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Freeway traffic counts in your city?


bigboyz05

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Was that posted in the Gazette? I'm curious, because I can't seem to find the latest accurate traffic counts for SBC without emailing someone at DOTD. 82,000 is pretty high, considering one count I found for I-20 in Monroe (similar population to Texarkana) was only about 64,000. I recall a few years back, a traffic count on I-20 in SBC put it at about 100,000. There are counts on I-20 in DFW of about 220,000 <----- :w00t: !

And it's no surprise to me that Texarkana's highest traffic count is between Richmond and Stateline. :lol:

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Was that posted in the Gazette? I'm curious, because I can't seem to find the latest accurate traffic counts for SBC without emailing someone at DOTD. 82,000 is pretty high, considering one count I found for I-20 in Monroe (similar population to Texarkana) was only about 64,000. I recall a few years back, a traffic count on I-20 in SBC put it at about 100,000. There are counts on I-20 in DFW of about 220,000 <----- :w00t: !

And it's no surprise to me that Texarkana's highest traffic count is between Richmond and Stateline. :lol:

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AHTD has these numbers at their site (2005):

AHTD traffic counts

I picked the highest number for each stretch of freeway in each city listed:

The highest LR/NLR numbers on each freeway:

I-30 (downtown NLR and LR) - 113,000

I-40 (NLR between I-30 and 67/167) - 101,000

I-630 (midtown LR) - 113,000

I-30 (southwest LR) - 88,700

I-430 (west LR) - 72,400

US 67/167 (Sherwood) - 72,400

LR Suburbs:

I-40 Conway 61,600

I-30 Bryant 89,700

I-30 Benton 56,500

67/167 Cabot 52300

NWA:

I-540 Fayetteville 65,100

I-540 Springdale 66,100

I-540 Lowell 64,800

I-540 Rogers 60,800

I-540 Bentonville 50,300

Others:

I-30 Texarkana (AR) 36,300

I-40/55 West Memphis 73,700

I-540 Ft Smith 50,800

I-540 Van Buren 41,300

I-530 Pine Bluff 25,500

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Those counts on I-30 downtown and I-630 midtown have been steady for quite some time, more or less. The reason is because that's about capacity for a six-lane freeway, rather than flattened demand. The only way to get it higher is if it were to have more daily through traffic (but the other "bypasses" take care of that) or if it were widened.

If/when I-630 and/or I-30 get widened, the counts will jump up dramatically. Not just because of induced travel, but also because of so many commuters taking other routes on local streets. In other words, the 113,000 mark is somewhat decieving of traffic demand in the area. The same can be said about most, if not all, congested freeways, leading many critics to claim that widening projects encourages motor vehicle travel based on traffic volumes increasing dramatically after widening. That's only partly true, however.

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Yes, it does. The highest average on I-430 in 2005 was 113,000. Seems that I-430 and I-30 crossing the Arkansas River tied for the busiest highways in LR/NLR in 2005, each averaging 113k vpd.

The highest average in NWA was 64,000 on I-540 just north of Fayetteville.

The highest average in Hot Springs was 33,400 on Hwy. 7 just south of the 270 bypass.

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Those counts on I-30 downtown and I-630 midtown have been steady for quite some time, more or less. The reason is because that's about capacity for a six-lane freeway, rather than flattened demand. The only way to get it higher is if it were to have more daily through traffic (but the other "bypasses" take care of that) or if it were widened.

If/when I-630 and/or I-30 get widened, the counts will jump up dramatically. Not just because of induced travel, but also because of so many commuters taking other routes on local streets. In other words, the 113,000 mark is somewhat decieving of traffic demand in the area. The same can be said about most, if not all, congested freeways, leading many critics to claim that widening projects encourages motor vehicle travel based on traffic volumes increasing dramatically after widening. That's only partly true, however.

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AHTD has these numbers at their site (2005):

AHTD traffic counts

I picked the highest number for each stretch of freeway in each city listed:

The highest LR/NLR numbers on each freeway:

I-30 (downtown NLR and LR) - 113,000

I-40 (NLR between I-30 and 67/167) - 101,000

I-630 (midtown LR) - 113,000

I-30 (southwest LR) - 88,700

I-430 (west LR) - 72,400

US 67/167 (Sherwood) - 72,400

LR Suburbs:

I-40 Conway 61,600

I-30 Bryant 89,700

I-30 Benton 56,500

67/167 Cabot 52300

NWA:

I-540 Fayetteville 65,100

I-540 Springdale 66,100

I-540 Lowell 64,800

I-540 Rogers 60,800

I-540 Bentonville 50,300

Others:

I-30 Texarkana (AR) 36,300

I-40/55 West Memphis 73,700

I-540 Ft Smith 50,800

I-540 Van Buren 41,300

I-530 Pine Bluff 25,500

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Those counts on I-30 downtown and I-630 midtown have been steady for quite some time, more or less. The reason is because that's about capacity for a six-lane freeway, rather than flattened demand. The only way to get it higher is if it were to have more daily through traffic (but the other "bypasses" take care of that) or if it were widened.

If/when I-630 and/or I-30 get widened, the counts will jump up dramatically. Not just because of induced travel, but also because of so many commuters taking other routes on local streets. In other words, the 113,000 mark is somewhat decieving of traffic demand in the area. The same can be said about most, if not all, congested freeways, leading many critics to claim that widening projects encourages motor vehicle travel based on traffic volumes increasing dramatically after widening. That's only partly true, however.

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There's a theory in urban administration that basically says any freeway, not matter how wide, will always be at maximum capacity at rush hour...a very costly case of "build it and they will come"...

Widen 630, and it will almost immediately be full again. The only reason to widen it would be to relieve traffic on the arterials. Baton Rouge has a great example of a freeway that HAS to be widened. Memphis is an example where it doesn't need to be widened, but they're doing it anyway, just for the heck of it.

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You missed his point. Itk is an engineer who helps design freeways and roads in Arkansas. His point is that the theory you're discussing is based on fact but oversimplified. The traffic on I-630 WOULD increase substantially if it were expanded because the freeway's already at capacity. However, this would alleviate traffic on the arterials throughout town that are currently being used as collaterals to avoid the congested interstate. Thus, what you say is true to an extent in that traffic counts would jump after expansion but it would have a significantly beneficial traffic impact on the city overall.

In a city like Little Rock where the hills and curves limit the number and width of the arterials it could have a big impact on making traffic bearable on major arterials like Markham and Cantrell.

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I just looked back at the Texarkana MPO traffic count maps, and realized that those counts, as stated on their front page, are "raw axle" counts, and not actual "vehicle" counts. The counts shown from AHTD, however, are true counts, adjusted for trucks. That's why the Texarkana MPO counts show up much higher on the freeways, particularly I-30 where there are many, many trucks. However, most counts are just estimates-- except for certain locations, agencies don't count vehicles every day of the year then divide by 365. They only count for 2 days, which is typical, then divide by two. Only in really big cities do they have automatic counters running 24/7 almost everywhere that could give you a very accurate average daily traffic count.

In other words, I am confident in those counts shown by AHTD. They are counted the same way there as they are anywhere else in Arkansas, and very similar in other states I know. Of course, someone could always pull up a chair and count the vehicles themselves-- probably would need to bring a pot of coffee though.

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  • 2 weeks later...

itk, you have to admit the widening is going to cause growth in the area that will necessitate further widening. You will never be able to build out of the congestion. The widening has just made it easier for someone to live in Haskell and those out lying areas. I'm not saying the I-30 widening was a bad thing, but 10-15 years down the road I hope its not the only approach we are taking to solve congestion issues. I realize other approaches are being explored, I am meaning implemented.

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itk, you have to admit the widening is going to cause growth in the area that will necessitate further widening. You will never be able to build out of the congestion. The widening has just made it easier for someone to live in Haskell and those out lying areas. I'm not saying the I-30 widening was a bad thing, but 10-15 years down the road I hope its not the only approach we are taking to solve congestion issues. I realize other approaches are being explored, I am meaning implemented.
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