TR9701-CS 970617Bver, drup
Civil, Inc. - Dallas, Texas Office
8150 N. Central Expy · Suite M-1150 · Dallas, TX 75206 · Tele: (214) 696-3433 · Fax: (214) 696-3499
MEETING MEMORANDUM NO.
MEETING DATE: May 23, 1997
LOCATION:
City of Irving
Transportation Conference Room
825 West Irving Boulevard
PARTICIPANTS:
Kathi Mullins
Jesse Hembree
Atul Patel
Tony Tramel
Jeremy Wyndham
Gerry de Camp
City of Irving
City of Irving
City of Coppell
DeShazo, Tang & Associates
Sverdmp Civil
Sverdmp Civil
SUBJECT:
Dallas County CMAQ Program
Project 75
Progress Review Meeting 4
June 17, 1997
Discussion of Irving Mall Traffic Operations:
A technical memorandum was distributed and discussed by Mr. Wyndham and Mr. de Camp
(see attached). The reaction to the ideas for improving traffic flow at the intersection in the
vicinity of the Irving Mall was generally favorable.
Mr. de Camp presented a concept sketch of the possible signal phasing plan for the SH 183
Westbound Frontage Road / Belt Line Road intersection and the Irving Mall Entrance / Belt
Line Road intersection. He and Mr. Hembree discussed it in detail.
There was some concern about the likelihood for the Irving Mall to agree to change an
outbound lane into an inbound lane. Mr. Tramel indicated that his firm could be involved
in discussions with Irving Mall, as Irving Mall is one of DT&A's clients.
Discussion of Preliminary_ Off-Peak Timing Plans:
Mr. Wyndham presented preliminary time-space diagrams for the off-peak periods for both
the northem and southern ends of the project. Mr. Wyndham indicated that suppressing the
some of the left mm phases would allow for more efficient movement of traffic along Denton
Tap Road and the Northern end of Belt Line Road. In addition, suppressing certain left turn
phases allows for a much shorter cycle length along the corridor. At these times of day, the
left-mm movements are very light and are not opposed by heavy through movements.
Dallas County CMAQ Program
Project 75
May 23, 1997
Page 2
Mr. Patel said that although the City of Coppell had some concerns about suppressing left-
tums, they would entertain it where it appeared to have a positive impact on the progression
along Denton Tap Road and Belt Line Road.
Discussion of Comments on Technical Memoranda:
Mr. Tramel indicated that he had received comments from both cities and that he was
currently organizing and consolidating the comments. The consolidated comments will be
presented to Sverdrup as soon as they are ready.
Mr. Wyndham offered that Sverdmp could finalize the Technical Memoranda as soon as the
comments are received.
Discussion of Format for Generic Signal Timing Output:
Mr. Wyndham passed around an example Timing Report, output from Synchro Professional,
and asked if the information contained in that report would be sufficient for the cities to input
the timing plans. Both Cities agreed that the Synchro output was sufficient for their needs,
and could be considered the "generic output" called for in the consultant scope of services.
Next Meeting:
The next meeting was set for:
June 17, 1997
2:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Sverdmp Civil, Inc.
8150 North Central Expressway
Suite M-1150
These minutes are believed accurate and complete. Please advise the originator, Jeremy Wyndham,
within 10 days if you find errors or omissions.
Attachments: Sign-In Sheet
Technical Memorandum
Distribute to:
All present
Per Birdsall
Brent Adams
Ivan Nicodemus
Karen Jones
Don Cranford
Moosa Saghian
Mark Goode
File
'1 ! .... ! I '- I
Bverdrup
Civil, Inc. - Dallas, Texas Office
8150 N. Central Expy · Suite M-1150 · Dallas, TX 75206 · Tele: (214) 696-3433 · Fax: (214) 696-3499
TECHNICAL MEMORANDUM
TO:
FROM: Jeremy Wyndham
Gerry de Camp
Tony Tramel DT&A
COPY: Kathy Mullins
Jesse Hembree
SUBJECT:
City of Irving
City of Irving
Irving Mall Traffic Operations
May 23, 1997
Sverdmp Civil, Inc. visited the Irving Mall area on Saturday, May 10, 1997 to observe weekend
traffic patterns and operations. The purpose of the trip was to determine what improvements can be
recommended to improve traffic flow in the area.
As previously discussed in progress review meetings, there are several problem areas in the
immediate vicinity of the Belt Line Road/SH 183 interchange. The problem areas and possible
solutions are discussed in this memorandum.
Belt Line Road / SH 183 Westbound Frontage Road (westbound approach):
This intersection is very congested on a Saturday. Without modifications that improve the capacity
at this intersection, progression along this section of Belt Line Road on a Saturday would be difficult
if not impossible to implement. One of the problems is related to the heavy volume oftraffc on the
westbound frontage road, which is currently served by only three lanes (right, right/through, and
left/through). On a Saturday afternoon, the right-turning traffic volume is 664 vehicles per hour.
The right-mining traffic is not able to take full advantage of the dedicated right-mm lane due to sight
distance problems.
The addition of one dedicated right-mm lane and the reassignment of the right/through lane to
through only would provide additional capacity to the right-turning movements. Furthermore, a
"right-tm overlap" phase that allowed protected right-tums during a time when the northbound
traffic was stopped would further increase the right-mm capacity at the intersection.
Belt Line Road / SH 183 Westbound Frontage Road (northbound approach):
There is currently a dual left-mm lane that serves the heavy left-mm movement at this location.
However, there is an entrance to the Irving Mall parking lot just downstream of the intersection. For
this reason, the outside of the two northbound left-mm lanes is more heavily used than the inside,
thus diminishing the capacity of the dual left-tm lanes. If the first driveway to the Irving Mall
parking lot were closed or modified to allow exiting traffic only, the entrance downstream would
provide more space for the two lanes to merge prior to the entrance, thereby encouraging more
evenly utilized northbound dual left-mm lanes.
Belt Line Road / Irving Mall Entrance:
The northbound left-turn volume is very heavy at this intersection. The southbound through
movement on a Saturday is relatively heavy but platooned. The queues in the left-mm lane
frequently spill out into the northbound through lanes, detrimentally affecting that capacity as well.
Pavement on Belt Line Road is available for a dual left-mm northbound, but the mall entrance is not
wide enough for two inbound lanes. To date, Irving Mall has been unwilling to improve the entrance
to provide two inbound lanes onto their site, due to the cost and the loss of parking capacity
associated with the improvements. Unless this improvement on the Irving Mall land is implemented,
the dual left-tm northbound on Belt Line Road can not be used.
One solution at this intersection that would allow an increase in capacity for the northbound left-mm
traffic is to provide a protected northbound left-mm phase twice during a given cycle, once prior to
the Belt Line Road through phase and once at the end of the Belt Line Road through phase. The
southbound left-mm would be serviced during the first of these phases. Due to the observed
characteristics of the southbound traffic, this type of plan is not expected to seriously degrade the
southbound through capacity. An added benefit to double service for the northbound left-turning
traffic is the need to service the traffic that comes straight through northbound at the SH 183
westbound frontage road separately from the westbound right-mm traffic at the same intersection.
Another possible option that would be more radical and require agreement from Irving Mall would
be to convert the outbound left-mm lane to inbound and redirect the left-turning traffic to use
Grande Bulevar. This plan would allow both of the northbound left-mm lanes to be used without
any significant capital expenditure or loss of parking capacity on the part of Irving Mall.
To provide the most capacity for the northbound left-mm movement at this location, these solutions
could be combined, providing both a dual left-turn lane and double service to that movement.
.... r T
DALLAS COUNTY
CMAQ PROGRAM
PROJECT REVIEW MEETING 4
SVERDRUP CIVIL, INC.
PROJECT #75
SIGN-IN SHEET
MAY 23, 1997
Tony Tramel DeShazo, Tang & Assoc. (214) 748-6740
Atul Patel City of Coppell (972) 304-3682
Per Birdsall City of Coppell (972) 304-3545
Brent O. Adams City o£Coppell (972) 304-3550
Jim Driscoll City of Irving (972) 721-2646
Kathi Mullins City of Irving (972) 721-2646
Jesse Hembree City of Irving (972) 721-2291
Mark Goode Sverdrup Civil, Inc. (214) 520-2116
'~reremy Wyndham Sverdmp Civil, Inc. (214) 520-2116
Gerry de Camp Sverdrup Civil, Inc. (702) 378-3425
Ivan Nicodemus Parsons Brinckerhoff (214) 747-6336 ext. 26
Karen Jones Parsons Brinckerhoff (214) 747-6336 ext. 25
Jim Bemier Parsons Brinckerhoff (214) 747-6336 ext. 31
James Allen ARS Engineers (214) 747-6336 ext. 30
Don Cranford Dallas County (214) 653-7151
Moosa Saghian TxDOT (214) 320-4435