R9J-Discuss Traffic Analysis Relocation Of Towing Storage Facilities To Terminal(9 MIAMI BEACH
City of Miami Beach, 1700 Convention Center Drive, Miami Beach, Florida 33139, www.miamibeachfl.gov
TO:
FROM:
DATE:
SUBJECT:
COMMISSION MEMORANDUM
Mayor Matti Herrera Bower and Members of the City Commission
Jorge M. Gonzalez, City Manage~ ,.r '--6
February 8, 2012 o
Discussion of the Traffic Analysis of the Proposed Relocation of
Towing Storage Facilities to Terminal Island
BACKGROUND
The Finance and Citywide Projects Committee (FCWPC) at the December 27, 2011
meeting, requested that this issue be discussed by the full City Commission. The City
Commission originally discussed the viability of storing City directed towed vehicles on
Terminal Island on June 1, 2011. At that meeting, Commissioner Tobin made the motion
to direct staff to conduct a traffic impact study for the proposed relocation of towing
storage facilities to Terminal Island. City staff developed a scope of work and
subsequently requested quotes from three consulting firms. Atkins was one of the
proposers and the selected firm to conduct the study.
Following the completion of the Draft Traffic Impact Study, a meeting took place on
September 8, 2011, with representatives of Terminal Island, Fisher Island, City staff and
Atkins to discuss the findings of the study and to request that they be taken into
consideration as part of the development of the scope of work for the proposed parking
garage on Terminal Island. Alternatives to improve the operation of the intersection of
Terminal Island at the MacArthur Causeway were also part of the discussion.
ANALYSIS
The City of Miami Beach is considering the relocation of the towing storage facilities
currently provided by two towing companies with facilities located in the Sunset Harbor
area to the City's property on Terminal Island. The Traffic Impact Study analyzes the
current conditions of the adjacent transportation system and evaluates the impact of the
relocation within the study area in the opening year 2013.
Along with the proposed relocation of the towing storage there are other changes
currently being considered at Terminal Island. These include a newly proposed garage
(Sun Terminal) to be located where a parking lot currently exists east of the City's
property along with a new ferry terminal that will be dedicated for the service personnel
and employees to Fisher Island. The ferry terminal currently operational west of Terminal
Island is proposed to be maintained but to be used solely by residents and guests to
Fisher Island. It is anticipated that there will be additional vehicular traffic due to
committed new development at Fisher Island.
Currently the intersection of Terminal Island and McArthur Causeway has a complex
geometry and inefficient signal operation. With three independent approaches at
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February 8, 2012
Discussion of the Traffic Analysis of the Proposed Relocation of
Towing Storage Facilities to Terminal Island
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Terminal Island at this intersection, multiple signal phases are needed. Whenever there
is a signal call on the Terminal Island side, it stops all the traffic movements at the
intersection including the very heavy traffic going eastbound and westbound on the
McArthur Causeway to clear the three phases one at a time. The driver's sight distance
is poor and the grade separation between the entrance to Terminal Island and the
McArthur Causeway further forces the drivers to move slowly as they negotiate this
intersection. This leads to heavy intersection delays especially during the AM and PM
peak periods. If the geometry of this intersection is simplified it is expected to operate
under acceptable levels of service.
Evaluation of the intersections within the study area shows that both the intersections of
Terminal Island and McArthur Causeway and Alton Road at 5th Street currently operate
at failed conditions or levels of service (LOS) F. However, the anticipated impact of the
tow trucks at the intersection of Alton Road and 5th Street is negligible and this
intersection is geometrically constrained.
The traffic growth from year 2011 to year 2013 is approximately 1.3%, which along with
the committed developments results in a minor increase in traffic volume. The future
operating conditions with background traffic volumes and traffic volumes due to
committed developments cause these intersections to continue to fail at slightly worse
than the existing conditions.
With the proposed relocation of the towing storage facilities to Terminal Island, it is
anticipated that during the peak hours there will be two trucks coming to Terminal Island
and two leaving to go to Miami Beach. This volume is negligible and when added to the
intersections it causes negligible increase in delay. However, the intersection at Terminal
Island and McArthur Causeway which is currently failing will need to be improved to
handle the additional traffic volumes. Table 1 illustrates the total number of trips from
committed development traffic that will be added to the intersection of Terminal Island at
the MacArthur Causeway during the peak hours. The total trips generated by the
proposed towing storage facilities were added to the numbers described below.
Table 1: Committed Development Traffic
AM Inbound Resident = 1 vph Outbound Resident = 9 vph
Peak 40vph
Hour Inbound Non Resident = 23vph Outbound Non Resident = 7 vph
PM Inbound Resident = 6vph Outbound Resident = 5 vph
Peak 53 vph
Hour Inbound Non Resident= 6 vph Outbound Non Resident = 36 vph
IMPROVEMENT ALTERNATIVES
As part of secondary findings of this study, several improvement alternatives were
developed to simplify the geometry and traffic operation at the intersection of Terminal
Island and McArthur Causeway. All these alternatives developed will result in a
significant improvement in the intersection operation. However the associated levels of
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February 8, 2012
Discussion of the Traffic Analysis of the Proposed Relocation of
Towing Storage Facilities to Terminal Island
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service will range between LOS C and LOS D from the current LOS F.
The Terminal Island intersection with the McArthur Causeway has an extremely complex
geometric and traffic operation which negatively impacts the level of service. Even with
relatively low volumes of traffic on Terminal Island, the impact to the McArthur
Causeway is significant. This intersection has three independently signalized phases
that allow only one approach to move while the other approaches on Terminal Island as
well as the traffic on the McArthur Causeway have to stop. Vehicles move slowly through
this intersection in order to negotiate geometrically unfriendly conditions consisting
mainly of poor sight distances and grade differences between the entrance to Terminal
Island and the MacArthur Causeway.
Therefore, to improve the operation at this intersection, it is critical that the complex
signal phasing operation is streamlined and instead of three independent phases, only
one is kept and the approach is improved so that drivers arriving at the stop bar and
exiting Terminal Island would be able to see oncoming traffic on the MacArthur
Causeway and their arrival travel lane. Also, by streamlining the operation, the traffic
volume destined to the City of Miami Beach from Terminal Island is moved to the slip
right turning lane located east of this signalized intersection so that all traffic making a
right turn at the Terminal Island and MacArthur Causeway intersection is completely
removed which adds another benefit to the effective operation of the traffic signal.
The attached Draft Traffic Impact Study includes a figure for each of the following
alternatives:
Alternative I (Figure 4):
It assumes that the existing ferry operation will be either completely relocated to the east
of Terminal Island or that the access to and from the existing ferry terminal would be
moved to the intersection of Bridge Road and the MacArthur Causeway (as shown in
Alternative V). This alternative assumes that the current FP&L access which is located
south of this intersection will be moved further east where there is an existing gated
access.
Alternative II (Figure 5):
It is similar to Alternative I but allows ingress only to FP&L at this intersection. Egress
would potentially occur at the gate located east of this intersection. This also allows
vehicles from FP&L destined to Miami Beach to use the right-turning slip lane which
lessens the impact at the signal. Although this alternative was reviewed if was not found
to be feasible because of the difficulty mixing services trucks and passenger vehicles
within the FPL's property.
Alternative Ill (Figure 6):
This alternative is similar to Alternative II but allows egress and ingress from FP&L.
However, this egress is to make a right-turn movement only. A "jug-handle" turn-around
proposed near the FP&L gate will allow vehicles to turn either to Miami Beach using the
exclusive slip lane or to the signalized intersection heading westbound on the MacArthur
Causeway.
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February 8, 2012
Discussion of the Traffic Analysis of the Proposed Relocation of
Towing Storage Facilities to Terminal Island
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Alternative IV (Figure 7):
This alternative improves the geometry significantly by moving the western approach
and the southern approach to Terminal Island further away from the intersection. This
will streamline the operation so that all vehicles heading eastbound and northbound
make a right-turning movement only inside Terminal Island. This traffic will not impact
the signal at all. Additionally the "jug-handle" concept could also be implemented in this
alternative as shown in Alternative Ill.
Alternative V (Figure 8):
This alternative demonstrates the concept of connecting the existing ferry terminal west
of Terminal Island at Bridge Road intersection and disconnecting it from the existing
Terminal Island signalized intersection. A new left turn lane will need to be introduced on
the MacArthur Causeway to this ferry terminal. A single lane exit is sufficient to handle
traffic volumes without negatively impacting the operation. However, the concept could
allow for additional lanes if needed.
This concept will streamline the operation for both intersections at Terminal Island and
Bridge Road since the two intersections are so close they operate as one. Therefore the
overall vehicular delays to all users including those on the MacArthur Causeway will be
reduced significantly resulting in an estimated overall improved level of service LOS C.
All of these conceptual alternatives will however require additional studies to determine
feasibility and costs. Alternative V additionally could have potential environmental
impacts that will need to be further studied to determine probable costs and therefore
feasibility.
Incremental Improvements:
As a result of exploring these alternatives the possibility of incremental or phase
improvements type approach was also considered. For instance, relocating the current
FP&L access with a dedicated signal phase to the west of its existing location would
have a significant improvement on the operation of the intersection of the Terminal
Island and MacArthur Causeway intersection. The traffic model calculations show that by
relocating the FP&L access to the west, the intersection of Terminal Island at the
MacArthur Causeway would operate at LOS E in the morning peak hour and would
remain at LOS F but with significant delay reduction from existing 389.2 to 196.0
seconds in the afternoon peak hour.
Attached is a drawing illustrating the proposed relocation of the FP&L access to the west
as an incremental improvement that would provide some relief to this already busy
intersection.
CONCLUSION
Moving the towing storage facilities to Terminal Island is feasible but it could have some
impact on the daily operation of the City's Fleet Management and the Sanitation
Department located at Terminal Island. The biggest problem would deal with the
accommodation of the displaced parking areas that the new towed vehicle storage
facility would occupy. Partnering with the adjacent property owners would be required in
order to explore opportunities that would improve the City's operations and to proceed
with any of the alternative improvements that physically modify the circulation on the
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February 8, 2012
Discussion of the Traffic Analysis of the Proposed Relocation of
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island. These are analyzed in the attached Traffic Impact Study.
In order to gain a better understanding of the most feasible alternative to consider,
further discussions with FP&L would be a very important part of the process at this time.
Determining the future impacts of the proposed parking garage will also need to be part
of the evaluation. As a first step the Administration recommends that we reach out to
FP&L and begin discussing the possibility of relocating the entrance to their facility in
order to create significant reduction in the delay caused by the existing signal phase at
this intersection. At this time the Administration is seeking further policy direction from
the Commission.
Attachments: A) Draft Traffic Impact Study for Relocation of Towing Storage Facilities
B) Drawing illustrating proposed relocation of existing FP&L's access to the west
JMG/~UXF
t:\agenda\2012\2-8-12\terminal island towing storage discussion item.docx
535
From:
Sent:
To:
Cc:
Subject:
Attachments:
Importance:
Tim Rose [tim.rose@phsislands.org]
Tuesday, January 10, 2012 1:35 PM
Weithorn, Deede; Tobin, Ed; Libbin, Jerry; Wolfson, Jonah; Exposito, Jorge; Bower, Matti H.;
Gongora, Michael
Parcher, Robert; Gomez, Jorge; Barbara Hagen; 'Gib Oxios'; Hans C. Mueller; 'Hans Mueller';
Mary Jo Garrity; 'Neil Fairman'; Pierre De Agostini; Steve & Linda Evans
PHS Islands-Terminal Island Towing Facility
Ltr-Towing Lot.doc
High
Madam Mayor & Members of the Commission-
I understand that the topic of a Towing Facility on Terminal Island may be discussed at tomorrow's City Commission
Meeting. Please allow me to express our near unanimous opposition to a new towing facility to be located on Terminal
Island. The MacArthur Causeway's greatly increased traffic, speeding, accidents, construction at both ends of the
Causeway, construction vehicles coming to our neighborhood and others that use the Causeway, lane closures, traffic
light synchronization, special events on the Causeway and special events in the surrounding Miami-Dade County
community all make this idea very bad for our neighborhood and for the Beach as a whole.
Attached please find a letter, dated May 31, 2011, from our Board President, Hans Mueller, that supports our view at
that time. It is still our view, even more so.
The last thing we need is to have more very slowly moving vehicles, towing other vehicles behind them, moving in and
out of Terminal Island through the traffic light intersection that is already backed up. It can take our residents 30-45
minutes to reach the Beach at times.
Please consider our concerns and do not approve this very bad idea. Thank you for your consideration of our view in
this matter.
Tim
Tim W. Rose, Jr.
Executive Director
Palm-Hibiscus-Star Islands Association
152 Palm Avenue
Miami Beach, FL 33139
305-299-2617
1
536
ISLANDS ASSOCIATION, INC.
May 31,2011
Mayor Mattie Bower
Commissioner Michael Gongora
Commissioner Jorge Exposito
Commissioner Jerry Libbin
Commissioner Ed Tobin
Commissioner Deede Weithom
Commissioner Jonah Wolfson
RE: Possible Tow Lot on Terminal Island
Madam Mayor and Commissioners;
I am writing to you on behalf of the Board of Directors and residents of the Palm-Hibiscus-Star
Islands Association about the subject of a potential towing lot on Terminal Island. After seeking the
opinion of our residents, the vast majority are against the suggestion that the City of Miami Beach
establish a towing lot on Terminal Island for those vehicles towed by the City. Short notice and the
long holiday weekend will prevent many of our residents from attending the Commission Meeting on
June l 8t.
The MacArthur Causeway is the major artery connecting our neighborhood to areas outside, in the
City of Miami Beach, the City of Miami and points beyond. Obviously, this will add traffic (slow
moving traffic) to the already packed MacArthur Causeway and the traffic light intersections,
including the Fountain Street/MacArthur Causeway intersection (entrance to Palm and Hibiscus
Islands), the Bridge Street/MacArthur Causeway intersection (entrance to Star Island), the Terminal
Island/MacArthur Causeway intersection and the 5th Street/ Alton Road intersection. This is in
addition to the Port of Miami Tunnel Project, the new Star Island Roadway Project, construction on
South Beach, the upcoming Palm and Hibiscus Islands GO Bond Projects, the Hibiscus Island
Undergrounding Project and the many busy weekends in the community such as the Memorial Day
Weekend, the Fourth of July Weekend, Labor Day Weekend, Art Basel, the Boat Show, the Orange
Bowl, Super Bowls, Marathons, etc., etc., etc.
We have cooperated with all of the above activities and continue to be supporting of those and other
activities that benefit the City, the community and the local economy. This proposal goes way
beyond those activities that we can support. Our residents strongly encourage the City Commission
and City Administration to look elsewhere for a suitable site for a vehicle storage area when vehicles
in the City are towed.
Sincerely,
Hans C. Mueller
President
152 Palm Avenue • Miami Beach, FL 33139
537
Transportation Impact Study for
Proposed Relocation of Towing Storage
Facilities to Terminal Island
DRAFT
Prepared By
IN
August 22, 2011
538
EXECUTIVES~Y
The City of Miami Beach is considering the relocation of the towing storage facilities currently
operational in Miami Beach to Terminal Island. This study analyzes the current traffic conditions
within the study area and evaluates the impact of the tow truck relocation within the study area in
the opening year 2013.
Along with the proposed relocation of the tow truck storage there are other changes currently
being considered at Terminal Island including a newly proposed garage (Sun Terminal) to be
located where a parking lot currently exists east of Terminal Island along with a new ferry
terminal that will be dedicated for the service personnel and employees to Fisher Island. The
current ferry terminal currently operational west of Terminal Island is proposed to be maintained
but to be used by residents and guests to Fisher Island. It is anticipated that there will be
additional vehicular traffic due to committed new development at Fisher Island.
Currently the intersection of Terminal Island and McArthur Causeway has a complex geometry
and inefficient signal operation. With three independent approaches at Terminal Island at this
intersection, multiple signal phases currently are needed. Whenever there is a signal call on the
Terminal Island side, it stops all the traffic at the intersection including the very heavy traffic
going Eastbound and Westbound on McArthur Causeway to clear the three phases one at a time.
The driver's sight distance is poor and the grade separation between Terminal Island and
McArthur Causeway further forces the drivers to drive slowly as they negotiate this intersection.
This leads to heavy intersection delays especially during the AM and PM peak periods. If the
geometry of this intersection is simplified it is expected to operate under acceptable levels of
service.
Evaluation of the intersections within the study area shows that both the intersections of
Terminal Island and McArthur Causeway and Alton Road and 5th Street currently operate at
failed conditions (LOS "F"). However, the impact of the tow trucks at the intersection of Alton
Road and 5th Street is negligible and this intersection is geometrically-constrained.
The traffic growth from year 2011 to year 2013 is approximately 1.3%, which along with the
committed developments results in a minor increase in traffic volume. The future operating
conditions with background traffic volumes and traffic volumes due to committed developments
cause these intersections to continue to fail at slightly worse than the existing conditions.
With the proposed relocation of tow truck storage to Terminal Island, it is anticipated that during
peak hours there will be 2 trucks coming to Terminal Island and two leaving to go to Miami
Beach. This volume is negligible and when added to the intersections causes negligible increase
in delay. However, the intersection at Terminal Island and McArthur Causeway which is
currently failing will need to be improved to handle the additional traffic volumes.
Several improvement alternatives were developed to simplify the geometry and traffic operation
at the intersection of Terminal Island and McArthur Causeway. All these alternatives developed
will result in a significant improvement in the intersection operation. However the associated
levels of service will range between LOS "C" and LOS "D" from the current LOS "F".
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539
Table of Contents
1. IN"TRODUCTION .................................................................................................................. 1
2. FIELD OBSERVATION ........................................................................................................ 1
3. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS ............................................................................. 2
3.1. Data Collection ................................................................................................................. 2
3.2. Data Analysis ................................................................................................................... 4
4. FUTURE TRAFFIC ................................................................................................................ 5
5. ENGINEERIN"G ANALYSIS ................................................................................................. 7
6. IMPROVEMENT ALTERN"ATIVES .................................................................................... 8
7. SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATION ......................................................................... 10
List of Tables
Table 1: Committed Development Traffic due to Fisher Island Growth ........................................ 6
Table 2: SYNCHRO MOBs for Geometric Conditions Existing in Year 2011 ............................. 8
List of Figures
Figure 1 -Study Area
Figure 2-Existing Facilities on Terminal Island
Figure 3a and 3b -Data Collection Locations
Figure 4 -Improvement Alternative I
Figure 5 -Improvement Alternative II
Figure 6 -Improvement Alternative III
Figure 7 -Improvement Alternative IV
Figure 8 -Improvement Alternative V
List of Appendix
A. DATA COLLECTION
B. FUTURE TRAFFIC
C. SYNCHRO OUTPUT
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1. INTRODUCTION
City of Miami Beach is considering the relocation of the towing storage facilities currently
operating in Miami Beach to the Terminal Island. The towing storage facilities are proposed to
be co-located at an existing City of Miami Beach facility on Terminal Island currently in use by
City's Fleet Management Operations, and the Sanitation Division. Along with the City owned
facility, Terminal Island also currently includes other land uses such as the US Coast Guard
Station, FPL station, cargo terminal, water pump station, Fisher Island Ferry Terminal and a 266-
space surface parking lot utilized by employees of Fisher Island.
At the request of the City of Miami Beach, ATKINS has performed a traffic impact study to
examine the potential impacts of the proposed relocation of the towing storage facilities to the
Terminal Island. Figure 1 shows the general area of study and Figure 2 shows the locations of the
different land uses on Terminal Island.
2. FIELD OBSERVATION
Extensive field observations were performed in the study area during the AM and PM peak hours
on a typical weekday. Photographs taken during the observation are included in the Appendix.
The following issues were observed/identified:
• Traffic volume along the McArthur Causeway is generally heavy during weekdays and
increases slightly during weekends.
• The traffic volumes on Bridge Road are generally minor at all times including weekday peak
hours and weekend. Generally Bridge Road intersection with the McArthur operates at an
excellent level of service.
• The Terminal Island intersection with the McArthur Causeway has an extremely complex
geometric and traffic operation which negatively impacts the level of service. Even with
relatively low volumes of traffic on Terminal Island, the impact to the McArthur Causeway
is significant. This is due to the geometric and operational characteristics which has three
independently signalized "phases" that allow only one approach to move while the other
approaches on Terminal Island as well as the traffic on the McArthur has to stop as vehicles
move one-by-one as they negotiate a geometrically unfriendly conditions due to poor sight
distances and grade differences that force vehicles to move very slowly.
• Pedestrian, bicycle and transit operation and facilities at Terminal Island intersection with the
McArthur appear well utilized. The availability of sidewalk allowed both pedestrians and
bicycles to use it. The limited and not continuous dedicated bike lane was observed not to be
utilized. The modem and user friendly bus shelter next to the Terminal Island intersection
was observed to be well utilized. The overall multi-modal operation at this intersection was
evident and was working well.
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541
• Ferry operation on the west end of Terminal Island ran every 15 minutes. At the approach to
the ferry entrance there were three lanes, numbered 1, 2 and 3. Lane 1 was signed for use
exclusively by residents' vehicles. Lane 2 was signed for use by guests to Fisher Island while
lane 3 was signed for other service personnel. A large parking lot located on the east side of
Terminal Island was dedicated for service personnel and other employees at Fisher Island
who may wish to park their vehicles and then ride the ferry. Shuttle buses loaded personnel
every 15 minutes and transported them back and forth between this parking lot and the ferry
terminal.
• Since the ferry arrives once every 15 minutes, the number of vehicles it drops at Terminal
Island directly impacts the signalized intersection at Terminal island and McArthur causeway
whereas the rest of the time and between ferries, there is no traffic impact from the west end
of Terminal Island to this intersection. However vehicular traffic continues to arrive either
destined to the ferry or to the surface parking area east of the Island.
• Maximum number of vehicles that can be transported by each ferry is 22 vehicles. This limit
was generally not reached during our observations. This also indicates that the maximum
number of vehicles impacting the eastbound approach at Terminal Island intersection with
McArthur will not generally exceed 22 vehicles at one time. Yet this is considered a severe
impact at this intersection given the current conditions.
• The signalized intersection at Alton Road and 5th Street was observed to be busy most of the
times with heavy delays during peak periods.
3. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS
3.1. Data Collection
Data collection was performed within the study area based on discussions with the City staff,
field observations conducted by ATKINS, and the Sun Terminal Parking Garage and Service
Ferry Relocation Traffic Impact Analysis Report, Dated January 2009, and Prepared by
Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc. provided by City ofMiami Beach. Figure 3a and Figure 3b
show all the data collection locations.
Automatic bi-directional continuous counts were performed at the following locations from
08/11111 (Thursday) to 08/13/11 (Saturday):
• Alton Road north of 5th Street (between 6th and 7th Street)
• North-South Driveway (FPL) on Terminal Island south of McArthur Causeway
• Terminal Island East Leg south ofMcArthur Causeway
• Terminal Island West Leg (to/from Ferry) south of McArthur Causeway
• Terminal Island Slip Ramp to Eastbound McArthur Causeway
The peak hours of operation was determined based on the continuous counts and turning
movement counts were conducted at the following locations on 08/17/11 during the peak
hours of operation:
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542
• McArthur Causeway and Terminal Island
06:00AM to 09:00AM & 03:00PM to 06:00PM
• Alton Road and 5th Street
07:00AM to 09:00AM & 04:00PM to 06:00PM
All raw counts are included in the Appendix.
The following information was obtained from the FDOT 2010 Florida Traffic Information
CD:
• AADT Forecast at the permanent station at 870031 (SR-A1A McArthur Causeway
0.2Miles W of Palm Island Entrance in Dade County
• Peak Season Factor Category Report for Miami-Dade County
• Weekday Continuous Count at count station 876059 (Ramp 87037200 from
Eastbound McArthur Causeway to Northbound Alton Road)
All the FDOT data is included in the Appendix.
Traffic data for the intersection of Bridge Road and McArthur Causeway was obtained from
Sun Terminal Parking Garage Traffic Study along with information for future developments
and related traffic on Fisher Island.
Fisher Island Ferry operation official was interviewed and the following information was
obtained:
• The capacity of a ferry is 22 vehicles at one time and the operation runs at an interval
of approximately 15 minutes.
• The parking garage that is proposed to be built on the eastside of the Terminal Island
will be mainly for non-resident visitor/service personneVemployees.
• A separate ferry will be operational on the side of Terminal Island for the non-
resident traffic of Fisher Island
• After the completion of the proposed garage on Terminal Island and the start of the
ferry operation to/from Fisher Island on the east side of Terminal Island, the current
ferry operation will then be exclusive for Fisher Island residents and guests.
In order to have a thorough understanding of the ferry operation, vehicular counts were also
conducted at the Ferry approach both on Terminal Island and on Fisher Island. The raw
counts are included in the Appendix.
Draft 3
543
ATKINS had analyzed the tow service information during a previous project for City of
Miami Beach; the raw information obtained from City of Miami Beach at that time is also
included in the Appendix.
The signal timing and phasing for the signalized intersections within the study area was
obtained from Miami-Dade County and are included in the Appendix.
In order to assess the transit operation and service within the study area, especially near the
Terminal Island the schedules for the buses going on McArthur Causeway were downloaded
from Miami-Dade Transit. The raw information is also included in the Appendix.
3.2. Data Analysis
The data collected above was analyzed as follows:
Continuous Counts: The raw continuous counts were summarized using tables and graphs.
The counts show that traffic destined to Terminal Island peaks between 06:00AM and 07:00
AM in the morning and then between 03:00PM and 04:00PM in the afternoon. However,
traffic volumes on the McArthur shows that the heaviest AM peak period is 08:00AM to
09:00AM and the heaviest PM peak hour is from 05:00PM to 06:00PM.
The traffic volume differences are much higher for the McArthur Causeway which should
dictate the peak hours of 07:00 to 09:00AM and then 04:00 to 06:00PM, however, due to
the importance of the traffic volumes to and from Terminal Island, traffic volumes for three
hours in the morning 06:00AM to 09:00AM and three hours in the afternoon 03:00PM to
06:00 PM was examined.
The traffic on Alton Road peaks from 07:00AM to 09:00AM in the morning and 04:00PM
to 06:00PM in the evening.
The graphs clearly show that the traffic to and from Terminal Island is very less compared to
the traffic on McArthur Causeway.
Turning Movement Counts: The raw turning movement counts were adjusted based on the
Peak Season Conversion Factor; based on FDOT information a factor of 1.08 was used. The
hourly turning movement volumes were summarized in a table at an increment of 15
minutes.
Based on the volumes and the field observations it was determined that 07:00AM to 08:00
AM in the morning would represent the worst case scenario for the intersection of Terminal
Island and McArthur Causeway and also within the study area, while 04:15PM to 05:15PM
would represent the peak hour during the afternoon. The following engineering analysis and
development of future traffic volumes were based on these peak hours.
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544
Ferry Counts: The vehicles accessing the ferry at Terminal Island and at Fisher Island were
counted from 06:00AM to 09:00AM and from 03:00PM to 06:00PM. Based on the lane
designation at the ferry the number of resident vehicles and non-resident vehicles were
determined. This traffic was distributed at the intersection of Terminal Island and McArthur
Causeway based on the current turning movement counts.
Tow Truck Counts: The tow truck counts obtained from City of Miami Beach as part of a
previous project was analyzed. The six month data analysis showed that the maximum tow
truck service on a Thursday was 48. And the hourly data analysis showed that the maximum
use during AM and PM peak hours were 5% of the daily service. Therefore approximately 2
trucks will access the Terminal Island after relocation during each of the peak hours.
Signal Timing and Phasing: The signal timing information obtained from Miami-Dade
County confirms the field observation that there are multiple phases at the intersection of
Terminal Island and McArthur Causeway. Even though the traffic volume on McArthur
Causeway is significantly higher than the traffic volume on Terminal Island, in order to
accommodate all the multiple phases only approximately 49% of the signal cycle length time
(160 sec) during the AM peak hours and 47% of the signal cycle length time (170 sec) during
the PM peak hours is provided to the traffic on McArthur Causeway.
The intersection of Alton Road and 5th Street also has split phases for the north-south
movement, which would cause additional traffic delay.
Transit: There are sufficient bus routes that service the intersection of McArthur Causeway
and Terminal Island at a frequent headway both during peak and off-peak hours. The
intersection has mild pedestrian volumes, which mainly access the transit.
4. FUTURE TRAFFIC
The future traffic was generated as following:
• The growth factor was calculated based on the FDOT AADT forecast year 2010. It was
determined that there will be a traffic growth of 1.3% from year 2011 to year 2013, which is
the target year for the project. The growth factor calculation along with tables and graphs are
included in the Appendix.
• The adjusted year 2011 turning movement counts were projected to year 2013 based on the
growth factor above to obtain the background traffic growth.
• It is anticipated that there will be 40 new trips during the AM peak hour and 53 new trips
during the PM peak hour related to the Fisher Island1, these trips were considered as
1 Sun Terminal Parking Garage and Service Ferry Relocation Traffic Impact Analysis Report, Dated January 2009,
and Prepared by Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc.
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545
5
committed development trips. These new Fisher Island trips were distributed based on the
ferry counts. Table 1 below shows the committed development trip split.
Table 1: Committed Development Traffic due to Fisher Island Growth
AM Inbound Resident = 1 vph Outbound Resident = 9 vph
Peak 40vph
Hour Inbound Non Resident= 23vph Outbound Non Resident = 7 vph
PM Inbound Resident = 6vph Outbound Resident = 5 vph
Peak 53vph
Hour Inbound Non Resident = 6 vph Outbound Non Resident = 36 vph
• The committed development trips were distributed based on the current turning movement
counts at the intersection of Terminal Island and McArthur Causeway. The detailed
distribution is included in the Appendix.
• Based on the current ferry count the resident and the non-resident traffic proportion was
identified and the projected turning movement counts for the AM and PM peak hours for
year 2013 was revised to reflect the proposed changes to Fisher Island ferry (the current ferry
location will be designated for residents and guests and another ferry location will be
operational on the Terminal Island side for service personnel and employees). The detailed
table is included in the Appendix.
• The changes to the Fisher Island Ferry was reflected to the committed development traffic
and added to the revised 2013 Background traffic to develop the turning movement volumes
for year 2013 without the tow traffic at the intersection Me Arthur Causeway and Terminal
Island.
The committed development traffic was also added to the traffic at Alton Road. The detailed
tables are included in the Appendix.
• The tow traffic for the peak hour was distributed at the intersection of 5th Street and Alton
Road based on the current turning movement counts and added to the turning movement
volumes with year 2013 background traffic and committed development traffic.
Since the tow facility will be located on the east side of Terminal Island, the tow traffic at the
intersection of Terminal Island and Me Arthur Causeway was distributed accordingly. It was
assumed that the towed vehicles will be released in the same hour as they are dropped off at
the facility. The tow truck volumes were added to the turning movement volumes with year
2013 background traffic and committed development traffic. The detailed turning movement
volumes are included in the Appendix.
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546
5. ENGINEERING ANALYSIS
The engineering analysis of the data collected above was performed using Synchro 7 and
SimTraffic 7 software. The geometric conditions existing in Year 2011 was analyzed for various
scenanos.
Existing Conditions (vear 2011): In order for the model to accurately micro-simulate the future
conditions, the existing roadway and intersection conditions during the AM and PM peak hours
had to be simulated and the model calibrated to reflect accurate driver behavior and patterns
within the study area. The model calibration was based on the field observations and therefore
reflects typical traffic behavior.
The adjusted turning movement count was used at the intersections of Terminal Island and Me
Arthur Causeway and at the intersection of Alton Road and 5th Street. As observed in the field,
the intersections fail with heavy intersection delays both during AM and PM peak hours. Table 2
below shows the Delay and LOS at the intersections.
The intersection of Bridge Road and Terminal Island has minimal traffic to/from Bridge Road
and delay due to side-street traffic is minimal. The intersection is affected mostly when
eastbound MacArthur Causeway traffic spills back from the Terminal Island intersection. The
detailed Synchro outputs are included in the Appendix.
Conditions with Background Traffic and Committed Development (vear 2013): The turning
movement volumes generated in Section 4 of this report was used to simulate the intersection
operation for this scenario. The turning movement volumes reflect the proposed changes in Ferry
at Terminal Island. The intersections continue to fail, however since the increment in traffic is
minor the increase in delay is also minor. The MOEs are included in Table 2. The detailed
Synchro outputs are included in the Appendix.
Conditions with Background Traffic. Committed Development and Relocated tow trucks (vear
2013): The turning movement volumes generated in Section 4 of this report was used to simulate
the intersection operation for this scenario. The number of tow trucks is minor therefore the
increase in impact at the intersections is negligible as seen in Table 2. The detailed Synchro
outputs are included in the Appendix.
Draft 7
547
Table 2: SYNCHRO MOEs for Geometric Conditions Existing in Year 2011
Terminal Island Alton Road&
SYNCHRO MOBs &McArthur 5th Street Causeway
Delay LOS Delay LOS
Year 2011-124.5 F 170.7 F Existing Conditions
AM Year 2013-Peak Background Growth + Committed Development 125.0 F 174.3 F
Hour
Year 2013-
Background Growth + Committed Development + 125.3 F 174.1 F
Tow Trucks
Year 2011-389.2 F 554.2 F Existing Conditions
PM Year2013-Peak Background Growth + Committed Development 387.4 F 557.3 F
Hour
Year2013-
Background Growth + Committed Development + 388.2 F 558.4 F
Tow Trucks
Comparison of Different Scenarios: Table 2 above shows that the intersection operation at
Terminal Island will have only minor change from the existing conditions in the future and the
impact of the tow truck relocation is negligible. There will be no impact of the tow truck
relocation at the intersection of Bridge Road and McArthur Causeway.
6. IMPROVEMENT ALTERNATIVES
The main issue of concern within the area of this study is the intersection of MacArthur
Causeway at Terminal Island. This study has identified several improvement alternatives that
will improve the existing poor and failing levels of service (LOS F) to acceptable levels of
service (generally LOS "C" or LOS "D" depending on which alternative).
Improvement Alternatives:
As stated earlier, Terminal Island intersection with the McArthur Causeway has an extremely
complex geometric and traffic operation which negatively impacts the level of service. Even with
relatively low volumes of traffic on Terminal Island, the impact to the McArthur Causeway is
significant. This is due to the geometric and operational characteristics which has three
independently signalized "phases" that allows only one approach to move while the other
approaches on Terminal Island as well as the traffic on the McArthur to stop as one vehicles
move one by one as they negotiate a geometrically unfriendly conditions due to poor sight
distances and grade differences that force vehicles to move very slowly.
Draft 8
548
Therefore, to improve the operation at this intersection, it is critical that the complex signal
"phasing" operation is streamlined and instead of three independent phases, only a single phase
is kept and the approach is improved so that the drivers arriving at the stop bar of this approach
is able to see the traffic on the MacArthur and to see their destination lane. Also, by streamlining
the operation, the traffic volume destined to the City of Miami Beach from Terminal Island is
moved to the slip right turning lane located east of this signalized intersection so that all traffic
making a right turn at this signalized intersection is completely removed.
Alternative 1:
This alternative assumes that the existing ferry operation will be either completely moved from
where it currently operates west of Terminal island to the east of Terminal Island or that the
access to and from the existing ferry terminal is moved to the intersection of Bridge Road and
the Mac Arthur (as will be shown in Alternative V).
This alternative assumes that the current FP&L access which is located south of this intersection
will be moved further east where there is currently a gated access. Figure 4 shows the
improvement.
Alternative ll:
This alternative is similar to Alternative I but allows ingress only to FP&L with no egress for
FP&L at this intersection. Egress would potentially occur at the gate located east of this
intersection. This also allows vehicles from FP&L destined to Miami Beach to use the right-
turning slip lane which lessens the impact at the signal. Figure 5 shows the improvement.
Alternative lll:
This alternative is similar to Alternative II but also allows egress from FP&L in addition to
ingress. However, this egress is to make a right-tum movement only. A ''jug-handle" tum-around
proposed near the FP&L gate will allow vehicles to turn either to Miami Beach using the
exclusive slip lane or to the signalized intersection heading westbound on the MacArthur. Figure
6 shows the improvement.
Alternative IV:
This alternative improves the geometry significantly by moving the western approach and the
southern approach to Terminal Island further away from the intersection and will streamline the
operation so as all vehicles eastbound and northbound make a right-turning movement only
inside terminal Island. This traffic will not to impact the signal at all. Additionally the ''jug
handle" concept could also be implemented in this alternative as shown in Alternative III above.
Figure 7 shows the improvement.
Alternative V:
This alternative shows the concept of connecting the existing ferry terminal west of Terminal
Island at Bridge Road intersection and disconnecting it with the Terminal Island signalized
intersection. A new left -turning lane will need to be introduced on the MacArthur to this ferry
terminal. A single lane exit is sufficient to handle traffic volumes without negatively impacting
the operation. However, the concept could allow for additional lanes if needed.
Draft 9
549
This concept will streamline the operation for both intersections at Terminal and Bridge since the
two intersections are so close they operate as one. Therefore the overall vehicular delays to all
users including those on the MacArthur will be reduced significantly resulting in an estimated
overall improved level of service LOS "C". Figure 8 shows the improvement.
All the above concepts will however require additional studies to determine feasibility and costs.
Alternative V additionally will have other environmental impacts that will need to be further
studied to determine potential impacts and probable costs and therefore feasibility.
7. SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATION
./ The intersections of Terminal Island and McArthur Causeway, and 5th Street and Alton
Road currently operate at failure conditions both during AM and PM peak hours.
Draft
The intersection of Terminal Island fails mainly due to complex geometry, multiple
signal phasing and awkward grade difference.
There is generally a minor impact of the relocated tow trucks at all intersections within
the study area.
The traffic operation at the intersection of Terminal Island and McArthur Causeway can
be significantly improved with the simplification of geometry as presented in
Alternatives I thru V.
It is recommended that the feasibility of the improvement alternatives be further
considered and evaluated. This includes environmental impacts and cost estimates among
others.
10
550
Figures
551
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