Erie County Engineer's Office
Access Management Manual
Effective: April 30, 2006
Chapter Five
TRAFFIC IMPACT STUDY (TIS)
501 - NEED FOR TRAFFIC IMPACT STUDY
501.1 The need for a traffic impact study (TIS) is determined during the initial review of an access request, based on the criteria of Section 500, or during a preliminary meeting with the applicant as discussed in Section 203.8 or during the review of the permit application in Section 204. The applicant shall be notified in writing of the need for a TIS.
501.2 A TIS shall be required for any access to a proposed
development that will generate or have the potential to generate the
following traffic volumes at the projected full development build-out:
For rural access categories:
- At least 700 trip-ends per day; or,
- At least 70 trip-ends during the highest peak hour.
For urban access categories:
- At least 1000 trip-ends per day; or,
- At least 100 trip-ends during the highest peak hour.
501.3 For developments that do not generate the traffic volumes specified in Section 501.2, a turn-lane warrant analysis shall be required as specified in Section 503.4.4.5 when Chart 405-1 indicates that turn lanes shall be used when the need is indicated by an analysis, unless waived by the County Engineer after a preliminary meeting with the applicant.
501.4 A TIS shall be required for any proposed low volume, medium volume, high volume, or intersection access connection, regardless of projected traffic, within a location identified by the MPO as a safety problem area, high accident location, or congested traffic area.
501.5 The County Engineer’s request for a TIS does not presume the subsequent approval of an application or issuance of an access permit by the County Engineer. Issuance of a permit is based on the results of the TIS showing, in conformance with the requirements of this Manual, that the access proposal will not degrade the traffic operation and function of County and Township roadways, that the improvements required by the proposal are consistent with this Manual, and that they are feasible and able to be implemented.
502 - PURPOSE OF THE TIS
502.1 The purpose of the TIS is to:
- Determine whether an access proposal can meet the standards of this Manual.
- Determine the need for any improvements to the adjacent roadway network to maintain a satisfactory level of service and safety, and to preserve and protect the function of the roadway system, while providing reasonable access to the proposed development.
- Determine the appropriate location spacing, and design of all access connections and other improvements necessary to mitigate the traffic and operational impacts on County and Township roadways.
- Assure that internal development circulation for the development is designed to provide safe and efficient access to and from the adjacent roadway system in accordance with the purpose of this Manual.
503 - TIS REQUIREMENTS
503.1 A minimum of two copies of the TIS shall be submitted to the County Engineer.
503.2 The TIS shall be prepared under the supervision of a professional engineer. The TIS shall be considered an engineering report and be in accordance with Ohio Revised Code §4733.14.
503.3 - Design Traffic
503.3.1 The design year shall be the year of the development’s opening at full build-out (“opening day”) plus 20 years. However, the design year analyzed need not be more than 25 years from the year of TIS submittal.
503.3.2 Estimates of peak traffic volumes shall be based on weekday traffic for developments at which weekday employment, business, and/or activity predominates. Estimates of peak traffic volumes shall be based on weekend traffic for developments at which weekend employment, business, and/or activity predominates.
503.3.4 The peak hour of the proposed development shall be the peak hour traffic volume of the development at full-build out. Traffic volumes for the proposed development shall be calculated using Trip Generation.
503.3.5 Traffic growth rates for the adjacent roadway network shall be subject to the review and approval of the County Engineer, and may be obtained from or established by the County Engineer. It is recommended that the applicant obtain approved growth rates before proceeding with the TIS.
503.4 - Analysis
503.4.1 Methods All traffic capacity, level of service, and delay analyses shall be conducted by acceptable engineering methods and in general conformance with the methods specified by the Highway Capacity Manual. Analyses shall be conducted with acceptable computer software such as Synchro, HCS, Transyt-7F, NETSIM, Passer II-90, or other software acceptable to the County Engineer.
503.4.2 Other Methods All other analyses shall be conducted by acceptable engineering practices, and shall be in accordance with the applicable manuals, requirements, methods, and specifications of the Ohio Department of Transportation.
503.4.3 Analysis Area The TIS shall examine and analyze the following geographic area:
- all access connections to the proposed development, including any facilities to be dedicated in conjunction with the proposed development;
- all roadways adjacent to the development, to the first existing intersection with a numbered public roadway in each direction, both downstream and upstream from the proposed development.
The County Engineer may adjust this area as appropriate, depending on the development size or specific site conditions. An example analysis area is shown in Figure 503-1 (PDF, 77KB)
503.4.4 - Analysis Requirements
503.4.4.1 The TIS shall determine the existing and projected serviceability of the adjacent roadway network, including all intersections within the study area defined in Section 503.4.3.
503.4.4.2 The TIS shall examine “before” and “after” conditions of the proposed development and shall evaluate the traffic impacts of all access alternatives on roadway capacity, level of service, and delay associated with the proposed development. As a minimum, the TIS shall examine the following specific scenarios:
- Opening Day No Build: existing adjacent roadway network at opening day, without the proposed development.
- Opening Day Build: existing adjacent roadway network at opening day, with the proposed development.
- Design Year No Build: projected adjacent roadway network, at the design year, without the proposed development.
- Design Year Build: projected adjacent roadway network, at the design year, with the proposed development.
503.4.4.3 The TIS shall evaluate the proposed development’s impacts on the adjacent roadway network as defined by the analysis area. The study shall document the safety and capacity impacts on all roadway facilities within the study area for each access alternative, both for opening day and design year traffic. For access connections in high accident locations designated by the MPO, the study shall evaluate the expected impact of the access alternative on the accident patterns at those locations.
503.4.4.4 Signal warrant analyses shall be conducted for all multimovement access connections considered for each access alternative, and for all unsignalized intersections within the analysis area. An access connection that meets or exceeds the signal warrant thresholds but does not meet the spacing criteria and other standards of Section 400 may be required to be redesigned and/or relocated by the County Engineer. The study shall evaluate and make recommendations on the feasibility of coordinating any proposed signals with existing signals within the analysis area to achieve desired traffic progression. Signal warrant analyses shall incorporate all volume reductions applicable where major street speeds exceeds 40 MPH or in an isolated built-up community with a population of less than 10,000.
503.4.4.5 Turn lane warrant analysis for all access connections considered for each access alternative shall be conducted using the Auxiliary Lane Graphs included in Appendix D of this Manual. Turn lane analysis for existing intersections within the study area shall be conducted according to the criteria specified in Section 400 of the Location and Design Manual, Volume 1.
503.4.4.6 The study shall recommend the adoption of the access alternative that provides the safest and most efficient level of service consistent with the intent of this Manual. The recommended access alternative shall not aggravate an existing safety problem, increase the delay, or degrade the existing level of service established for the access category of the adjacent roadway facilities below the values of Chart 503-2 (PDF, 97KB).
Where the adjacent roadway’s no-build level of service is lower than that of Chart 503-2 (PDF, 97KB), the recommended access alternative shall neither degrade the level of service nor increase the delay beyond that projected to be present for the design year no-build condition.
503.4.4.7 The study shall analyze and recommend the improvements necessary (if any) to maintain the level of service and delay of the roadway in accordance with Section 503.4.4.6, and shall discuss the nature, extent, technical details, and approximate design and geometry of such improvements. The design of all improvements shall be in accordance with the operational design criteria established by the Ohio Department of Transportation and the County Engineer.
503.4.5 - General TIS Contents
503.4.5.1 The TIS shall contain an executive summary or abstract, briefly discussing the nature of the development, any possible adverse traffic impacts, possible solutions, as well as recommended solutions.
503.4.5.2 The TIS shall contain a table of contents.
503.4.5.3 The TIS shall contain a full and complete discussion describing the nature of the proposed development, potential adverse traffic effects, methods of analysis used, possible solutions, and the recommended courses of action.
503.4.5.4 Results of evaluations and analysis of existing and proposed roadway facilities shall be presented in a quantitative format. Analyses results shall report both levels of service and quantitative delays.
503.4.5.5 The TIS shall contain plan views of the geometry of existing, major topographic features in the vicinity of the proposed development, and proposed improvements to existing roadway facilities. All plan views shall be approximately to scale and may be scaled from aerial photographs of suitable resolution.
503.4.5.6 The TIS shall include all relevant data used in the analysis, including trip generation data, traffic counts, signal timing plans, survey data, software reports, inputs, and calculations.
503.4.5.7 All information used in the report taken from other sources shall be properly cited and referenced.
504 - REVIEW PROCEDURES
504.1 The County Engineer shall review the TIS and determine if the recommended access proposal is permissible with the roadway’s functional classification and consistent with the requirements, standards, and purpose of this Manual.
504.2 The County Engineer shall complete the review and take action on the TIS within 45 calendar days of the date of receipt of the TIS, provided the TIS is in accordance with this Section and that the following conditions are met:
- The cost of construction of the recommended improvements is funded in conformance with Section 505.4.
- The documents, plans, reports, access schemes, traffic studies, or other materials relating to the proposed access or any modifications thereto are deemed adequate, in accordance with the requirements of this Manual, to allow a complete and thorough assessment of the proposed development’s impact on the roadway network and complies with all design criteria of the Ohio Department of Transportation, the Subdivision Regulations, and as specified in this Manual.
504.3 If any of the materials described in Section 503 are determined to be deficient, the applicant shall be notified of the problem and the criteria that are not satisfied. The applicant shall have an opportunity to correct the deficiencies and to resubmit the material. Upon receipt of the resubmittal, the County Engineer shall review the material and determine if the deficiencies have been corrected. If the material is judged acceptable, final action shall be completed on the access application within 45 calendar days. If the resubmitted material is still deficient, the procedure established in this section shall be repeated until the modifications are acceptable.
504.4 After the TIS is completed in accordance with this Manual, the County Engineer shall, in writing,
- approve the access request as proposed,
- require modifications as appropriate and necessary, or
- deny the access request.
Such action shall be consistent with the standards of this Manual. 504.5 Approval of a TIS shall be valid for a period of 3 years from the date of approval in Section 504.4.
504.6 The County Engineer’s approval of a TIS per Section 504.4 does not constitute approval of the application, nor shall it be construed as the granting of a permit. Rather, it initiates the procedures of Sections 505 and 506.
505 - ACCESS PLAN DEVELOPMENT
505.1 Upon approval of the recommended alternative access proposal of the TIS, the applicant shall prepare and submit construction plans for the implementation of the recommended access scheme. Such construction plans shall be prepared in accordance with the applicable requirements of the Ohio Department of Transportation and the Subdivision Regulations of Erie County.
505.2 The construction plans shall be reviewed and approved by the County Engineer in accordance with the plan review requirements of the Subdivision Regulations of Erie County.
505.3 The County Engineer shall initiate any special agreements for work to be performed by the applicant, in accordance with the TIS, involving the construction, reconstruction, or modifications of significant portions of the roadway network, and for all other work, including the installation or modifications of traffic signals. The County Engineer shall review each agreement and approval shall be granted when satisfied that such agreement meets the requirements and intent of this Manual.
505.4 The applicant shall agree to entirely or primarily fund any and all improvements recommended for the access scheme proposed in the TIS. The methods of funding shall be included in the special agreement of Section 505.3 or the signal agreement of Section 505.5.
505.5 If the work involves modifying or installing a new traffic signal, a signal agreement shall be required for approval.
505.6 The County Engineer shall require a maintenance bond or certified check for 50 percent of the estimated cost of roadway improvements to be constructed within public rights-of-way.
505.7 Once the construction plans have been approved by the County Engineer in accordance with Section 505.2, and when all agreements have been prepared, reviewed, and approved, the applicant shall sign such agreements and submit them to the County Engineer for final authorization. Copies of the final, signed agreements will be provided to the applicant.
505.8 Fees Fees shall be charged to defray the costs of reviewing the TIS and construction plans for access-related improvements, and the creation of any agreements. Such fees shall not exceed the actual costs incurred in the administration of these tasks. The applicant shall pay all fees prior to the issuance of an permit. All fees shall be made payable as per Section 213.3.
506 - ACCESS PERMIT ISSUANCE
506.1 An access permit application shall not be approved nor a permit issued until the requirements of this section have been satisfied.
506.2 Upon final authorization by the County Engineer of all agreements of Section 505.7 and approval of all necessary construction plans of Section 505.2, and upon payment of all fees of Section 505.8, the County Engineer shall approve the application and issue a permit.
506.3 The construction of access-related improvements shall not commence until an access permit application has been approved.
506.4 Violations of Section 506 shall be treated under Section 212.
