I-85 Corridor Planning & Environmental Linkages (PEL) Study

Purpose of Project

The Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) and Gwinnett County are partnering to conduct a comprehensive corridor study along I-85 between I-285 and I-985. The study area is roughly 18 miles long and is primarily located within Gwinnett County, with a small portion in DeKalb County. The study will propose solutions for the corridor to reduce congestion, enhance traffic operations, and improve safety. Through collaboration with stakeholders and the public, a wide range of potential alternatives will be identified. These alternatives will be analyzed, and recommendations will be developed for implementation. 

 

The study is utilizing FHWA’s Planning and Environmental Linkages (PEL) framework to encourage transportation decision-makers to incorporate environmental considerations, community, and economic goals early in the transportation planning process. Decision-makers can then rely on more robust planning analysis, studies, and decisions throughout project development and during the environmental review processes of transportation projects. PEL aims to create a more unified decision-making process, resulting in less duplication of efforts and more informed project-level decisions. 

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Our Role on the Project

As part of a team, Modern Mobility Partners (MMP) led the following efforts: 

• Compiled and assessed existing studies and models, identified additional data needs, and developed a Technical Memo to document existing data and define data requirements in support of the project's three-tier evaluation methodology

• Developed a process and methodology to evaluate over one thousand alternative projects and arrive at a preferred set of policies, programs, and projects

• Led all travel demand modeling, conducting Activity Based Model (ABM) analysis and Traffic and Revenue (T&R) analysis to evaluate the impact of individual alternatives and packages of alternatives on traffic conditions

• Evaluated managed lane scenarios for Tier 1 and Tier 2 and recommended managed lane improvements for the study corridor, drawing from best practices and experience in urban corridor planning

• Supported traffic engineering analysis to evaluate roadway improvement scenarios

• Led development of the final public report, revisions to existing technical memos, and detailed whitepapers covering funding opportunities and managed lane alternative analysis and recommendations

• Supported and presented at the virtual public meeting focusing on managed lane opportunities

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Problem Solvers

MMP established managed lane evaluation framework to prioritize different managed lane improvements along the study corridor during Tier 1 and Tier 2 to achieve the PEL goals and objectives. Different data sources including ABM model outputs, origin and destination trip data, and numerous other data were fed into the thought evaluation processes of Tier 1 and Tier 2 evaluation. The recommended managed lanes incorporated mobility, freight, community needs and multi-modal options.