Performance Measure MRIMF TIGER Grant #31 BRIMF TIGER Grant #32 Strategic Goal Area Average Daily Gross 3,382,545 989,886 Economic Competitiveness, State of Good Repair Average Daily Lifts (Containers or Trailers, Loads Only) 201 47 Economic Competitiveness Average Truck Vehicle Miles of Travel Avoided Per Quarter 17,164,141 5,025,161 Economic Competitiveness, State of Good Repair Average Diesel Fuel Consumption Per Quarter (Gallons) 2,358,862 690,606 Environmental Sustainability, Economic Competitiveness Average Highway Accidents Avoided Per Quarter 17 5 Safety Other Considerations: The measured benefits of the intermodal facilities were developed through operational records of cargo moved as expressed in Gross Ton Miles and number of lifts. The truck and highway related impacts, as expressed by the below performance measures were modeled based on freight flows across likely origin-destination locations which would be diverted from truck to rail as a result of the new facilities. Average Truck Vehicle Miles of Travel Avoided Per Quarter Average Diesel Fuel Consumption Saved Per Quarter (Gallons) Average Highway Accidents Avoided Per Quarter Other impacts resulting from the new intermodal facilities include the following (see Qualitative Project Benefits table below): Significant new freight capacity from the Southeast through the Mid-Atlantic region, an area currently underserved by intermodal rail. Provided employment during the construction of each facility and increased business opportunities and job creation in economically distressed Memphis and Birmingham. Project combined multiple modes (water, rail, and highway) to gain the capacities, efficiencies, and environmental benefits of each. Reduced greenhouse gas emissions; congestion and highway maintenance costs by reducing truck traffic. Railroad donated green/recreational spaces improved quality of life for neighboring communities. Lessened footprint of facilities through enhanced storm water management on and near facilities; reduced truck idling emissions and fuel consumption due to state of the art Automatic Gate System (AGS) installed at the Memphis facility and with a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified Administration Building in the Birmingham facility.
Additional Project Background: The TIGER-funded portion of the project included the completion of the 3.7 miles of southbound lanes between Francis Avenue and Farwell Road. Construction began in August 2009 and the southbound lanes opened near the end of 2012. The northbound lanes were previously completed and used for both northbound and southbound traffic (one lane in each direction) prior to the TIGER-funded project. Project Benefits: The purpose of the greater Spokane Corridor project is to improve mobility, reduce travel time and neighborhood truck traffic, improve safety, and support transportation choices. Trucks currently traveling south to I-90 encounter 29 stoplights. This results in significant idling and contributes to emissions. The project was designed to meet TIGER objectives of Safety (reducing collisions and conflicting movements); Economic Competitiveness (lowering travel times and fuel usage, increasing mobility, improving system efficiency, and creating jobs); Sustainability (reducing emissions and providing alternative travel options); and Quality of Life (lowering travel times and increasing mobility). Baseline and post-project data collected for the project shows: Over a doubling in truck traffic and a 235 percent increase in overall annual average daily traffic, suggesting that traffic has shifted to the facility A more than doubling of pedestrian and bicycle trips Results showed an increase in rates on the facility itself, associated with the significant increase in traffic volumes. The following table presents before and after data for the project area, with before data taken prior to construction and after data taken in June 2015 after the project had been open to traffic for several months. Table 15. Measured Project Benefits: I-395 North Spokane Corridor – Francis Ave. to Farwell Rd. Southbound Performance Measure Percentage Change Strategic Goal Area Average Annual Daily Traffic (ADT) for southbound lanes 2000 (8/2009) 6695 (6/2015) +234.8% Economic Competitiveness Average Annual Daily Truck Traffic (ADTT) for the southbound lanes 280 (8/2009) 570 (6/2015) +103.6% Economic Competitiveness Annual Average Hourly Vehicle Travel Time in minutes and seconds 5:18 (10/2010) 5:35 (6/2015) +5.3% Economic Competitiveness, Quality of Life Pavement Condition3, 4 n/a (all 99+) (9/2012) PSC:95 PRC: 91 -4.0% -8.1% -13.1% of Good Repair
PPC: 86 (6/2015) Bridge Sufficiency Rating (0-100)3 n/a (average of 99.64) (9/2012) 99.37 average (6/2015) <.003% State of Good Repair Performance Measure Percentage Change Strategic Goal Area Average bike trips 22 (8/2011) 44 (6/2015) 100% Quality of Life Average daily pedestrian trips 6 (8/2011) 14 (6/2015) 133.3% Quality of Life 3 Pavement condition and bridge sufficiency baseline measures were taken after the new facility was completed. Therefore, the “pre-project” in this case refers to initial data after construction. 4 Pavement Structural Condition (PSC), Pavement Rutting Condition (PRC), and Pavement Profile Condition (PPC) Other Considerations: Performance results showed some fluctuation across quarters. In a few these were due to seasonal factors (e.g. bike/pedestrian trips were lower in the winter), while in others (e.g. delay) they were due to temporary construction activities. In yet other cases (e.g. traffic volumes), the fluctuations were the results of changes in methodologies or technologies used for data collection. This project demonstrates challenges associated with measuring performance of a new facility. For most performance metrics, the baseline figures represented conditions during an early stage of the project when only two lanes out of the eventual six were available. Reported changes in traffic, crashes, and pavement and bridge conditions do not address the overall benefits of the project from a regional perspective but represent changes on the road facility itself. Moreover, because the project involved construction of just one segment of what will eventually be a new multimodal corridor providing a critical high-speed, link to I-90, significantly greater benefits are likely to be realized once the full corridor is complete. Additional benefits not captured by the data reported as part of the grant agreement requirements include the following: Table 16. Qualitative Project Benefits: I-395 North Spokane Corridor – Francis Ave. to Farwell Rd. Southbound Performance Measure Strategic Goal Area Fuel savings Economic Competitiveness, Quality of Life, Environmental Sustainability Travel time savings Economic Competitiveness, Quality of Life Jobs created Economic Competitiveness, Quality of Life Traffic moved from urban arterials to the new highway Economic Competitiveness, Quality of Life, Environmental Sustainability