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Congestion on Dixie Highway is being studied

Post staff report Looking for ways to alleviate congestion on the most heavily traveled road in Kenton County, the Dixie Highway Corridor Advisory Committee met this week to pore over detailed information about traffic delays, accidents and even the observations of TANK bus drivers about the busy thoroughfare.

The study of Dixie Highway's path through nine Kenton County cities is being conducted by TEC Engineering of Cincinnati under the request of the Kenton County Fiscal Court in consultation with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. The objective of the $450,000 analysis is to report on existing traffic conditions on the highway and recommend ways to improve traffic flow and safety on the section that runs from Pike Street to Turfway Road.

Dixie Highway is often used as a detour route when accidents and other problems snarl traffic on Interstate 75 through the cut-in-the-hill. Numerous schools and shopping areas also fill the highway with cars on a continual basis.

Some aspects detailed to date in the 18-month study include rush-hour turns made on and off Dixie, traffic counts, traffic signal inventories and studies of the time it takes to get from one area of the road to another at peak and off-peak times of the day.

Schools also have been polled for information on hours and suggestions that might alleviate clogs on the highway when classes begin and end. And TANK bus drivers have provided lists of suggestions on what's causing the biggest traffic snarls on Dixie Highway and actions they believe might alleviate the tie-ups.

The 16-member advisory committee established a web-site early this year to provide the public with a firsthand look at their detailed traffic information, along with maps and other information about the route. That site address is www.dixie-highway.com.

The next meeting of the advisory committee takes place in Fort Wright in July.

Final reports and recommendations are expected by June 2005.

Publication Date: 04-30-2004

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Friday, April 30, 2004

Dixie Highway panel keeps eye on solutions

It's the most heavily traveled road in Kenton County

By William Croyle Enquirer contributor

FORT WRIGHT - The Dixie Highway Corridor Advisory Committee held its first meeting Thursday. For some of the cities along the corridor, it wasn't a moment too soon.

A $450,000 study seeks to improve traffic flow and safety along the eight-mile stretch of Dixie Highway in Kenton County.

"It's pretty rough, especially around school time," said Elsmere Mayor Billy Bradford. "And when the expressway closes down, you can barely, barely move (on Dixie)."

Bradford is one of 16 members of the Dixie Highway Corridor Advisory Committee. It includes county officials and representatives of the Northern Kentucky Area Planning Commission, Transit Authority of Northern Kentucky (TANK) and the nine cities that the road runs through in the county.

The 18-month study started in December and was initiated by the Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments (OKI). Data collected so far by TEC Engineering of Cincinnati includes:

• The amount of traffic turning on and off Dixie during morning and afternoon peak hours.

• Locations of accidents the last three years, along with details of when the accidents occurred and weather conditions.

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Page 1 of 4Dixie Highway panel keeps eye on solutions

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• The time it takes to drive from one intersection to the next.

There have been 336 accidents at intersections on Dixie from Jan. 1, 2001, to Dec. 31, 2003. There have also been 358 accidents on Dixie not at intersections during that time.

There are a variety of land uses along the road, including businesses, churches, homes and schools. From the county line at Turfway Road in Florence to Pike Street in Covington, it's the most heavily traveled road in the county. Options to improve it are limited.

"We know we can't build an extra lane," said Gene Martin of TEC. "It is our hope in the long run to integrate the traffic system with ARTIMIS."

ARTIMIS - Advanced Regional Traffic Interactive Management and Information System - operates the interstate message boards that alert drivers to congestion. The hope is that one day, if there's an accident on the interstate, ARTIMIS could control traffic signals on Dixie, where most interstate traffic diverts.

The committee also will have to work with state officials on the project since the state owns all traffic signals.

Traffic data will continue to be collected, and interviews will be conducted with TANK and emergency crews over the next couple of months. The plan will get more specific as the study gets closer to concluding in June 2005.

"The hope then is that this group would recommend that OKI adopt the plan and incorporate it into the regional transportation plan," said Dory Montazemi, deputy executive director of OKI. "That would make it eligible for federal funding."

The next committee meeting will be 1:30 p.m. July 8 at Sanitation District No. 1 in Fort Wright. To view the progress of the study and see live camera shots of Dixie Highway, visit www.dixie-highway.com.

E-mail [email protected]

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Page 2 of 4Dixie Highway panel keeps eye on solutions


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Page 1 of 3Crescent Springs, KY

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Highway may get new look

By Luke E. Saladin Post staff reporter Dixie Highway might go on a road diet.

That's a fancy way to describe reducing a road from two lanes in each direction to one and constructing a turn lane in the middle to facilitate the flow of traffic that backs up behind motorists trying to make left turns.

The option was one of several floated by engineers and road officials Thursday at a meeting of the Dixie Highway Corridor Advisory Committee, which is helping to direct a study to ease congestion and reduce accidents along the heavily traveled route.

Some of the other ideas to improve traffic flows were common, such as eliminating curb cuts, coordinating traffic signals and correcting offset intersections.

Others, such as the road diet, haven't been tried here.

Officials also discussed adding a feature that has been popular in Europe for years: roundabouts.

The committee is considering the ideas because Dixie Highway's makeup -- with numerous businesses separated from the road by little more than sidewalks -- all but rules out adding lanes.

"It's pretty clear we're going to have to look at new ways to get new results," said Kenton County Deputy Judge-Executive Scott Kimmich.

TEC Engineering of Cincinnati is studying Dixie Highway's route through nine Kenton County cities at the request of the Kenton County Fiscal Court. The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet is also providing expertise, as is the Ohio Kentucky Indiana Regional Council of Governments.

The objective of the $450,000 analysis is to report on existing traffic conditions on the highway and recommend ways to improve traffic flow and safety on the section that runs from Pike Street in Covington to Turfway Road, just over the Boone County line .

Brent Sweger, an access management specialist for the Kentucky Department of Transportation, told the committee that road diets in other areas have been shown to reduce accidents and improve traffic flow, even though they actually decrease lanes.

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That's because on roads such as Dixie Highway, accidents are often caused by drivers trying to maneuver around cars that are turning left. The middle turn lane removes the turning vehicle from the path of other drivers heading in the same direction.

Roundabouts -- circular roads that replace intersections -- have also been shown to reduce congestion and accidents.

When cars come to the roundabout, they simply yield and enter when traffic has passed and merge into the road they wish to use. Traffic backs up less than at stoplights, and motorists have to slow down to see if it is safe to enter the circle.

"Typically, when you add a roundabout, you see an initial increase in accidents because people are not used to them, but these are usually only fender benders," Sweger said. "Over time, though, the accident rates go down and the traffic moves much better."

Dory Montazemi, deputy director of OKI, said the inventory portion of the highway study has been completed and officials are now ready to move into the analysis portion. Final reports and recommendations are expected by June 2005.

Publication Date: 07-09-2004

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Friday, July 9, 2004

Dixie could shrink to 3 lanes


FORT WRIGHT - Should parts of Dixie Highway be reduced from four lanes to three? Can Buttermilk Pike be aligned with Orphanage Road? Should some business entrances along the highway be closed?

These are some questions the Dixie Highway Corridor Advisory Committee is pondering as it tries to improve traffic flow and safety along the nine-city, eight-mile stretch of the road in Kenton County.

The committee was formed in December as part of an 18-month, $450,000 study started by the Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments (OKI).

The study is about 35 percent complete.

An inventory of traffic counts, accident records, travel time, bus stop locations, speed limits and traffic signals is finished. All those data are being analyzed.

"By September, the analysis will be done and we will begin the phase of formulating ideas," said Dory Montazemi, deputy executive director of OKI.

From Jan. 1, 2001 to Dec. 31, 2003, there were 336 accidents on Dixie at intersections and 358 away from intersections.

One idea presented to the committee was to change parts of the highway from two lanes in each direction to one in each direction with a center turn lane.

Brent Sweger of the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet said this "road diet," as it is called, was implemented on Euclid Avenue in Lexington three years ago and has worked.

"I think it's definitely worth exploring," said Sweger. "You remove your left-turners instead of having to stop until they get out of the way."













Page 1 of 3Dixie could shrink to 3 lanes




Left turns are a big problem on Dixie in Erlanger and Elsmere, where there are numerous businesses, churches and schools on or just off the road. The lanes are also very narrow, which would change if the road were restriped from four lanes to three.

"It's something I really want to look at," said Bob Yoder, renaissance coordinator for Erlanger and Elsmere.

"You basically have only one through lane already in each direction."

"It's a tried and proven issue, so I think it's worth the effort to see if it would work," added Elsmere Mayor Billy Bradford.

Anyone who wants to provide ideas about reducing lanes and other issues concerning the highway can attend an open house Aug. 9 from 4:30-7 p.m. at the Northern Kentucky Area Planning Commission at 2332 Royal Drive in Fort Mitchell.

Opinions also can be provided at www.dixie-highway.com.


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Page 2 of 3Dixie could shrink to 3 lanes







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Tuesday, August 10, 2004

Dixie Hwy. traffic studied

Officials want to improve safety, travel time


FORT MITCHELL - Ed Nordloh of Erlanger was so anxious to give his opinion on the future of Dixie Highway that he arrived at Monday's open house about 15 minutes early.

The open house, which attracted about 25 people, was held at the Northern Kentucky Area Planning Commission and is part of the $450,000 Dixie Highway Corridor Study.

The purpose of the study is to improve safety, traffic flow and travel time on the eight-mile, nine-city stretch of roadway in Kenton County from Pike Street in Covington to Turfway Road in Florence.

"I really have some reservations of turning four lanes of traffic to two lanes," said Nordloh. "That makes no sense to me."

Nordloh was referring to a suggestion made last month by a member of the state transportation cabinet that would reduce parts of Dixie from four lanes (two northbound and two southbound) to three lanes - one northbound, one southbound and a center turn lane.

Known as a "road diet," the purpose is to move cars making left turns out of the way of cars that want to continue driving on the highway.

Dory Montazemi, deputy executive director of the Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments, assured Nordloh that the road diet was only one of many suggestions, but it was the kind of feedback Montazemi was looking for.

"This is the problem-identification phase of the study," said Montazemi. "We need to hear everybody and get everybody's point of view."

The study will conclude in June 2005.













Page 1 of 3Dixie Hwy. traffic studied

4/4/2005http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2004/08/10/loc_loc2dixie.html



Dixie Highway is the county's most-traveled road, running through Covington, Park Hills, Fort Wright, Fort Mitchell, Lakeside Park, Crestview Hills, Edgewood, Erlanger and Elsmere.

An advisory committee of county officials and representatives from the planning commission, Transit Authority of Northern Kentucky (TANK) and the nine cities has been meeting about every three months to discuss ideas.

Data collected by TEC Engineering shows there were nearly 700 traffic accidents on Dixie from Jan. 1, 2001 to Dec. 31, 2003 - an average of more than four a week.

A video camera will be installed this week at Kenton Lands Road and Dixie in Erlanger to monitor traffic at that intersection. Of those nearly 700 accidents, 126 occurred between Kenton Lands Road and Edgewood Road - a span of about 1,000 feet.

"Hopefully we'll have enough film for the next meeting that we can show the committee and then ask them 'What should we do about it?'" said Gene Martin, project manager for TEC. "We just need to keep going on this until we find a solution."

Feedback from the open house will be presented to the advisory committee for review at the next meeting in late September. You can also give your opinions on the study at www.dixie-highway.com. A second open house will be held next spring after improvement ideas have been formulated by the committee.

---


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Page 2 of 3Dixie Hwy. traffic studied

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Friday, March 4, 2005

Changing lights eases commuting on Dixie Smart controls sought

By Mike Rutledge Enquirer staff writer

FORT WRIGHT - Traffic-light adjustments have eased delays along some segments of Dixie Highway during commute times.

But it will take a smarter system of traffic signals, perhaps one linked to the Artimis traffic control system or Kentucky's new Traffic Operations Center in Frankfort, to help when an Interstate 71/75 closure dumps up to 30 percent more traffic onto Dixie, engineers on Wednesday told the Dixie Highway Corridor Advisory Committee.

TEC Engineering Inc. studied an 8-mile stretch of Dixie through nine cities. TEC's Ed Williams, who presented the findings, said he did not know how much time was shaved from the entire stretch because a traffic signal was working improperly at Garvey Avenue, significantly slowing Dixie traffic when commute times were checked in December.

However, he said, commute time on some segments was as much as 42 percent less.

If Dixie had a "demand-responsive system" of traffic lights, traffic would have moved much more smoothly during the test, because such computer-controlled systems alert traffic controllers when there are system failures, like the signal at Garvey.

Officials are developing cost estimates for the recommended signal

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Page 1 of 2Changing lights eases commuting on Dixie

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upgrades. They plan to make recommendations of other long-term remedies for the highway at a meeting in May.

Fort Mitchell Mayor Tom Holocher, who chaired Wednesday's meeting, sees hope in traffic signals.

"Dixie Highway is a major highway through Northern Kentucky and Kenton County, but it's pretty impossible to widen," Holocher said.

"So we have to do something, and if the traffic signals allow traffic to move smoother and faster through the area, it's a good thing, especially when there's an accident on I-71/75."


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Page 2 of 2Changing lights eases commuting on Dixie


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Page 1 of 2Fort Wright, KY

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Sunday, March 13, 2005

Reaction sought to Dixie traffic


FORT WRIGHT - If you drive Dixie Highway, traffic engineers are interested in hearing your opinion about traffic flow. Have you noticed any improvements in recent months?

You can go to www.dixie-highway.com and click on the words "public survey." Or you can call Ed Williams at TEC Engineering Inc., (513) 771-8828.

But before you go, it might help to know this: TEC Engineering and the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet made improvements to the traffic-signal system late last year.

For the most part, the changes mean drivers see more green lights as they drive Dixie during commute times. The changes generally also gave green lights to side streets a lower percentage of the time.

"Because the traffic on Dixie Highway is moving better than it was, you may sit there a little bit longer" on side streets, said Williams of TEC, which is performing a $450,000 study of the corridor. "But once you get onto Dixie Highway, you're going to be moving through the corridor a lot better, and your overall travel time is decreased."

Part of the problem was that signals in the northern part of the eight-mile-long corridor study area - which stretches from Turfway Road in Florence to Pike Street in Covington - were not connected with each other, Williams said. Also, some signals weren't operating properly.

"There's just a lot of things you have to maintain, and especially in



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Page 1 of 2Reaction sought to Dixie traffic





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Northern Kentucky, where the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet maintains every traffic signal on the state routes, these are just 44 signals in District 6's entire district," Williams said.

With those problems fixed, rush-hour traffic now moves in bunches, with bigger gaps between them, which makes it easier for cars to pull onto the highway, he said. But the gaps can make people at red lights, waiting to turn onto Dixie, perceive they are waiting longer than they are.

"You see a group of cars go by, and then you see a gap, and then you see a group of cars and then a gap," Williams said. "When you see those gaps, you sit there and you say, 'Well, why can't I go now? I could turn into that.' "

Kenton County Deputy Judge-executive Scott Kimmich, who is chairing the Dixie Highway Advisory Committee, said officials are eager to hear public reactions.


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Page 2 of 2Reaction sought to Dixie traffic




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Monday, May 30, 2005

Study touts Dixie Hwy. upgrades New light system, traffic warnings among options


FORT MITCHELL - Making traffic flow better on Dixie Highway helps more than quality-of-life issues: It also aids economic development, contends Kenton County Deputy Judge-executive Scott Kimmich.

"I would say anything we can do to move traffic in a more expeditious manner, the better off we're going to be," Kimmich said. "As we look at opening up economic opportunities, having a good transportation system is one of the most important factors.

"If we're going to lure people from other parts of the country, we're going to have to prove our congestion is not as bad as their congestion," Kimmich said.

The Dixie Highway Advisory Committee, which Kimmich chairs, this week will review a comprehensive, $450,000 traffic study that recommends more than $11.7 million in changes to the highway.

The study suggests many changes, but not the traditional - and much more expensive - option of widening the highway, because there is little room for widening the road that passes through nine Kenton County cities, including some older business districts.

During the study, engineers from TEC Engineering Inc. already squeezed 10 percent out of the 22 minutes it took to commute from Turfway Road near the Kenton/Boone county line to Pike Street in Covington. They did it mainly by tweaking the timing of traffic signals.

They believe the other improvements can squeeze another 10 percent to 30 percent by installing a system


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Page 1 of 3Study touts Dixie Hwy. upgrades


that better responds to the influx of traffic when vehicles pour onto Dixie, avoiding traffic jams on Interstate 71/75.

The study - which the committee will consider during its 1:30 p.m. meeting Thursday at Sanitation District No. 1 in Fort Wright - has several other recommendations.

They include eliminating some on-street parking and asking the 18 schools along the corridor to stagger their start and dismissal times.

The study also recommends connecting the traffic light system to the Artimis traffic-control system, where officials could quickly adjust the lights on Dixie when they know a serious I-71/75 wreck soon will send 30 percent more traffic onto the corridor.

Another suggestion, touchy with businesses, is to eventually limit the number of access points to companies directly from Dixie.

One proposal - installing sound detectors that would hear emergency vehicles' sirens and give them greenlight priority on Dixie - excited Fort Mitchell Fire/EMS Capt. John Hehman.

Traffic engineers said that emergency system would cost $500,000, and a similar system improved emergency-squad travel time by 22 percent.

"I think it sounds like it's well worth it," Hehman said. "The first time that the ambulance can get there quicker and you get somebody to a hospital, and make a difference in somebody's life, how do you put a price on that?"

In addition to removing on-street parking from some parts of Dixie, the report also suggests installing better pedestrian-activated crosswalks and putting in more turn lanes.

Another complicated solution - particularly for parents with children in different schools - is the idea of asking schools to change their start times, said Kenton County Judge-executive Ralph Drees.

Commuter buses and school buses contribute to delays during rush hours, as do crashes, the report found.

"When you're transporting your kids, and they go to different schools, you want the timing to be somewhat the same," Drees said.

"Otherwise, you're going to make another trip. It sounds like great planning, but in reality, it might be harder to do than they think."

"We've got multiple jurisdictions now to try to work with, to try to analyze start times and see if they're willing to cooperate with us," Kimmich said. "The whole thing from the beginning has been that this is going to be a cooperative plan, and the results of it will be best achieved by working in a collaborative spirit.

"There's certainly no intent by anybody to mandate anything in that report to take place," Kimmich said.

Now comes perhaps the hardest part: Officials also will start seeking state and federal money to pay for the improvements.

"The suburban cities could afford it," Drees said. "But they probably wouldn't put their money together to help each other out. And they certainly can't get it from the county, because we don't have any money."


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