04-18-2022 Agenda - Laserfiche WebLink

CASS COUNTY ROADWAY 18 EXTENSION STUDY – CASS COUNTY, ND 7 3.5 EXISTING ENVIRONMENTAL FEATURES The wetlands for the study area were reviewed using data from the National Wetlands Inventory available from the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. Two figures are provided with Figure 3 showing the palustrine and riverine wetlands that are located within and near the study area and Figure 4 showing a more detailed view of the palustrine and riverine wetlands within the study area. The project study area has the Sheyenne River and the Sheyenne River tributary for flowing water. There are three primary locations for palustrine wetlands located in sections 23 and 26 of the Normanna Township. As shown in Figure 4, the locations that are within the roadway ditch section that are classified as wetlands are located in the section from the Sheyenne River bridge to the west approximately a 0.5 mile. 3.6 2018 TRAFFIC VOLUMES Traffic volumes at two segments of 52nd Street SE and one segment of CR 18 were collected Tuesday May 15th to Friday May 18th and Monday October 15 to Friday October 19 of 2018. The traffic volumes were counted for approximately 72 consecutive hours at all locations. The Kindred Public School system was in session when the traffic volumes were collected. The traffic volumes were reviewed for any differences, and an average of the two counting periods was determined. The traffic volumes included in this report are Average Annual Daily Traffic (AADT) volumes that are based on the actual number of vehicles counted during the two count periods and then adjusted to account for daily and seasonal variations. AADTs provide the average volume of traffic using the roadway throughout the year. Actual traffic counts on random days may be either above or below the AADT, but the AADT provides an average for the entire year. Intersection turning movements were not counted as a part of this study. The AADTs for the three count locations are shown in Figure 5, Figure 6, and Figure 7. The AADTs for the spring and fall ranged from 86 and 136 vehicles per day (VPD) on CR 18 near CR 17 to 115 and 197 VPD on the west end of the study area. The traffic consisted of 20 to 25 percent heavy vehicles (vehicles with more than 2 axles) throughout the study area. The heavy vehicle percentages were slightly lower on the existing CR 18 section. It is important to note that the traffic counts were taken while agricultural producers were starting to plant and harvest the agricultural fields in the area surrounding the study area. The travel direction distribution at the count locations was approximately 55 to 60 percent travelling westbound to approximately 40 to 45 percent travelling eastbound during the spring count period and 50 percent eastbound and westbound during the fall count period. The directional distribution may signal that vehicles are traveling west to Kindred or elsewhere on 52nd Street SE, but returning to their residence or place of origin by another route such as North Dakota 46 and a north-south county or township roadway. The peak hour, the highest volume of four consecutive 15-minute counting periods, for all locations was consistent between 7:00 am and 8:00 am with minor 15-minute adjustments for the morning period of each day. The afternoon/evening peak hour was not as consistent as the morning peak hour for all three locations. The PM peak hour was typically either 3:30 pm to 4:30 pm or approximately around the 5:00 pm hour. A potential reason for the variation of the evening/afternoon peak hour may be due to rain events on one of the count days and the resulting saturated condition of the gravel roadways. Although, there is not enough evidence to draw a conclusion that the condition of the roadway impacts the traffic volume on the roadway. The peak hours from the fall traffic counts were similar in the hour that had the peaking volumes to the spring data.