Ladies and gentlemen, thank those of you that were able to attend the Beyond the Loop KC meeting tonight. Those of you that weren't able to make it don't worry because all the materials and survey are online.

Before we get into the concept alternatives, let me tell you about the interactive traffic pattern map.

It's a little challenging for those of you who might not geek out on GIS or map data but the goal of the data is so that the team can look for trends. Pull up the layer list and turn everything off. There are two categories: origination and destination. Origination is the point where traffic is starting and then shows where it ends up. Destination is the point where traffic winds up and it shows where it starts. Everyone seems to be a traffic engineer so I'm sure that makes sense.............

I'm going to pull some maps showing trends which is what we are using to get an idea of how things are working. If you want to play around with in on your own, here is a link to the site. To start, pick one of the origination layers. This will give you a map showing where cars that start on a route (say I-29 at NE quadrant or Bond Bridge SB) end up, do they wind up on I-70 going to STL or I-70 going to Topeka or use US 71 or head to the Plaza on 35. If you want to see where cars that are going NB on Bond start from, you would turn off the origination layer and turn on destination.

I'm going to screenshot some patterns I've noticed that explain how the freeway loop really isn't working because it's not geometrically balanced.

Below is a graphic showing where in the morning traffic SB on US 169 bridge winds up. What this graphic shows is that most of the traffic coming into downtown either stays on Broadway or goes south on I-35. That's what the long orange arrow on 35 shows and the short orange arrow that goes over I-70. Some folks wind up going on SB 71 and EB I-70 as shown by the blue arrows.

Now in the evening, I turned off the origination layer and turned on the destination to see where folks going north on 169 come from. This map shows the reverse pattern holding with a lot of NB 35 and NB Broadway folks. However, some folks use 670 then loop all the way around and use the north loop so that they can make a right turn at 5th Street. I highlighted this by the purple lines. Because 6th and Broadway doesn't work, folks are loading up on 670 and 70!!! This lends me to postulate a theory that traffic on 670/70 would be reduced should there be a new bridge with direct connection from 169 to 35.

Folks going south on 29/35/Bond end up going to places as shown below. A lot of people use the north loop to get to 35 because if one uses 670/south loop, one has to cross over two lanes of traffic to get back on 35. Again, another geometric deficiency which if fixed would improve traffic flow (I'll show a map below how that would look).

Now in the evening, here is where people going NB on 29/35/Bond come from. A lot of folks skip 6th and Broadway and stay on the north loop to the bridge. What this map tells me that if we had a direct 35/169 connection with a new bridge, we would see less traffic on the north and south loop. It might also help with the NB US 71 backup that starts at Children's Mercy Hospital.

It's 4PM and NB 71 is already a parking lot. How's that #NorthLoop working for you Platte & Clay County commuters? pic.twitter.com/mRncuaRzh0 — Wes Minder (@WesKCMO) February 27, 2017

What does 9/HOA traffic do? In the morning, no big surprise as most traffic goes downtown and some gets on the north loop and winds up on 35 to avoid 6th and Broadway.

In the evening NB 9/HOA folks coming NB on 71 or WB on 70 load up both the north and south loops because they're avoiding 6th and Broadway as highlighted in the purple path. People drive out of their way and longer distance to avoid the 169 lights!

There is a lot of traffic on I-70/Northloop but it all winds up at one lane ramps at the northeast corner and so capacity and traffic flow will always be hindered by that one slow ramp. In the evening, the outside and inside lanes are parking lots while the middle lane is wide open and not really needed.

Going from Topeka to STL: 1 lane ramp eastbound on I-70 & 1 lane ramp on EB 670

Fed by 6 lanes on viaducts in West Bottoms. pic.twitter.com/iNNpUwiD5o — Wes Minder (@WesKCMO) August 16, 2017

In the morning, the Northloop basically only operates as a one lane freeway because folks are wanting to get off the freeway to get downtown.

Hey look 6 lane freeway with only 1 lane being used because it turns into a choice between 2 one lane ramps that connect to another freeway pic.twitter.com/2uzPf6fYgG — Wes Minder (@WesKCMO) July 18, 2017

In the evening NB 9/HOA folks coming NB on 71 or WB on 70 load up both the north and south loops because they're avoiding 6th and Broadway as highlighted in the purple path. People drive out of their way and longer distance to avoid the 169 lights!

I've spent time just driving around the loop at rush hour and observing traffic cameras. I think a lot of things can be cleaned up by fixing the geometrics.

The merges on the 670/Southloop create inefficiencies because if one is going from east KC to Kansas, they have to merge over to the south. If one is going from Liberty to the Plaza, they have to merge over a lane to the north. I created the image below showing where westbound traffic needs to be underneath Bartle Hall and which lane they come from. If I started on WB I-70 at the Paseo, I have to merge over one or two lanes. If I started on SB I-35 coming from the Bond Beridge and wanted to keep going south to the Plaza via I-35, I'd have to merge over two lanes. If I was NB on US 71, I'd have to merge over one to keep going north.

Imagine a Southloop without these inefficient merges. What would that look like? Well I drew it up one day and then found out later it had already been studied (yet never implemented). Basically the SEC of the loop, the I-70 and US 71 interchange needs to have the freeway lanes flipped for EB traffic as shown with the orange lines in the map below. The blue lines show how SB I-35 would be and the yellow shows all the random ramps. One going WB on I-70 would get in the south two lanes near the Paseo and stay in those lanes all the way down to the West Bottoms. Folks going south on I-35 from Bond would stay in the same lane and wind up in the right lane to keep going south to the Plaza.

This is what the new lane configuration of the south loop would look like if this was done. I'm not a traffic modeler but I am a geometric designer and this looks a lot more simpler than what it is today.

I could do the same for westbound Southloop but need to finish dishes and get to bed so I'll just tell you that the same fix would happen that way (I also am not proofreading this post because it took too much time).

I get into all of this traffic pattern explanation because some of the options being discussed will radically alter the (very inefficient) Northloop and I don't want you to freak out about it. You'll just have to trust me that I wouldn't propose anything I think wouldn't work nor would be financially infeasible to build.

Let's get to the alternatives and how you can participate.

We are at step three of a seven step process. Here are the steps:

Let me post each of the alternatives presented today and I may or may not add comments. The displays are set up showing a 2D top view and then an iometric 3D bird's eye view at the bottom.

Every federal transportation planning process has to have a "No Build" option which means exactly what it mean, build nothing.

Next option basically shuts off some ramps.

The next few options are the "compressed" or "skinny interstate" option. Should the traffic models say that a freeway needs to remain, what would it look like if it was trenched vs having all of the geometrically deficient ramps. Since we are looking into a crystal ball for the future, what if driverless cars reduce traffic delays because they operate more efficiently, could the skinny interstate be converted into something like a service or delivery street like Lower Wacker Drive in Chicago. In all of these options since the freeway was excavated and depressed, it would be easy to build new buildings with underground parking garages because it wouldn't require massive excavation like what has to be done now.

The next option is the full removal option. Now before you scoff in indignation, remember that in order for this to work, this needs to be viewed in light of the first past of this blog post about traffic patterns and inefficient weaves that exist in the freeway loop that could be fixed. Keep in mind that parts of Southwest Trafficway handle over 50,000 cars per day as a local street and does it at an efficient speed of 30-35mph. Both 5th and 6th Street have at least three lanes each that could be one way pairs or four lane arterials to filter traffic into downtown from a new 169 Bridge or a new interchange at US 24.

We also have some options for the US 169 Buck O'Neil Bridge. Now don't get wound up. Any new bridge will include a minimum ten foot wide path for folks to get across who don't have a car.

The further the bridge swings to the west to better line up with I-35, the more engineering challenges (and cost) it faces because the bridge piers have to be placed between multiple active railroads with clearance requirements and it's not as easy I first thought it would be.

Lastly, if we have a new bridge and north/south traffic shifts over to it, traffic on 9/Burlington will decrease so an option being looked at is to bring Burlington back to street grade.

You can download and read the April 2005 freeway loop master plan here.

Download April2005-KC-MoDOT-DowntownFreewayLoopPlan

You can also download a PDF of all the display boards that were shown tonight that I made into the above screenshots.

Download Low+Lift+PEL+Meeting+Boards+FINAL+for+web

You can also take the initial alternative survey and give feedback on what was presented tonight by clicking the link here. These are all concepts looking to be screened because the project team wouldn't waste time and money running detailed traffic models on an option that doesn't have public support.

Also, make sure to bookmark the project website and sign up for updates. Follow me on Twitter for miscellaneous transportation updates and snarky engineering comments about my observations of how things are or are not working. Just like you, I can play traffic engineer! Just remember I live north and work downtown.

UPDATE!!! There now is a link to feedback and survey on the concepts.