Volume 5, Issue 1 - 2010

02/24/2010

CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL PROJECT TO BE SHOWCASED BY INTERNATIONAL PARKING INSTITUTE

The International Parking Institute (IPI) selected Trans Associates' (TA) Ms. Cynthia Jampole, P.E. to present the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC parking and transportation planning services project at their annual convention May 10-13, 2010 in Las Vegas, NV, which attracts thousands of attendees from around the world.

In May, 2009 Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC, long located in the Oakland section of the City of Pittsburgh, relocated to the Lawrenceville neighborhood of the City.  The new 10-acre campus included 1.5 million square feet of space, a 296 bed, state-of-the-art pediatric hospital, a research center, a faculty pavilion, administrative office building and three on-site parking garages containing about 1,450 parking spaces.  These facilities were knit into a dense urban neighborhood.

In addition to a parking supply and demand analysis,  TA followed up with development of conceptual roadway improvements, a plan for modified on-street metered parking and loading zones for the adjacent business district, an extensive program of community meetings, and design of traffic signals and pedestrian crossing amenities. There followed a study of an off-site employee shuttle lot, development of a parking operations plan, design of traffic signals, design of street reconstruction for access to the shuttle lot, coordination with the adjacent railroad, extensive community coordination, and development of a new shuttle system to serve the lot. 

The final phase of work involved the development of a door-to-door logistics plan for movement of all hospital patients, family members and staff.  TA coordinated extensively with the hospital's clinical logistics coordinator to develop a moving day handbook, travel routes, plans for ambulance movement for all patients, determination of needs for police control of intersections and signals, plans for a family shuttle, directions and maps for employee and visitor parking and approach routes.  

In addition to the upcoming IPI presentation, the project received a 2009 Project of the Year Honorable Mention award from the Mid-Atlantic Section of the Institute of Transportation Engineers (MASITE).  We congratulate Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC and Ms. Jampole on a successful project!

WHITEHALL ROAD WIDENING PROJECTS

Whitehall Road in State College, Pennsylvania is currently under design for significant improvements by both the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and Ferguson Township.  Both agencies are currently working on design activities for their respective portion of the roadway.

The state owned portion of Whitehall Road, which runs from West College Avenue to South Atherton Street, has been targeted for improvements for a number of years, and has been moving through the design process.  The project transverses three municipalities: Ferguson Township, State College Borough, and College Township.  PennDOT utilized a qualifications based selection process to select The EADS Group to lead the design effort.  Trans Associates is assisting EADS with the design of two new traffic signals and redesign of the three existing traffic signals in the corridor. 

The overall improvements for the project include significant safety improvements with the inclusion of left turn lanes for streets and driveways, right turn lanes at critical intersections, a sidewalk along one side of the project, and bike lanes along both sides of the roadway.  The project is anticipated to start construction in 2011. On a similar timeline, Ferguson Township is designing improvements to their portion of Whitehall Road starting at West College Avenue and proceeding west to the village of Fairbrook, for a length of about 3.8 miles.  The exiting roadway provides adequate travel lanes with minimal to no shoulders and has utility poles located very close to the edge of roadway.  This project proposes to widen the roadway to provide paved shoulders and relocate the utility poles so they are less of a hazard.

 Trans Associates was selected through a qualifications base selection process to lead the design effort.  Smart Transportation design principles are being applied to the project to keep the design in context with the rural/suburban surroundings within the overall project.  This project is on a similar timeline to start construction in 2011.

GATEWAY ARCHES HIGHLIGHT

CONSTRUCTED STREETSCAPE PROJECT

In November 2009, construction on the Ardmore Boulevard (S.R. 0030) Streetscape project was completed in the Borough of Forest Hills, Pennsylvania.  The completion of the construction highlights a multi-year effort by the Forest Hills Community Development Corporation.

Trans Associates worked along with architectural and urban design firm Glance and Associates to design a project that would enhance Forest Hill's central business district and enhance pedestrian safety.  The enhancements included the design of gateway arches, median landscaping, decorative street lights, trees, curb and sidewalk repairs, as well as traffic calming considerations.

Trans Associates was responsible for creating the design plans, construction cost estimates, and utility coordination.  The project  received Home Town Streets funds for which Trans Associates assisted with the funding application.  The entire project's construction was approximately $2 million, and was let by PennDOT and constructed by Frank J. Zottola Construction, Inc.

OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY

Ohio State University (OSU) and OSU Medical Center have been working on various campus improvement projects. The Columbus office of Trans Associates is currently working on several of these projects including:

• Site feasibility studies for a new parking structure at the southern edge of the campus,
• Evaluation of alternatives to enhance pedestrian crossings of Fred Taylor Drive near the Nationwide and Ohio Farm Bureau 4H Center,
• Site evaluation and layout of a new parking lot to serve the Martha Morehouse Medical Plaza,
• Traffic and parking studies associated with the planned expansion of the OSU Medical Center,
• Traffic signal warrant studies and the design of three traffic signal installations, with signal interconnect, along Cannon Drive through the OSU Medical Center campus, and
• Evaluation of alternatives to mitigate the traffic impacts associated with the temporary closure of several SR 315 ramps serving the campus.

From June through October of the next two years, three miles of SR 315 will be under construction while crews work on several bridges and the pavement.  During these construction periods, two-way traffic will be maintained on the half of the roadway not under construction.  In order to accomplish this, several key ramps serving OSU and the Medical Center will be closed. 

As part of our contract with Jones-Stuckey and the Medical Center, Trans Associates is assisting with the development of ingress and egress plans for Medical Center employees, patients, and visitors – along with EMS routings. Trans Associates is also assisting the Director of Transportation and Parking Services with the development of a directional sign package to help drivers find their way back to SR 315 access points since return routes are not mirror images of the paths taken to access the campus.

MT. LEBANON WASHINGTON ROAD SAFETY PROJECT

In an effort to increase pedestrian safety and mitigate speeding, the Municipality of Mount Lebanon recently completed the installation of new school zone flashers and speed advisory signs along Washington Road (S.R. 0019 / 3069) near the Mt. Lebanon High School.

Trans Associates assisted the municipality in creating design plans, cost estimates, and bidding documents. Our firm also worked with the municipality and residents to obtain easement agreements and provide conceptual images of the device pole placements. The construction project was recently constructed by Traffic Control and Engineering Company, Inc. The speed advisory sign is considered an experimental device by PennDOT, and is one of the first known permanent installations on a local road in Western Pennsylvania.

JEFFREY M. DEPAOLIS, P.E., PTOE RECEIVES LICENSURE IN NEW YORK

Jeffrey M. DePaolis, P.E., PTOE has recently received his Professional Engineer (P.E.) license to practice in the State of New York. 

Jeff is the Senior Manager of Development Impact Services in Trans Associates' Pittsburgh office. He has seventeen years of experience and holds a B.S. degree in Civil Engineering from Pennsylvania State University.  Jeff is also a registered Professional Engineer in Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, and Maryland and is a certified Professional Traffic Operations Engineer (PTOE) with the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE).