(Blue Diamond Road) Corridor Study - Regional Transportation ...

2. Current Conditions of Study Area RTC SR-160 Corridor Study
designs and traffic control devices. Obviously, there are many local access streets within
the SR-160 corridor, which can adversely impact traffic flow during peak hours with a heavy
platoon of vehicles, especially in cases where there are no protected left turn storage lanes
on SR-160. The street network has been planned using a grid system to ensure that the
local street network flows properly into the collector and major streets and eventually into
SR-160.
The following sections describe the major highways, arterials and streets in the SR-160
corridor study area. These roadways are described in terms of the capacity and their
operating characteristics. The functional classification of streets described below for the
study area includes:
Major highways,
Major arterials,
Collector streets.
This differentiation is generally based on through traffic movement and access to adjacent
land. Local roads and collector roads provide greater access to adjacent land or individual
properties as compared to highways or arterials, which provide greater mobility.
2.9.1 Major Highways
Descriptions of I-15, the Northern Beltway, and several major arterials within the SR-160
study area are included in this section.
Interstate 15
I-15 runs along the south-eastern boundary of the SR-160 corridor study area. For the
purposes of this study, the portion of I-15 that is considered part of the study area is the
segment south of CC-215 and north of Wigwam Avenue. Along this stretch of the highway,
there are six lanes (three in each direction), although there is a small portion of the
highway at the northeast point where it meets the corridor boundary where it becomes four
lanes.
The 2003 average vpd volumes on this segment of I-15 are 114,500. The percentage of
this segment that is congested, based on these counts, is 14 percent. Seven percent of the
southern segment of I-15 operates at LOS F. Forecasts for 2025 reveal a traffic volume
increase to 260,100 for the southern portion. This means that seven to 38 percent of this
route will be congested in 2025 and up to 25 percent of the roadway will operate at LOS F.
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