Tech Memo #7 - Maricopa County Department of Transportation

Technical Memorandum #7Traffic AnalysisPeoria Avenue Corridor Improvement StudyJackrabbit Trail Parkway to Dysart Road3.0 FUTURE TRAFFIC CONDITIONSFuture Transportation NetworkFor the planned future network, functional classification is the process by which roads aregrouped into classes or systems according to the kind of service they will provide in the future.Roadways functionally classified as high-speed, high-capacity facilities tend to maximizemobility and minimize direct land access. The hierarchy of functional classification typicallyincludes freeways, expressways, parkways, major and minor arterials, collectors, and localstreets.Maricopa County and MAG similarly classify Peoria Avenue as an (urban) principal arterial inthe future network. However, Peoria Avenue actually falls within multiple jurisdictions in thestudy area. Each jurisdiction has assigned its own future functional classification to the portionof Peoria Avenue within its boundaries. The overlapping classifications are even more complexwhere Peoria Avenue forms the boundary between jurisdictions.For the planned future network, Peoria Avenue has been classified by the local jurisdictions aslisted below: MCDOT – Urban Principal Arterial MAG – Major Arterial City of El Mirage – Minor Arterial City of Glendale – Major Arterial City of Surprise – Major ArterialThe future MCDOT functional classification of Peoria Avenue in the study area is an urbanprincipal arterial, as stated in the Maricopa County Major Streets and Routes Plan, adopted in2001 and revised in 2004 (Figure 6). The corridor currently exists from Dysart to PerryvilleRoads, and is classified as “future” from Perryville Road to Jackrabbit Trail. A principal arterialis defined as a street that provides for long-distance traffic movement within Maricopa County orbetween Maricopa County and urban areas. Access to abutting land is restricted and controlledthrough frontage roads and raised medians, as well as by the spacing and location of drivewaysand intersections. Opposing traffic flows may be separated by a raised median.MCDOT also classifies all other one-mile grid roadways in the study area as principal arterials,except Perryville Road south of Cactus Road, which is defined as a minor arterial and SR 303L,defined as a future freeway.The MAG I-10/Hassayampa Valley Transportation Framework Study identifies Peoria Avenueas a major arterial, as illustrated in the functional classification network map in Figure 7. This issupported in the 2010 MAG Regional Transportation Plan (RTP), which defines Peoria Avenueas a four-lane arterial from Dysart to Reems Road, and as a six-lane arterial from Reems Roadto Jackrabbit Trail in 2030 (Figure 8).The City of Surprise incorporated area within the study area extends north from Peoria Avenue,between the Beardsley Canal and Dysart Road. Surprise classifies Peoria Avenue as a majorarterial in the current General Plan, illustrated in Figure 9.Page 11 January 2011