Label
DPS Downtown Toledo Transportation Study
Division of Transportation
Gary Stookey (x1306)/Paul M. Rasmusson (x7868)
(Revised)
Title
Approving and adopting the Downtown Toledo Transportation Study for the City of Toledo, Ohio; and declaring an emergency.
Summary
SUMMARY & BACKGROUND:
The request is for the review of the Downtown Toledo Transportation Study (DTTS). The plan was funded by the City of Toledo. The plan was prepared by a consultant team that was led by Mannik & Smith Group. The planning team also included MKSK, DGL, Burton Planning Services, and ConnecToledo.
This document was created over the course of 2018 and 2019. It includes a significant effort to gather public input and opinion from residents and stakeholders. The planning team held stakeholder interviews and public meetings, and maintained a web presence. Some of the most frequent comments focused on the developing bicycle facilities, safety concerns for all users on roadways and sidewalks, and redeveloping Summit Street as a more pedestrian friendly corridor.
This plan builds on the efforts and ideas of previous plans. The plan is divided into five sections: Public Involvement, Data Collection and Review, Policy Review, Current Conditions Assessment and Future Conditions Forecast, and Identification of Project and Program Alternatives. A brief discussion of each section follows.
Public Involvement
The DTTS included an extensive public outreach campaign in order to increase an understanding of the opportunities and challenges associated with the downtown transportation network and gain a consensus from the downtown users.
Public involvement included:
• Core Development Team monthly meetings with City of Toledo Division of Transportation, ConnecToledo, TARTA, and the consultant team
• Transportation Advisory Committee and Focus Group Meetings. These groups were comprised of key downtown stakeholder and the focus group workshops had over 60 attendees including downtown educational institutes, small and large businesses, non-profits and City Council
• The groups also held three (3) public Engagement Meetings over a 15-month period
• Two (2) online surveys were also conducted as part of the public involvement process
Data Collection and Review
Several elements of data were collected to document the conditions of the existing transportation network. These include a physical inventory of the existing roadway network, focusing on traffic volume data, crash data, transit facilities, truck routes, commercial pick up and drop off locations, ridesharing and bicycle facilities. This data is useful in understanding the downtown traffic and developing the roadway alternatives, traffic modeling and how future changes will affect the traffic patterns.
Policy Review
This portion of the DTTS was to ensure that current design practices, policies and other regional planning documents were in line with findings and recommendations presented in the 2017 Downtown Toledo Master Plan. The review included documentation of the city’s current guiding principles and policies as related to several key components of the transportation network management comprised of the following topics:
• Active Transportation and Demand Management
• Active Transportation Planning
• Connected and Autonomous Vehicle Planning
• Complete Streets Policies
• Freight Planning
• Parking Demand Management Practices
• Preventative Maintenance and Construction Practices
• Smart City Applications
• Traffic Calming and Tactical Urbanism
• Transportation and Public Health Planning
• Transportation Systems Management and Operations
Current conditions assessment and future conditions forecast
The intent of this section is to document existing and future traffic volume and operation conditions within the DTTS area. Documentation and analyses were completed at 36 intersections within the DTTS area and included the following sections:
• Evaluation of existing traffic operations
• Existing commercial and heavy vehicle traffic operations
• Evaluation of reported crashes within the study area
• Projection of future traffic volumes to the years 2023 and 2038
• Evaluation of future traffic operations for the years 2023 and 2038
Identification of project and program alternatives
The primary objective of this task was to use information obtained from public input and evaluation of existing traffic operations to develop area-wide and street specific alternatives for improving the efficiency, safety and equity among modes within the downtown transportation network. Alternatives were developed with specific consideration of impacts on vehicular travel and mobility, bicycle travel, pedestrian experience, transit travel and experience and the potential for encouraging development. Street typologies were determined in the Downtown Master Plan and carried to the DTTS public involvement process. Several projects were highlighted as under development at the time that the DTTS was on going and we were able to vet the projects and get public opinions during the process. They are as follows:
• Huron Street two-way conversion from Adams to Cherry was implemented during the time the DTTS was underway. This was in conjunction with the TARTA Hub relocating to the intersection of Cherry and Huron. This change eliminated confusion caused by a partial one-way street and provided another through street that transverses the downtown from the Erie Street Market to Cherry Street
• Jefferson Street Cycle Track has federal funding through the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) program and is scheduled for construction in 2021. This project will provide bicycle facilities and will connect the Toledo Museum of Art to Promenade Park and is a crucial improvement for users in the downtown area
• Summit Street Roadway and Enhancement Project is a catalyst project for the downtown area that will improve the pedestrian experience and help promote downtown redevelopment. This roadway provides key connections between several large businesses and entertainments, as well as having direct access to Promenade Park and being one of the only roadways connecting downtown to the south end and Point Place, hitting several established historic neighborhoods in between
• A Martin Luther King Bridge bicycle facilities project was awarded federal funding for 2024 to improve connectivity between the downtown and across the river to International Park and the Glass City Metropark, which is under development. This project is a major piece of the Nautical Mile bikeway project
Additional projects were identified to help improve the downtown experience. Projects involving the addition of “festival streets” where appropriate, decorative islands to improve pedestrian access and walkability in high traffic areas, signal retiming, downtown wayfinding signage, implementing better truck and commercial vehicle management plans involving both deliveries and through truck routes, and identifying areas where additional on street parking could be established are all things that can be implemented in the future.
The fiscal impact of this Ordinance is as follows:
- The amount of funds requested: None
- The expenditure budget line item: None
- New revenue generated (operational revenue, grants, if any): None
- Revenue budget line item (if any): None
- Are funds budgeted in the current fiscal year (yes/no): yes, this is included in the approved 2020 CIP budget
- Is this a capital project (yes/no): No
- If yes, is it new or existing (new/existing):
- What section of the City’s Strategic Plan does this support:
o Excellence in Basic Services (yes/no): Yes
o Quality Community Investment (Livable City, Development) yes/no: Yes
o Workplace Culture & Customer Service (yes/no): Yes, for downtown businesses - not city
o Environment (yes/no): Yes
NOW, THEREFORE,
Be it resolved by the Council of the City of Toledo:
SECTION 1. That the Toledo City Council approves the Downtown Toledo Transportation Study that was recommended by the 2016 Downtown Toledo Master Plan.
SECTION 2. That a copy of the Downtown Toledo Transportation Study is on file with the Clerk of City Council's Office.
SECTION 3. That this Resolution is declared to be an emergency measure and shall be in force and effect from and after its adoption. The reason for the emergency lies in the fact that same is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, safety and property, and for the further reason that it is required to provide for the orderly development of the area and to protect the land values in the area.
Vote on emergency clause: yeas _____, nays _____.
Adopted: _________________, as an emergency measure: yeas _____, nays _____.
Attest: ________________________ __________________________________
Clerk of Council President of Council
Approved: _____________________ __________________________________
Mayor
I hereby certify that the above is a true and correct copy of a Resolution adopted by Council ________________________.
Attest: ________________________
Clerk of Council