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221 West First Street Duluth, MN 55802 218.529.7541 800.232.0707 |
Northwest Superior Traffic Circulation Study
The purpose of this study is to examine the current and future transportation deficiencies within the expanding industrial park at the foot of the Bong Bridge in Superior.
The purpose of this study is to examine the current and future transportation deficiencies within the expanding industrial park at the foot of the Bong Bridge in Superior.
| * UPDATE * The final study document is available for viewing: Northwest Superior Traffic Circulation Study. Please send questions to Robert Herling at rherling@ardc.org. |
| Background
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| The City of Superior has targeted the area near Winter Street and Susquehanna Avenue for redevelopment, hoping to encourage commercial and industrial development there. Future businesses and industries in that area would be dependent on access to U.S. Highways 2 & 53 (Bong and Blatnik Bridges) for transportion. Recent development in this area has also increased the amount of traffic in the area, particularly truck traffic. The concern is that current capacities of Susquehanna Avenue and Winter Street, as well as access to U.S. Highway 2, may not be sufficient after this area has been fully developed. |
| Study Area
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The study area extends from lands adjacent to the Bong Bridge eastward to US Hwy 53. It includes all roadways starting north at 1st Street and moving south to 21st Street. |
| The study was undertaken to answer a few primary questions. Will traffic operations throughout north Superior be adversely affected by the extra vehicle trips generated by the developments? Will the extra traffic require an off-ramp for the Bong Bridge at Susquehanna Avenue? Would extra commercial truck traffic to and from the new developments warrant the construction of a bypass route connecting N 3rd Street to Winter Avenue? To help answer these questions, as well as others, a survey was distributed to area businesses and transportation organizations, a traffic model was created to project future traffic patterns, and several different analyses were undertaken to identify potential safety and capacity issues. |
| Project Updates
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| February 2008: A study document is currently being drafted and will be sent to WisDOT for review before a final draft is brought before the TAC and MIC Policy Boad for approval. Recommendations have been finalized, which were presented to both the MIC Policy Board and the Superior City Council's Committee of the Whole on Fenruary 20, 2008. A copy the PowerPoint presentation can be veiwed by clicking here: presentation to the Committee of the Whole January 2008: The MIC has received the results from the traffic model. They show that the traffic expected from additional development in northwest Superior is not enough to warrant (in terms of capacity needs) construction of an off-ramp or a bypass route. The results do show that improvements will need to be made to a number of intersections in north Superior to avoid future congestion at those locations. The MIC staff will now wrap up the remaining analysis tasks. A document containing the findings and recommendations from the study is scheduled to be released by the end of February 2008. August 2007: MIC staff conducted a series of turning movement counts at the Bong bridge ramps. The counts were diveded into different class counts in order to get an estimate what percentage of daily traffic is heavy trucks. The MIC has provided these counts to the URS Corporation. They will be used to establish the model that will be used in this study. April 2007: Data from all the surveys that were returned to the MIC by the date requested have been compiled and studied. The survey was mailed out to 53 businesses and organizations in Superior. The MIC received a 34% response rate. Though the sample size is not statistically significant, the MIC feels that the responses provide valuable input to further direct the study (click to view a summary of the responses). March 2007: The MIC met with WisDOT, the City of Superior and URS on January 31st to provide an update on the study and identify information that was yet needed. As the MIC awaits the modeling results from URS, a survey is being drafted to be sent out to area businesses to supplement the data being gathered and help identify network needs as perceived by local businesses that may rely on the movement of trucks through NW Superior. January 2007: Preliminary data have been gathered regarding current land uses, traffic volumes, crash rates, roadway accesses and rail crossings. The MIC is awaiting additional data from WisDOT and modeling results from URS. Once this information is received, phase 1 of the study will be complete. Meanwhile, survey questions are being prepared and will be mailed to area stakeholders, as well as information providing details of the study. October 2006: The Scope of Work for this project was approved at the October TAC and MIC meetings to examine recent and proposed land use changes and identify any necessary improvements to the roadway network. |
| For More Information
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| Contact MIC Planner Robert Herling by phone at (218) 529-7573 or send a message by email. |
Quick Links
| Meeting Information
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| Click here to view current MIC meeting materials. Click here to view calendar of all upcoming committee meetings. |
| MIC Staff
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| Click here for list of MIC staff members, their current projects and email contact information. |
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| We Need Your Input!
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| We are seeking public review and comment on the following planning initiatives: DRAFT 2011-2014 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) for the Superior Metro Area |
| Featured Planning Project
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| Long Range Transportation Plan - Directions 2035 |
| Current Planning Initiatives
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| Click on a project link, below, for information about current MIC planning efforts: Bike-Ped Advisory Committee (BPAC) 2011-2014 Duluth Urbanized Area TIP |
| Recent Plans and Studies
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| Study Shows Arrowhead Region Rich in Transportation Assets
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| A recent study released by the National Association of Development Organizations (NADO), Arrowhead Region's Transportation Assets: A Case Study of the Twin Ports Region of Duluth, Minnesota and Superior, Wisconsin, highlights the assets and opportunities related to multi-modal transportation systems in the Twin Ports area of Duluth, Minnesota and Superior, Wisconsin. |