STARKVILLE — Optimized traffic light timing, lane modifications and a roundabout appear to be both the simplest, and most effective fixes for traffic congestion along South Montgomery Street, according to the results of a planning study conducted by the Neel-Schaffer engineering firm.
Kevin Stafford, North Mississippi manager for Neel-Schaffer, presented the study results Friday at a board of aldermen work session at City Hall. He said the “simpler” fixes were more feasible than adding an east-west corridor to divert traffic.
The biggest ticket item among the study’s recommendations is a roundabout at the intersection of South Montgomery and Academy Road, which would reduce the average delay per vehicle from about 14 seconds to almost zero.
“Long story short, it has huge benefits,” Stafford said. “ … There’s a 93% reduction in delay using a roundabout at that intersection.”
He told The Dispatch similar roundabouts he has worked on in other locations have cost between $1 to $2 million. Adding a bypass lane to the roundabout would cost more and take up more space, which he did not recommend.
Stafford told The Dispatch in an email the area of South Montgomery Street between Academy and Locksley “sees around 12,000 vehicles per day.”
Stafford said optimized timings for traffic lights are the best “low-hanging fruit” to relieve traffic.
“All of your … controllers are already set up to run time of day operations, and so we can give you those timings to adjust,” Stafford said.
“Right now, y’all are on free operation, which is the same timing set all day.”
Timing on traffic lights would be adjusted for peak traffic hours between about 7:15 to 8:15 a.m. and 4:30 to 6 p.m., depending on the intersection, to decrease delays.
But even with timing optimization, Stafford said the eastbound lane of the Lynn Lane intersection will still fail by 2045.
This led Stafford to suggest lane modifications, including adding an additional northbound throughlane near that intersection by eliminating part of the center turn lane and changing traffic signal heads.
Stafford presented two slightly different alternatives for reconfiguring the lanes, either of which would lower the delay time per vehicle at the Lynn Lane intersection significantly, from 60 seconds to about 10 seconds in the mornings and smaller decreases in the evenings.
Though Stafford did not provide a firm cost for these solutions, he told The Dispatch the modifications would most likely cost somewhere “in the neighborhood” of $10,000, based on previous work he has completed on similar projects.
Neel-Schaffer also gave a few other recommendations, like fixing asphalt build-up, signage changes to increase safety and pedestrian timing changes to make them more appropriate for crossing intersections.
East-west corridor not recommended
When aldermen commissioned the study with Neel-Schaffer in October, the possibility of a new east-west corridor connecting South Montgomery to the Mississippi State University campus was a key discussion point.
But Friday, Stafford said he does not recommend building a new connector road as a long-term solution.
Stafford presented five alternatives for this hypothetical new road, displaying some running through MSU property and some through a private owner’s property. However, each east-west corridor possibility came with significant concerns from stakeholders and only temporary traffic reductions, as Stafford said traffic would return to its current levels within seven years.
He also estimated a brand new road a mile and a half long would likely cost about $6 million.
“The east-west corridor only takes 10% of the traffic off of South Montgomery. It takes about 40% off of Locksley,” Stafford said. “… But in seven years, your traffic issues you’re seeing today are going to be right back where they are. … Is there a benefit? Yes. But is it worth the investment? We don’t think so.”
Ward 3 Alderman Jeffrey Rupp told The Dispatch the problems with traffic have come from sudden growth in development along the street.
“Unfortunately, particularly when the public schools and private schools are in session, everybody goes at the same time,” Rupp said.
“There has been massive growth with Country Club Estates, Adelaide, Sherwood Forest, Timber Cove, Greenbriar, that traffic has become a problem. And it’s a narrow two-lane road.”
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