Project Management- Done the Right

Way
Submitted: April 7th, 2015
By: SOAP
Including: Justin Bardsley
Wally Karutz
Ryan Roumillat
Jacob Smith
Professor: Connie G. Rothwell

The Problem
The University of North Carolina Charlotte experiences traffic issues as a
regular on any given day. Its something most us would prefer to not even talk
about. According to many students traffic congestion is atrocious both on campus
and around campus. Especially during peak hours where students have reported
sitting and waiting for 30 to 40 minutes or more just to travel approximately one
mile. And the distance from either major Interstate to any point on campus:
approximately 1 to 2 miles.
Traffic Engineering is a tedious and Insightful job that requires experience and
somebody who has been around it for a long time. It seems as if the University has
either forgotten that this is a thing or maybe they just forget to hire somebody to do
the job.
Therefore a feasibility study has been done by group of students to discover
just how feasible it would be to implement some of the strategies other Universities

in the region have used around their campuses. The goal of the study was simple:
eliminate or at least reduce traffic congestion on campus. The Solution: Implement
the use of traffic circles (aka roundabouts) at major intersections to increase overall
traffic flow and eliminate major delays. Roundabouts have proven to be most costeffective and efficient way of clearing up traffic congestion on a budget for this
University. The process of coming to this decision is described in the proceeding
sections of this document.
Background and Preconceptions
All research done in this study was conducted by a group of students that
attend UNCC that go by the name SOAP. The motivating factor behind our research
is the daily struggle that we all experience. Whether its going to the grocery store
or its driving home to your apartment, even simple things become a tedious task
when traffic congestion is at its peak. However while we all agreed upon the
problem we differed on opinions of how to fix it. We also had to acknowledge the
fact that none of us had any prior expertise in this particular topic. Therefore it
would become necessary to do research into this particular field to find effective
solutions.
Method of Research
To discover what would truly be feasible the scale of the study extends to
include findings from both this University and also findings from other Universities
around the nation. Other sources of information include the IIHS (Insurance Institute
for Highway Safety) along with the DOT (Department of Transportation) and last but
not least the UNC Charlotte Master Plan (Which aims to predict growth patterns at
the university and propose the overall mission of the University moving forward).
Research Findings
Initially the overall goal was to discover which method would be the best
method for reducing overall traffic congestion and increasing traffic flow. One option
is to expand highly populated roads making them wider and therefore allowing more
commuters to travel at one. Although this solution has proven to be the obvious one
and the most effective solution it is often times the most costly and lets not forget
that it doesnt always work so well in dense areas with roads that border buildings.
Another option is to include more on ramps and off ramps at highly congested lights
therefore allowing a light to stay green longer on the particularly busy road. This
approach proves to be effective however often times proves to be costly depending
on the scale of the approach.

While many approaches seem to be effective another approach has proven to

be the most cost efficient and driver friendly. According to the department of
transportation the implementation of a roundabout in a high congestion-low speed
area ison averagebetween $150k- $400k. The actual price of the project of
course varies greatly depending on a variety of factors such as: number of lanes,
amount of lanes to be moved, Infrastructure in the way, and cost and labor of

materials in different regions. The department also says in some instances standard
intersections are preferable over roundabouts due to high pedestrian traffic and
roads that intersect where one road has a significant amount more traffic flow than
the other. And Again In highly dense and congested areas it often times makes
sense to use standard intersections over roundabouts to use as little space as
possible i.e. such as in city limits or the way city blocks are set up.
So how much do they actually help day to day? Well according to the IIHS
roundabouts have contributed to a decrease in delays by 89% and a decrease in
stops by 56%. Now if we to compare longer terms costs IIHS also reports that the
average traffic signal costs $5k-$10k a year for electricity costs and maintenance
involved with the components. Consider one smaller intersection typically has two
to four lights and that adds up to anywhere between $10k and $40k a year.
Roundabouts require virtually no maintenance, therefore after about 10-15 years or
so the price of implementing a traffic circle is the same as the price changing
nothing and still requiring maintenance. It should be noted that these numbers do
include the price of road upkeep which still has to be done no matter which
intersection setup is used.
Evaluation
Implementation of Roundabouts have proven time after time to work. Such as
in Cedar Falls, Iowa where experts from Foth Engineering stated the best plan given
the circumstances was to implement a series of six roundabout on University
Avenue. Experts were given a series of three designs are were expected to analyze
them. The first design included all traffic lights, the second design included more
traffic lights and fewer signals and the third design included fewer traffic signals and
more roundabouts. The third plan proved to be by far the best. Not only here but
also at other Universities around the country traffic circles seem to have often times
(but not always) proven effective. Of course it all comes done to individual
circumstances. It comes down to the type of terrain, the type of traffic flow, the
density of the area, and of course prices among many other factors. Im not saying
that proposing this solution for UNC Charlotte is sure to work, but given our
circumstances, and the fact that more often than not this type of proposal is highly
effective, the odds are definitely in our favor. As our expertise only extends so far
into this field why not bring in an expert to analyze the options and draft us a
proposal? But for now here is what we believe will work
Recommendations
The most logical recommendation that can be made to help reduce traffic on
campuses is to implement many more traffic circles. This will help increase the flow
of traffic so that there will be fewer buildups of cars that are stopped. There are
already some traffic circles on campus, but to think that nearly thirty thousand
people attend classes at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte it is necessary
to put them anywhere they can possibly be placed. An example of a place on
campus where a traffic circle is desperately needed is where one is able to turn right
onto Phillips Road off of Cameron Boulevard. The lights that are currently there take
ages to change and often lead to pileups of cars around five o clock. If traffic circles

are created where they need to be on campus, then the issue with traffic congestion
will be much easier to deal with. That being said, it will not be completely solved. It
will never be completely solved because there are too many people who need to be
around campus. The goal here is to make the traffic less congested every day so
that people can get where they are trying to go in a timely fashion. Below is a map
that was created to demonstrate some locations where traffic circles are necessary
to reduce the congestion of traffic on campus.

Sources
IIHS Insurance Institute for Highway Safety
DOT Department of Transportation
WCF Courier Newspaper
http://wcfcourier.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/cedar-falls-unveilsplans-for-university-avenue/article_0c8c6c32-02f9-53e4-bc79e42b5543b057.html
Foth Engineering
Students of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte