156 Toll Road Study and Appendices - Transportation Agency for ...

Tolling Traffic and Revenue Study Highway 156 CorridorTraffic and Revenue Analysiswith the AMBAG RTDM was also updated to reflect roadway network changes, butassumed no change in programmed future service.Route 156 West Corridor Phase 1 and 2 improvements were evaluated under IntermediateYear 2019 and Horizon Year 2035 conditions. The preferred alternative to improveHighway 156 from Castroville Boulevard to Highway 101 consists of the following twophases:Phase 1 – Widen Highway 156 to a four-lane divide expressway from CastrovilleBoulevard to Meridian Road. Construct an interchange at Highway 156 andCastroville Boulevard.Phase 2 – Construct new interchange to replace existing Highway 101 and Highway156 interchange.Traffic VolumesThe AMBAG RTDM contains observed annual average daily volumes that were used in thisstudy to validate the performance of the RTDM in the study area and serve as input to trafficgrowth analysis. In addition, existing traffic volumes were provided on Highway 156 andthe study area by Caltrans, TAMC, and AMBAG.Traffic counts were obtained on Highway 156 to determine seasonal variation in trafficvolumes. Figure 1, Highway 156 Observed Volumes demonstrates the variation oneastbound Highway 156 at MP 5.19 just west of the Highway 101 and Highway 156interchange. During January and October (off-peak) average daily traffic volumes are abouthalf of those observed in April and July (peak). Also, as demonstrated in Figure 1, there is apronounced increase in traffic volumes Thursday through Sunday during the peak season.These observations demonstrate the role Highway 156 plays in accommodating recreationaland tourist travel demand.3