Return to Traffic Engineering Design  Traffic Engineering Design    Project Summary ::   1  2  3  4   Background Per an Act 250 permit condition for a commercial development along US 7 in Colchester and Winooski (VT), Resource Systems Group developed a coordinated timing plan from Tigan Street to Rathe Road. This section of US 7 proximate to Exit 16 off of I-89 requires periodic retiming as a result of changing traffic patterns and volumes. The use of US 7 as a major commuting route translates into a large volume of vehicles using this roadway and also emphasizes the importance of maintaining effective traffic progression. The new AM and PM coordinated timing plans will help move platoons of vehicles efficiently and improve overall flow. Project Scope •  Collected AM and PM peak hour traffic volumes; •  Developed AM and PM peak period timing plans using PASSER II and Synchro; •  Simulated traffic flow using CORSIM; •  Implemented timings in the field. Project Results Although traffic modeling is an effective tool in creating coordinated timing plans, the importance of being able to modify offsets and other variables in the field is essential for creating an effective timing plan. The new timing plans were entered into the master and local controllers on 10 September 2002. As expected, delay was not eliminated from the entire system. Instead, the system was optimized as an entire corridor, with the result being significantly reduced delays system-wide.