1

F E C F


101.5 18.3

171.2 96.3

F B F F

89.4 7.6

69.3 56.9

F A E F


41.1 35.4 2.7 1.3 3.7

D D A A A

0.6 38.3 3.3 2.7 5.2

A D A A A







1.8 0.2 7.9 1.5

A A A A

1.3 1.0

12.3 3.3

A A B A


0.8 1.9

22.3 11.7

A A C B

1.9 0.8

28.7 12.1

A A D B

3.3.3 Traffic Effects

Future Build Conditions

Traffic Volumes. The 2010 Build traffic volume estimates are based on the 2010 No Build traffic volumes and take into consideration the new trips generated from the project site as well as the diverted trips caused by the roadway mitigations associated with the project. These volumes also include traffic that may be generated by all reasonably foreseeable future actions (see Section 1.7.2), as well as any other programmed transportation improvements in the study area. The purpose of the roadway mitigations is to minimize the project-generated truck trips utilizing the local streets to access the freeways. The project-diverted and project-generated trips are briefly described below.

Project-Diverted Traffic. Project-diverted traffic relates to vehicles (both passenger vehicles and trucks) that normally use a particular roadway and would be rerouted to other roadways due to the improved or expanded transportation facilities. This traffic diversion reflects the behavior of drivers, who seek to minimize travel time and find quicker routes. For this project, three new ramps are proposed at the LIE/Sagtikos Parkway interchange:

New off-ramp (Ramp B1) connecting eastbound LIE to southbound Crooked Hill Road. Currently, vehicles traveling on the eastbound LIE and destined for southbound Crooked Hill Road exit the mainline at Commack Road (Exit 52) and then follow the South Service Road to Crooked Hill Road.

New off-ramp (Ramp Q1) connecting westbound LIE to southbound Crooked Hill Road. Currently, vehicles traveling on the westbound LIE and destined for southbound Crooked Hill Road exit the mainline at Commack Road (Exit 52) and travel south on Commack Road to the South Service Road, where they would take the South Service Road east to Crooked Hill Road.

New on-ramp (Ramp E) connecting northbound Crooked Hill Road to eastbound LIE mainline. Currently, vehicles traveling on northbound Crooked Hill



Road and destined for the eastbound LIE turn left onto the North Service Road, turn left at Commack Road, and proceed south on Commack Road to the South Service Road. At the South Service Road, vehicles turn left and proceed east, to access the eastbound LIE via Express Drive South.

With the three proposed ramps (Ramps B1, Q1, and E), vehicles that normally use the local streets would be rerouted to the proposed ramps. The diverted flow of traffic was estimated based on the path information provided by VISSIM. (Note: VISSIM tracks travel routes used by individual vehicles to travel from their origins to destinations.) It was estimated that Ramp B1 would attract 5 and 9 vehicles, Ramp Q1 would attract 59 and 93 vehicles, and Ramp E would attract 10 and 8 vehicles in the AM and PM peak hours, respectively. Figures 3-13 and 3-14 show the diversion routes and their associated diversion volumes during the AM and PM peak hours. Note that the diversion volume with a negative value means the number of vehicles that would divert away from this route.

Project-Generated Traffic. Project-generated traffic includes vehicular trips on the roadway system, which begin or end at the proposed project site. Based on the intermodal site operations plan, the maximum traffic generated by the project during any single hour would be 60 trucks at full build-out. Although this maximum truck usage would occur during off-peak overnight hours, the intermodal site was assumed to generate 60 truck trips (30 in, 30 out) during the AM and PM peak hour on a typical weekday in order to present the most conservative analysis. These trips were assigned to the roadway network based on the trip distribution pattern, the directionality of the trips (entering vs. exiting), and the designated truck routes. It was assumed that 100 percent of project-generated truck trips would travel to and from the LIE, a major east-west regional freeway. The truck routes between the project site and LIE are designated as follows:

Exiting Traffic (from site to LIE). Site-generated outbound trucks would travel on G Road and turn left at the Crooked Hill Road intersection. Once on Crooked Hill Road, trucks destined for the westbound LIE would turn left at the Crooked Hill Road/North Service Road intersection, travel through the Commack Road intersection, and use the existing entrance ramp to access the westbound LIE. Trucks destined for the eastbound LIE would travel on Crooked Hill Road for a short distance to the proposed ramp extending parallel and adjacent to the existing Ramp CHA and Ramp E.

Entering Traffic (from LIE to site). Inbound trucks traveling on the westbound LIE would exit the mainline at Exit 53 using the existing Ramp Q (connecting westbound LIE to southbound Sagtikos Parkway) and the proposed Ramp Q extension (Ramp Q1) to Crooked Hill Road. Inbound trucks traveling on the eastbound LIE would exit the mainline at Exit 53 using the existing Ramp B (connecting eastbound LIE to southbound Sagtikos Parkway) and the proposed Ramp B extension (Ramp B1) to Crooked Hill Road. At Crooked Hill Road, inbound trucks would turn left and proceed southeasterly on Crooked Hill Road to G Road. At the intersection with G Road, trucks would turn right and follow G Road into the site.

The trip assignment of the project-generated trucks is shown in Figure 3-15. The estimated future Build traffic volumes in the study area would be the sum of 2010 No Build traffic volumes,



traffic generated by the project site, and route diversion changes in 2010 No Build traffic. The 2010 Build traffic volumes are illustrated in Figures 3-16 and 3-17.

Travel Time and Speed. Travel time and travel speed projections for the 2010 Build conditions were performed using the VISSIM models. Table 3-17 presents the estimated travel speeds for each travel route by direction during the AM and PM peak hours. Travel speeds throughout the study area for the AM peak hour range from 11 kph to 76 kph and for the PM peak hour range from 10 kph to 77 kph. In general, Build (2010) travel speeds on all routes are very similar to the No Build (2010) travel speeds (Table 9). As described before, a portion of Crooked Hill Road is designated as the truck route to be used for providing access for site-generated trucks to and from LIE. Table 13 shows that the additional 60 trucks generated by the project would reduce No Build travel speeds on Crooked Hill Road in both directions very slightly.

TABLE 3-17: 2010 BUILD TRAVEL TIME AND SPEEDS

Travel Time (sec)

Travel Speed (kph)

No. Route

Direction

Distance (m) AM PM AM PM


NB SB

6,782 6,782

760 441

492 475

32 55

50 52


NB SB

4,828 4,828

349 306

316 313

48 56

55 56


EB WB

1,802 1,802

114 151

116 233

56 43

56 27


EB WB

2,896 2,896

297 546

401 419

35 19

26 24


NB SB

3,371 3,371

385 343

457 528

32 35

27 23


EB WB

523 523

159 51

101 186

11 37

19 10


EB WB

751 751

73 79

94 101

37 34

29 27


EB WB

2,441 2,833

116 229

114 234

76 45

77 43


NB SB

4,045 4,045

202 206

299 211

72 71

48 69

Figure 3-132010 AM Peak Hour

Traffic Diversion Volume



NOT TO SCALE

Figure 3-142010 PM Peak Hour

Traffic Diversion Volume



NOT TO SCALE

Figure 3-152010 Site-Generated

Traffic Volume



NOT TO SCALE

Figure 3-162010 Build AM PeakHour Traffic Volume



NOT TO SCALE

Figure 3-172010 Build PM PeakHour Traffic Volume



NOT TO SCALE



Vehicle Hours of Delay. Future Build vehicle hours of delay (VHD) for the roadway system in the study area was estimated using VISSIM. The model results indicate that the future Build (2010) VHD would be 883 vehicle-hours in the AM peak hour and 1323 vehicle-hours in the PM peak hour. Compared to the No Build (2010) VHD, the Build VHD would result in increases of 0.9 percent and 1.0 percent for the AM and PM peak hours, respectively. The nominal increase in VHD suggests that under the Build scenario, additional project-generated truck trips would not result in a significant increase in overall delays within the study area.

Future Build Level of Service

Freeway Level of Service. Future Build freeway levels of service (LOS) were calculated for the basic freeway segments, freeway ramps, and weaving segments using VISSIM. Freeway LOS conditions resulting from the Build traffic are presented in Tables 3-18 and 3-19. As described above, the Build traffic was determined by adding the project-diverted and project-generated trips to the 2010 No Build traffic volumes. However, the majority of Build freeway LOS results are not significantly different from the No Build freeway LOS results (Tables 3-14 and 3-15). This is because both the project-diverted and project-generated trips are few and would only need to travel on a few select freeway segments. Therefore, it can be concluded that the new and diverted traffic generated under the Build scenario would not cause a significant deterioration in levels of service.

TABLE 3-18: 2010 BUILD SAGTIKOS PARKWAY LEVEL OF SERVICE

AM PM



1 Pine Aire Dr Entrance to Campus Rd Exit Basic Segment 47.2 F 37.8 E

2 Campus Rd Exit Diverge Diverging 36.6 E 25.3 C



4 Crooked Hill Rd SB Entrance Merge Merging 34.5 D 23.3 C



6 Crooked Hill Rd NB Entrance to LIE EB Exit Weaving 71.8 F 43.5 F

7 LIE EB Exit to LIE EB Entrance Basic Segment 26.8 D 27.8 D

8 LIE EB Entrance to LIE WB Exit Weaving 30.8 D 38.7 E

9 LIE WB Exit to LIE EB Entrance Basic Segment 20.7 C 28.0 D


10 LIE WB Exit to LIE EB Exit Basic Segment 38.6 E 26.6 D



13 LIE EB/WB Entrance to Pilgrim Hospital Exit Weaving 49.9 F 40.7 E


Basic Segment 32.4 D 38.8 E

15 Pilgrim Hospital Entrance Merging 21.2 C 24.4 C



TABLE 3-18: 2010 BUILD SAGTIKOS PARKWAY LEVEL OF SERVICE

AM PM


16 Pilgrim Hospital Entrance to Pine Aire Dr Exit Basic Segment 35.7 E 37.0 E

TABLE 3-19: 2010 BUILD LONG ISLAND EXPRESSWAY LEVEL OF SERVICE

AM PM


Eastbound Long Island Expressway (LIE) - Mainline




Diverging 30.5 D 82.3 F




Diverging 37.0 E 67.1 F






Basic Segment 32.7 D 23.1 C

Westbound Long Island Expressway (LIE) - Mainline













Weaving 22.6 C 41.9 E




Weaving 32.9 D 46.9 F



TABLE 3-19: 2010 BUILD LONG ISLAND EXPRESSWAY LEVEL OF SERVICE

AM PM


16 Sagtikos Parkway NB Exit to Wicks Rd Exit Basic Segment 27.8 D 32.1 D

17 Wicks Rd Exit Diverging 19.1 A 21.1 C




Weaving 38.5 E 57.8 F





Basic Segment 22.7 C 26.8 D


Weaving 37.0 E 28.6 D

Intersection Level of Service. Table 3-20 summarizes the LOS for the 2010 Build scenario for the signalized and unsignalized intersections during the weekday AM and PM peak hours. Of the 25 intersections, four signalized intersections would operate at saturated levels (LOS E or LOS F) during the AM peak hour and eight signalized intersections during the PM peak hour. As shown in Tables 3-16 and 3-20, most of the intersection LOS results (e.g., approach delay and overall intersection LOS) for the Build scenario would be very similar to the No Build scenario.

Nine intersections along the designated truck route were selected as the key locations to investigate potential traffic impacts generated by the project. As described before, this truck route would provide local access to the site-generated trucks traveling to and from the LIE. In addition, vehicles normally traveling on this truck route (under the No Build scenario) might divert to other roadways due to the new ramps proposed at the LIE/Sagtikos Parkway interchange. These nine intersections are as follows:

Intersection 25 – Northbound Sagtikos Parkway exit ramp at Community College Road (G Road);

Intersection 10 – Crooked Hill Road at Community College Road (G Road);

Intersection 23 – Crooked Hill Road at Suffolk Community College Driveway;

Intersection 9 – Crooked Hill Road at Pilgrim Psychiatric Hospital Entrance;

Intersection 26 – Crooked Hill Road at the proposed B1 and Q1 Exit Ramps;

Intersection 8 – Crooked Hill Road at LIE South Service Road;

Intersection 7 – Crooked Hill Road at LIE North Service Road;

Intersection 22 – Commack Road at LIE North Service Road; and

Intersection 21 – Commack Road at LIE South Service Road.



The LOS analyses in Tables 3-16 and 3-20 show that the operational performance of these study intersections would not significantly differ from No Build conditions (Note: Intersection 26 is a new signalized intersection proposed for the Build scenario). While the overall intersection levels of service would be identical, control delays on the approaches for individual intersections would be slightly different compared to No Build conditions. In some cases, intersections under the Build scenario (e.g., Intersections 8, 21, and 22) would operate with approach delays lower than those under the No Build condition because vehicles normally using these intersections (under the No Build scenario) would be rerouted to the freeways (under the Build scenario) due to the new ramps proposed at the LIE/Sagtikos Parkway interchange. Despite an increase in truck volumes generated by the project, the net change in approach volumes at intersections would be negative and result in a slight decrease in approach delay under the Build scenario.

TABLE 3-20: 2010 BUILD INTERSECTION LEVEL OF SERVICE




34.9

108.3 12.4 27.9 50.6

C F B C D

58.4

139.8 26.1 23.6 61.3

E F C C E

2 Wicks Rd & South Service Rd Eastbound Northbound Southbound Intersection

41.2 16.6 15.5 26.7

D B B C

44.9 22.3 22.3 29.3

D C C C


55.8 10.3 3.3

13.6

E B A B

35.1 35.7 22.6 30.5

D D C D


30.8 13.7 32.0 17.8 27.5

C B C B C

218.6 23.1 11.7 50.6 84.2

F C B D F


127.3 30.4 14.1 18.0 25.3

F C B B C

70.7 31.8 21.2

117.7 68.9

E C C F E







63.5 79.3 21.9 35.9 42.7

E E C D D

47.3 16.0 25.4

160.9 47.1

D B C F D


48.1 3.7 1.7

10.2

D A A A

64.4 8.8 3.8

14.1

E A A B


30.9 7.0 7.9

12.9

C A A B

12.3 26.8 31.6 21.6

B C C C


11.1 0.6 7.4 4.6

B A A A

14.7 3.0 7.2 6.5

B A A A


42.6 26.7 11.1 5.9

19.7

D C B A B

39.5 22.8 11.1 10.7 20.4

D C B A C


9.6

70.4 84.3 14.5 52.9

A E F B D

14.2 24.0

356.3 34.0 56.5

B C F C E


7.1

135.3 351.1 126.7

A F F F

14.5 8.9

46.7 16.3

B A D B







17.9 40.7 13.1 27.3

B D B C

73.8 8.5

28.7 48.2

E A C D


9.9

35.2 76.3 37.7

A C E D

16.5 18.6 23.6 19.7

B B C B


9.6

151.0 105.4 365.6 119.8

A F F F F

18.2

198.8 10.4

294.5 145.8

B F A F F


285.1 147.4 80.9 8.9

105.0

F F F A F

33.2

244.7 14.8 12.9 73.8

C F B B E


38.1 42.5 12.4 8.0

17.4

D D B A B

29.9 32.9 6.4

10.1 9.8

C C A B A


3.1

13.5 2.8 8.3

A B A A

12.2 8.0 0.6 3.8

B A A A


80.5 70.9 3.1 2.9

20.1

F E A A B

24.2 13.9 10.9 12.1 16.8

C B B B B







1.4 3.2 2.3

A A A

9.0

13.2 11.7

A B B


0.9 0.6 0.6 0.8

A A A A

1.5 2.0 1.9 1.8

A A A A


27.1 12.9 15.4 16.3

C B B B

141.5 70.7 22.5 80.3

F E C F


92.3 20.0

175.8 93.1

F B F F

84.0 6.6

68.1 54.8

F A E F


42.0 35.9 3.9 2.8 4.3

D D A A A

0.6 38.4 3.9 3.2 5.8

A D A A A


1.7 0.2 7.8 1.4

A A A A

1.2 1.0

11.9 3.0

A A B A


1.8 2.7

22.3 12.9

A A C B

3.1 1.8

28.7 13.3

A A D B

26 Crooked Hill Rd & the Proposed B1 and Q1 Exit Ramps Westbound Northbound Southbound Intersection

7.9 3.9 3.4 3.9

A A A A

9.1 3.5 5.0 4.8

A A A A



Future Safety Conditions

The potential safety impacts on the adjacent roadway segments affected by the LITRIM Project were estimated as part of this traffic analysis. As described earlier in this chapter, the site-generated automobiles and trucks will primarily use G Road, Crooked Hill Road, and the Long Island Expressway to travel to and from the LITRIM Facility. As such, the potential changes in accident patterns along these roadways were scaled to the differences in the existing and future operating and geometry conditions on the roadways. Next, any potential reduction in accident occurrences due to project-related improvements on these access/egress roadways was estimated, to the greatest extent possible, based on the “Accident Reduction Factors” published by the NYSDOT Safety Program Management Bureau.

The Build Alternative is expected to generate an additional 30 inbound and 30 outbound truck trips during the 2010 weekday AM and PM peak hours. The incremental increases in Build traffic flow volumes over the No Build condition on the aforementioned critical access roadways are estimated as shown in Table 3-21.

TABLE 3-21: FUTURE SAFETY CONDITIONS

AM Peak (%) PM Peak (%)

G Road 8.5 - 11.4 3.6 – 20.6

Crooked Hill Road 2.7 – 8.5 3.1 – 3.6

LIE North Service Road 1.3 3.2

LIE South Service Road 2.7 2.6

Based on these results, the projected increases in future traffic flow volumes on the surrounding roadways are not expected to cause a significant increase in accident rates.

3.4 EFFECTS ON OTHER TRANSPORTATION FACILITIES AND SERVICES

This section discusses the project’s effect on other transportation facilities and services in the project area, including bus service and pedestrian and bicycle facilities.

3.4.1 Existing Conditions

Two Suffolk County Transit bus lines provide service to the Pilgrim Psychiatric Center, which is adjacent to the proposed LITRIM Facility (Figure 3-18). The two bus lines—the S33 - Sunrise Mall, Amityville to Hauppauge and the S41 - Bay Shore to Northport V.A. Medical Center— operate on roadways that run along or near the LITRIM Facility including G Road, which will be the main access to the LITRIM Facility.

Pedestrian provisions for all studied roadways are shown in Table 3-22. In general, sidewalks within the project area do not meet the 1.525 meter ADA width requirement and are discontinuous in multiple locations along the project area roadways.

LITRIM Site

Figure 3-18Suffolk County Transit - Bus Service



NOT TO SCALE



TABLE 3-22: PEDESTRIAN PROVISION LOCATIONS

Location Type Condition Comments

G Road Asphalt and concrete sidewalks

Poor condition – typically 1.2m width

Isolated segments of sidewalk are located along both sides of G Road; however, there is no continuous system.

Concrete sidewalk Good Minor cracking 1.22m (4’) width Not ADA Compliant

Sidewalk exists along the east side of Crooked Hill Road from Campus Road to the entrance/exit of Suffolk Community College. Handicap ramps exist on the NW, NE and SW corners of the Campus Road intersection with Crooked Hill Road. Handicap ramps are also located on each side of the college entrance/exit.

Crooked Hill Road – Campus Road To LIE

Concrete sidewalk Good Minor cracking 1.22m (4’) width Not ADA Compliant

Sidewalk exists along the east side of Crooked Hill Road from the entrance/exit of Suffolk Community College to the entrance ramp to Sunken Meadow Parkway north. Handicap ramps exist on each side of the college and State Police entrance/exit.

There are no dedicated provisions for bicyclists along any of the studied roadways within the project area, although isolated segments of some roadways have shoulders wide enough to accommodate bicyclists.

3.4.2 Effects on Bus Service and Pedestrian and Bicycle Facilities

The LITRIM Facility and proposed roadway mitigations, which include a widening of G Road, will have no permanent impact on the bus service provided by the S33 and S41 lines. The existing bus turnout located on the north side of G Road approximately 35m west of the Sagtikos Parkway would be replicated under the Build Alternative.

The existing sidewalks along G Road would be replicated in the build condition; however a complete continuous system of sidewalks along G Road would not be constructed. There would be no effect on the existing sidewalks on Crooked Hill Road, as the proposed improvements would be west of the Sagtikos Parkway. Roadway improvements on G Road would have shoulders wide enough to accommodate bicyclists. The improvements proposed on Crooked Hill Road are isolated and would neither improve nor deteriorate the existing bicycle accommodations.



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