THE USE OF AN ORIGIN-DESTINATION SURVEY TO ASSIST

IN DETERMINING THE LOCATION AND IMPACTS OF

TRAFFIC DIVERSION
The Partial Closing of Munson Avenue in College Station,
Texas
Edwin N. Hard, AICP a and Rodney W. Kelly, P.E. b

INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

Munson Avenue is a 2 lane north-south roadway located east of the Texas A&M
University campus in central College Station. It carries approximately 7,000 vehicles
per day (vpd) and extends through the center of a 1.5 square mile area which is
bounded on four sides by major thoroughfares. The community’s two most important
north-south routes, the East Bypass Freeway and Texas Avenue, form the east and
west boundaries of this area. The East Bypass and Texas Avenue are approximately
1.5 miles apart and Munson Avenue is located about midway between them. Its central
location and the lack of other through streets make Munson the most direct north-south
route to get between two major east-west arterials, Harvey Road and University Drive,
which form the north and south boundaries of the 1.5 square mile area. Harvey Road
forms its southern boundary and University Drive forms its northern boundary.

Dominik Drive, an east-west cross street through the area, serves as a dividing line
between two very different sections of Munson. South of Dominik to Harvey Road,
Munson is a 39 feet roadway in a high density area of apartments, sororities, and
commercial land uses. North of Dominik Drive and to its terminus at Lincoln Avenue,
Munson exlends through the College Hills residential area. This area is one of the
City’s original single family neighborhoods. Two east-west collector streets, Lincoln
Avenue and Dominik Drive, serve as the north and south boundaries of the College
Hills residential area. Over the years, College Hills has become a residential island
surrounded by apartments and commercial land uses to provide for the University’s
40,000 plus students.

High traffic volumes and what to do with Munson have been an issue for years. The
City conducted a thorough traffic study of this area as part of its efforts to develop a
new Comprehensive Land Use and Thoroughfare Plan for the entire city. Numerous
alternatives for both the long range and short term were developed and an origin-
destination survey was conducted to assist in their evaluation. The results of the O&D
survey provided an important part of the rationale from which the City ultimately based
its decision on what to do. Essentially, the City’s options were to do nothing and let the
street remain as it is, to buy the homes and construct a proper thoroughfare, or to take
measures to reduce traffic on Munson to preserve the neighborhood. In recent years,
the City has become more sensitive to neighborhood issues. Decisions on improving
traffic mobility are now made with careful consideration being given to their impact on
neighborhoods. It is the City’s goal is to achieve a better balance between
neighborhood integrity and traffic mobility.

As a result of this emphasis and a year long process of neighborhood meetings and
studies, the City has installed two traffic diverters on the north side of the College Hills
neighborhood. These partial street closures, shown in Figure 1, prohibit entry on to
Munson and Ashburn Avenues from Lincoln Avenue. Ashburn is a north-south
residential street which parallels Munson. A traffic diverter was included on this street
in order to prevent the traffic that was being re-routed from Munson from using this
parallel route. Traffic entry onto Lincoln from Munson or Ashburn is still permitted. The
change resulted in about a 50 percent reduction in traffic volumes on Munson.

The chain of events and the subsequent plan of action used to arrive at a resolution
focused on neighborhood involvement and lasted over a year. The sections to follow
describe the processes, studies, and evaluations used to arrive at how traffic should be
reduced on Munson and where traffic diverters should be placed. The final section
describes how the diverters have been working and what impacts they have had on the
surrounding street system.

THE PROCESS

The resurgence of the Munson issue began with a public meeting to discuss the City’s
draft Thoroughfare Plan. At this meeting, residents of the College Hills neighborhood
voiced strong opposition to the plan’s proposal to make Munson a part of a one-way
pair with Ashburn. What to do with Munson was by far the biggest traffic issue facing
the thoroughfare plan.

As a result, the City conducted an extensive traffic study of the area and held the first
of two neighborhood meetings at the College Hills elementary school. Thirteen options
to address the neighborhood’s concerns for traffic speeds and volumes were presented
and discussed. Many options included traffic calming measures such as partial street
closings and speed humps. The options ranged from purchasing homes to widen
Munson into a medianed boulevard to closing Munson and other adjacent residential
streets to totally prohibit through traffic from the neighborhood. Not surprisingly, the
options which limited or eliminated through traffic from Munson were favored most.
 FIGURE 1
Partial Closure of Munson and Ash burn Avenues

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The City then met with neighborhood representatives to discuss the outcome of the first
neighborhood meeting. At this point in time, a consensus could not be reached on what
and where traffic calming measures should be used. The neighborhood refused the
installation of speed humps for fear that it would be the only action the City would take.
However, the City and the neighborhood agreed that comprehensive traffic volume data
should be collected and that an origin - destination survey should be conducted before
any traffic calming measures were tested.

The issue then went before City Council and the Council approved the plan of action
agreed upon by city staff and the neighborhood group. The collection of traffic count
data and the conduct and analysis of the O&D survey took about 6 months to complete.
Once complete, the City met again with neighborhood representatives to review the
results of the O&D survey and discuss possible trial measures to reduce traffic
volumes. It was agreed that partially closing Munson at its intersection at Lincoln
should be brought forward to a second neighborhood meeting as the recommended
trial measure. The majority of those in attendance at the second neighborhood meeting
supported the trial measure, but more strongly favored that Munson be fully closed.
The issue went back to City Council and they approved the installation of traffic
diverters on Munson and Ashburn streets at Lincoln on a trial basis.

THE ORIGIN-DESTINATION SURVEY

Purpose of the Survey. The primary purpose of the survey was to provide information
that would help in estimating the impacts of the numerous thoroughfare plan options
under consideration, particularly those which involved full or partial street closings. By
knowing where traffic on Munson was coming from and going to, better estimates could
be made about where traffic would reroute itself if a particular street were closed. This
information was especially important in trying to gauge the amount of possible spillover
to other residential streets. Another purpose of the survey was to determine how much
of the traffic was generated from within the neighborhood and how much of it was
‘through” traffic which did not have an origin or a destination in the neighborhood.

When the Surveys Were Conducted. O&D surveys were conducted on two separate
days from 7AM to 6 PM. They were conducted on a Tuesday of one week and then on
a Wednesday of the following week. This was done because differences in the daily
class schedules of Texas A&M create variation in the traffic volumes and patterns on
Munson. The surveys were conducted during the fall semester when classes were in
regular session.

How the surveys were conducted. Two survey stations were established on Munson
for each day of the survey. Station 1 was located on the north end of the street near its
terminus with Lincoln and Station2 was placed closer to the south end of the street
near Dominik. The stations were about one-half mile apart. They were placed at these
locations because Lincoln and Dominik streets form the north and south boundaries of
the College Hills area and these are the points at which through traffic enters and exits
the neighborhood. The survey was conducted by stopping and surveying one direction
of traffic at each station location. Southbound traffic was stopped at Station 1 and
northbound traffic was stopped at Station 2. Three simple questions were asked for the
survey: “Where are you coming from? Where are you going? And, where do you live?”

The survey stations were set up using traffic cones and vertical panels to narrow down
the lane of traffic in each direction to 9 feet. This created an island about 7 feet wide in
the center of the roadway for surveyors to stand and interview motorists. A stop sign
was placed in the roadway for the direction of traffic being surveyed. The speed limit for
the opposite direction of traffic was reduced to 15 mph through the survey station.
Warning signs with flags were used on both approaches to the survey.

The number of persons conducting surveys during any one time varied depending on
traffic conditions. In general, 3 to 4 persons were used at each station during off-peak
hours while 6 to 7 persons were used during peak hours. Off-peak traffic volumes
ranged from about 200-400 vehicles per hour while peak hour volumes were about 600
vehicles per hour. During the peak of the peak, the interviewers were unable keep up
with the high volume of traffic and the survey stations were shut down for short periods
to allow long queues of vehicles to go through.

Survey Findings. A total of 6,180 interview surveys were completed. This included
3001 surveys for the northbound direction and 3,179 for the southbound direction.
Approximately 83 percent of all vehicles on Munson were stopped and surveyed during
the 11 hour survey period.

The survey findings were fairly consistent with the public’s perception of who the
primary users were on Munson and where they were coming from and going to. The
survey found that only about 10-15 percent of the traffic on Munson was generated
from within the neighborhood. The remaining 85-90 percent was from through traffic
that did not have an origin or a destination in the neighborhood.

The origins and destinations were analyzed by direction. The results for the northbound
direction showed that the large majority of traffic was originating from an area generally
less than a mile south of the College Hills neighborhood. It showed that 48 percent of
the traffic was coming from the high density housing area between Dominik Drive and
Harvey Road and about 20 percent of it was coming from a regional mall, a shopping
center, and apartments on the south side of Harvey Road. The survey revealed that 23
percent of the northbound traffic was originating several miles away from the city’s
south side.

The survey results for the southbound direction revealed that southbound traffic was
coming from much further away than northbound traffic to use Munson Avenue. This
was an important finding because, in this case, it meant that southbound traffic could
more easily be rerouted. The study found that 40 percent of the southbound traffic was
coming from several miles away from College Station’s neighboring city to the north,
Bryan. It found that 24 percent was from a student housing and commercial area just
north of University Drive, 14 percent was from the Texas A&M campus, and 13 percent
was originating in a nearby area south of University Drive.

The survey’s finding that most of the southbound traffic on Munson was originating from
farther away than northbound traffic was one of a number of compelling reasons why
the City chose to divert southbound traffic. Since most of this traffic was originating
north of University Drive, the majority of the diverted southbound traffic would be re-
routed to major thoroughfares such as Texas Avenue or the East Bypass. By contrast,
most of the northbound traffic on Munson was originating from just immediately south of
the College Hills area. If it were diverted, there would be a greater likelihood of
spillover to residential streets since less of this traffic would be re-routed to arterial
streets.

The primary and secondary routes for diverted southbound Munson traffic is shown in
Figure 2. The figure also shows a breakdown of the origins of southbound traffic by
zone. It shows that 2,400 of the 3,500 southbound vehicles on Munson come from
north of University Drive. It indicates that the majority of traffic coming from this area
would go around the College Hills area and use Texas Avenue or the East Bypass.
Based on the findings of the O&D survey, it was estimated that 1,000 to 1,500 vehicles
of the 3,500 re-routed from Munson would be shifted to other streets in the College
Hills residential area.

OTHER IMPORTANT FACTORS

In addition to the findings of the O&D survey, there were many other important factors
why southbound, as opposed to northbound traffic, was chosen to be re-routed.
Initially, the majority of the neighborhood argued strongly for the street to be fully
closed. However, it was shown that it could not be totally closed for emergency
services reasons and for the problems associated with rerouting northbound traffic.
While closing the street to southbound traffic was found to be workable, this was not
the case for northbound traffic. There were no safe and appropriate routes for diverted
northbound Munson traffic. Fully closing Munson would re-route some northbound
traffic to an unsignalized and problematic intersection on University Drive.

FIGURE 2
origins Of Southbound Traffic on Munson and Forecasted Routes of its 350CI Diverted vehicles

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It would also re-route northbound traffic to an already over capacity 2-lane roadway
carrying 12,000 vpd.

Rerouting southbound trallic also has several other advantages to rerouting

northbound traffic. it has less of an impact to emergency response since emergency
services come from the south. Similarly, it has less impact to the accessibility of the
College Hills Elementary since the large majority of the traffic going to the school
comes from the south.

RESULTS OF THE PARTIAL CLOSING

The partial closing of Munson is still in its trial stage and it would be premature to
render any final conclusion. However, to date it appears to be working fairly well. It has
met the objective of lowering traffic volumes on Munson without shifting large amounts
of traffic to other residential streets in the College Hills area. Traffic volumes on
Munson have reduced from 7,000 vpd to approximately 3,500 vpd and the majority of
residents on Munson are pleased with this outcome.

Based on the findings of the O&D survey, it was estimated that approximately 1,000 to
1,500 of the 3,500 vehicles diverted from Munson would be shifted to other residential
and collector streets in the area. Traffic counts taken after the installation of the partial
closure indicate that this was a fairly accurate estimate. The streets in the area that
were primarily expected to be impacted include Glenhaven Drive, Walton Avenue,
Puryear Drive, and Foster Drive. Glenhaven Drive, located east of Munson, has
experienced a slight increase in traffic with volumes increasing from about 1,100 vpd to
1,300 vpd. Walton Drive, located west of Munson has been impacted the most with
traffic increasing from 1,700 vpd to about 2,700 vpd. Volumes on Puryear have
increased from about 1,000 vpd to approximately 1,300 vpd. It is estimated that traffic
on Foster Drive has also increased somewhat. New counts on this street have not yet
been taken.

It was also estimated that the majority of the 3,500 diverted vehicles from Munson
would reroute to the major thoroughfares, Texas Avenue and the East Bypass. Again,
this estimate is based on the findings of the O&D survey. Based of the increases in
traffic to the residential area, it appears that the majority of this traffic is indeed using
the major thoroughfares as anticipated.

The permanent design for the Munson Avenue partial closure is shown below in Figure
3. Since it is currently in its trial phase, this layout is installed on a temporary basis
using reactive vertical panels and Type Ill barricades. The length of the one-way
section was established at 200 feet in order to make it more imposing for motorists who
might want to disregard it. A resident who lives directly adjacent to the partial closure
estimates that 80 to 100 vehicles per day disregard it and go the wrong way. Many
residents in the College Hills area disagree with the partial closure and do not like its
inconvenience. The large majority of the residents, however, are willing to trade-off the
inconvenience for the reduction in traffic volume.

The city has experienced minor enforcement problems with motorists who are
unlawfully entering Munson from Lincoln Avenue and traveling the wrong way. In the
majority of these cases, it is not because the motorist does not understand or realize
what he is doing, it is because he does not agree the it. The large majority of unlawful
entries occur during off-peak hours or in the middle of the night when there is no trallic.
They do not occur during peak hours because traffic queues on the narrowed one-way
section of the roadway blocks their entry.
 FIGuRE 3

Partial Closure of Munson at Lincoln

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ONE–WAY EXIT

The trial of the partial closings on Munson and Ashburn is in its early stage. The tratTic
counts taken in the College Hills residential area after the installation-of the traffic
diverters are based on two weeks of observation. The trial is planned to remain in place
for 6 to 8 months in order to determine its long term affects. After the trial is complete,
the permanent installation of the partial closures on Munson and Ashburn Avenues will
be considered by the College Station City Council.

a Transportation Planner, City of College Station, Texas, 1101 Texas Avenue, College
Station, Texas, 77840.

b Vice President, Parsons Transportation Group Inc., 5485 Belt Line Rd., Ste. 199,
Dallas, TX 75240. Fellow Member of ITE.