Why isnt this roadway being widened to a four-lane roadway?
Roadways are typically designed to accommodate the 20 year projected traffic. To design for larger traffic numbers creates excess expense that isnt needed for 20 years or more. Pavements are also typically de-signed for 20 to 30 year life. The year 2030 traffic forecast for our project area is 14,300 ADT (average daily traffic), which is a slight increase over the current traffic. Streets in mature neighborhoods such as Washing-ton Street typically do not see the large increases in future traffic that a street would see in outlying areas with large new development potential. The proposed 3-lane roadway (2 through lanes and a center left-turn lane) will provide a roadway capacity adequate to serve the year 2030 traffic projection, therefore the 3-lane design is the most cost effective solution for our planning period. Additionally, a strict 4-lane roadway configuration is not appropriate in an urban setting with frequent drive-ways and intersections. Modern urban arterial roadway design
