Operation Green Light Traffic Signal Coordination Report

M-291 - N Flintlock Road to Ruth Ewing Road

Introduction
Operation Green Light (OGL) is a regional effort to improve traffic flow and reduce vehicle emissions.
Managed by the Mid-America Regional Council (MARC), Operation Green Light works with federal, state
and local agencies to develop and implement a system to coordinate traffic signal timing plans and
communication between traffic signal equipment across jurisdictional boundaries.

This report details the work performed on the M-291 corridor in 2014, and the benefits to the traveling
public resulting from this work.

Corridor Orientation
The M-291 corridor is a part of the OGL system from Flintlock Rd in Kansas City, through Liberty, and
south to 32nd St in Independence. There are several separate sections that are largely independent of
each other in terms of traffic signal coordination plans. This study covers only the section surrounding I-
35 (Flintlock to Glen Hendren) and the section centered in Liberty, MO (Forest to Ruth Ewing). See
Figure 1 for a map of the area.

Figure 1. Map of the M-291 study area.

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The Kansas Ave/M-152 corridor which crosses M-291, is also an OGL corridor and had been previously
worked on by OGL, but its operation was not altered as a part of this project, except for minor changes
to the intersection of M-291 & Kansas. The intersection at Liberty Dr and Withers Rd, just south of M-
291 & Liberty Dr is also part of OGL and was studied as part of this project. The 13 signalized
intersections on M-291 itself are spread over approximately 5.5 miles and are owned and maintained by
the Missouri Department of Transportation. The two ramp signals at I-35 are tied together as a single
intersection. The one additional signal at Liberty and Withers is owned and maintained by the City of
Liberty, MO.

M-291 is a four-lane road with a speed limit that changes between 40, 45 and 55 mph depending on the
location. The average daily traffic is approximately 28,000 vehicles per day just south of M-152. All
intersections have vehicle detection for all movements. Communications between the signal controllers
and the Traffic Operations Center is through the OGL wireless network. I-35 on the north end of the
corridor is a significant traffic generator for the corridor as is the Liberty Triangle shopping area, which is
accessed primarily from Kansas Ave, west of M-291. North and south of the Liberty Triangle area the
land use is mostly residential with some shopping areas north of I-35 as well as around Liberty Dr and
Brown St.

Pre-existing Conditions
In late 2013 and early 2014 much of the roadway through the northern section, including the bridge
over I-35, was rebuilt with additional lanes on many approaches as well as new traffic signals. After the
construction project was complete the traffic signals were running free due to the all new intersections
and geometrics on the corridor. The intersection at Forest was also running free prior to OGLs work on
the corridor. As mentioned above, the Kansas Ave/M-152 corridor is a separate corridor running
coordination plans which were largely un-changed through this project. The remaining intersections
south of M-152 were running coordination plans prior to OGL which tied in with the Kansas Ave corridor
during the AM time period only. The cycle lengths were 115, 80 and 110 seconds for AM, Off peak, and
PM peak plans respectively. The exceptions to this were Liberty Dr, which did not run coordination
midday, and Brown, which ran a 90 second cycle length plan off peak.

New Coordination Plans

The services of a consulting firm were utilized to analyze the corridor and develop the signal
coordination plans for the AM Peak, PM Peak and Midday/Off peak periods. The plans for the northern
section, from Flintlock to Glen Hendren, were installed in March of 2014 while the plans for the
southern section, from Forest to Ruth Ewing, were installed in October of 2014. See Table 1 for times
and cycle lengths of the new plans. Outside of the times shown in Table 1 the intersections run free.

600 Broadway, Suite 200, Kansas City, MO 64105

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 Table 1. New coordination plans
Plan Plan Active Weekdays Plan Active Weekends Cycle Length
Flintlock to Glen

AM Peak 6:45 - 8:30 --- 100

Hendren

Midday 8:30 - 15:30 8:00 - 10:00 90

PM Peak 15:30 - 18:00 10:00 - 18:00 110
Midday 18:00 - 21:00 18:00 - 20:00 90
Forest

Plan Plan Active Weekdays Plan Active Weekends Cycle Length

PM Peak 14:30 - 19:00 --- 65

Plan Plan Active Weekdays Plan Active Saturday Plan Active Sunday Cycle Length
AM Peak 6:30 - 8:45 --- --- 115
Kansas Ave

Off Peak 8:45 - 11:00 8:00 - 10:00 9:00 - 11:00 90

Midday 11:00 - 14:30 --- 11:00 - 18:00 110
PM Peak 14:30 - 19:00 10:00 - 19:00 --- 130
Off Peak 19:00 - 21:00 19:00 - 21:00 18:00 - 20:00 90
Liberty Dr to Ruth

Plan Plan Active Weekdays Plan Active Weekends Cycle Length

AM Peak 6:00 - 8:30 --- 90
Ewing

Midday 8:30 - 15:00 8:00 - 10:00 90

PM Peak 15:30 - 19:00 10:00 - 19:00 110
Midday 19:00 - 21:00 19:00 - 21:00 90
Liberty Dr and

Plan Plan Active Weekdays Plan Active Weekends Cycle Length

Withers

Midday 8:30 - 15:00 8:30 - 10:00 90

PM Peak 15:00 - 19:00 10:00 - 19:00 110
Midday 19:00 - 20:00 --- 90

As per the 2009 Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) the yellow and red vehicle
clearance intervals, as well as the pedestrian crossing times were evaluated as a part of the re-timing
process. MODOT had already updated the necessary settings on most of their intersections; only M-291
& Forest and Liberty Dr & Withers needed to be updated.

600 Broadway, Suite 200, Kansas City, MO 64105

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Results
For a detailed explanation of the Measures of Effectiveness (MOEs) used by MARC staff to evaluate
timing plan changes, please see the document titled OGL MOE Methodology found online as referenced
at the end of this report.

MARC staff performed travel time studies before and after the implementation of the coordination
plans in order to gauge the effectiveness of the new plans on M-291. The northbound travel time runs
started from Old 210 Hwy and southbound runs from NE 101st St, so as to achieve a random arrival at
the first intersection in each direction. The raw results of the travel time runs can be found in Appendix
A and a summary of these results is found in Table 2. The data represented in Table 2 indicates that
several of the fuel and emissions measures showed an increase from before to after the timing changes,
the opposite of what one would expect. For more discussion on this please see the Conclusion of this
report.

MARC staff also performed a visual inspection of all non-coordinated movements to ensure that there
was no undue delay on side streets or left turns. In addition, all non-coordinated movements were
examined with traffic signal coordination modeling software as detailed in the following section.

Travel time studies were not completed on Liberty Dr between M-291 & Withers Rd since only two
intersections are involved; however coordinated progression was provided for these north-south
movements. As part of analyzing the benefits of the retiming project, changes in delay at these
movements are modeled in the signal coordination software only, rather than directly measuring the
travel profile with a vehicle.

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 Table 2. Results of travel time studies / entire corridor / one vehicle
Travel Travel Number Average Approx
Time Delay of Speed Fuel ----- Emissions (grams) ----- Average
AM (sec) (sec) * Stops** (mph) (gal) HC CO NOx veh/peak hr
NB Before 708.6 199.7 4.7 33.2 0.3566 30.5988 360.2847 18.5901 629
After 641.1 132.2 3.0 36.6 0.3543 31.0710 401.9822 19.5786
Change -67.5 -67.4 -1.7 3.4 -0.0023 0.4722 41.6975 0.9885
Percent Change -9.5% -33.8% -36.1% 10.3% -0.6% 1.5% 11.6% 5.3%

SB Before 675.4 200.6 4.6 31.9 0.3376 30.2542 359.9686 18.7382 672
After 596.2 121.3 3.8 36.1 0.3336 30.3924 394.4708 19.6567
Change -79.2 -79.3 -0.8 4.2 -0.0040 0.1382 34.5022 0.9185
Percent Change -11.7% -39.5% -17.5% 13.2% -1.2% 0.5% 9.6% 4.9%

Volume-weighted
Average Percent Change -10.7% -36.7% -26.5% 11.8% -0.9% 1.0% 10.5% 5.1%

Noon
NB Before 767.4 258.5 6.7 30.7 0.3775 33.2771 378.4116 20.5637 535
After 651.3 142.4 3.5 36.1 0.3809 35.0439 476.4500 22.8100
Change -116.1 -116.1 -3.2 5.4 0.0034 1.7668 98.0384 2.2463
Percent Change -15.1% -44.9% -47.7% 17.6% 0.9% 5.3% 25.9% 10.9%

SB Before 662.4 187.5 5.1 32.5 0.3418 30.6869 370.1881 19.3039 514
After 594.7 119.8 2.8 36.2 0.3515 33.7621 464.8993 22.4262
Change -67.7 -67.7 -2.3 3.7 0.0097 3.0752 94.7112 3.1223
Percent Change -10.2% -36.1% -44.9% 11.4% 2.8% 10.0% 25.6% 16.2%

Volume-weighted
Average Percent Change -12.7% -40.6% -46.3% 14.6% 1.8% 7.6% 25.7% 13.5%

PM
NB Before 766.6 257.7 5.4 30.7 0.3625 31.5416 358.0027 18.8287 860
After 710.4 201.5 4.0 33.2 0.3618 31.3692 388.2363 18.9297
Change -56.2 -56.2 -1.4 2.5 -0.0007 -0.1724 30.2336 0.1010
Percent Change -7.3% -21.8% -26.0% 8.1% -0.2% -0.5% 8.4% 0.5%

SB Before 764.8 290.0 6.8 28.2 0.3505 31.3507 349.0737 18.7194 887
After 633.0 158.1 3.4 34.0 0.3317 29.4152 367.4023 18.2834
Change -131.8 -131.8 -3.4 5.8 -0.0188 -1.9355 18.3286 -0.4360
Percent Change -17.2% -45.5% -49.8% 20.6% -5.4% -6.2% 5.3% -2.3%

Volume-weighted
Average Percent Change -12.4% -33.8% -38.1% 14.5% -2.8% -3.4% 6.8% -0.9%
(Due to rounding and linking of data from other sources, calculations may appear imprecise)

* Travel Delay is calculated here manually as the difference between travel time measured and the ideal travel time at speed limit.
** A stop is an instance where the vehicle speed drops below five mph.

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Calculating Net Benefits
Using the travel time results for each link along the corridor, the turning movement counts, and the data
from the traffic signal coordination software models, MARC staff estimated the net benefits to the
traveling public resulting from the timing plan changes.

These calculations for the M-291 corridor are shown in Appendix B. A summary of the resulting
estimates is given in Table 3 below. It is important to also note that the benefits are only quantified for
the time periods that traffic count data exists, in this case, two hours in the morning peak period, two
hours at noon, and two hours in the evening peak period.

Table 3. Estimate of MOEs net results per business day, for all significantly affected vehicles.
Travel Number Fuel ----- Emissions (kg) -----
AM Time (hr) of Stops (gal) HC CO NOx
NB Change -24.3 -2380 -9 -0.60 29.4 0.24
SB Change -17.5 -970 -6 -0.36 21.6 0.26
Non-Coord* Change -6.6 ** -4 -0.43 -4.3 -0.09
Total Change -48.3 -3350 -19 -1.38 46.7 0.40

Noon
NB Change -27.4 -2720 -1 0.82 68.7 1.36
SB Change -14.4 -1790 4 1.66 62.3 1.72
Non-Coord* Change -2.7 ** -2 -0.18 -1.8 -0.04
Total Change -44.5 -4510 1 2.31 129.2 3.04

PM
NB Change -26.9 -2340 -9 -1.18 28.3 -0.40
SB Change -43.9 -4480 -24 -2.68 23.3 -1.01
Non-Coord* Change -7.7 ** -5 -0.50 -5.1 -0.11
Total Change -78.5 -6810 -38 -4.36 46.5 -1.52

Travel Number Fuel ----- Emissions (kg) -----

ALL Time (hr) of Stops (gal) HC CO NOx
Grand Total Change -171 -14680 -56 -3.4 222 1.9
(Due to rounding and linking of data from other sources, calculations may appear imprecise)

* All intersections were analyzed for non-coordinated movement delay.

** The traffic signal coordination modeling software does not track stops in a way that is comparable to the stops measured in the travel time
runs, thus change in stops was not included for non-coordinated movements.

By quantifying the net savings in travel time and fuel usage, the economic impact from the M-291
project can be calculated. The total change in travel time is multiplied by $15.47/hour, the rate
suggested in the Texas Transportation Institute’s (TTI) Urban Mobility report1. Total fuel savings is
multiplied by $2.80/gal, the average price of gas in October, 2014 for the Kansas City region. Yearly
savings is calculated based on 250 typical business days in a year. The economic impacts are given in
Table 4.

1
http://mobility.tamu.edu/

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Table 4. Economic impacts on traveling public.
Travel Total For
Time Fuel Period
AM Peak Savings $750 $50 $800
Noon Savings $690 $0 $690
PM Peak Savings $1,210 $110 $1,320
Total Daily Savings $2,650 $160

Grand Total Savings $2,810 per day

$702,000 per year
(Due to rounding and linking of data from other sources, calculations may appear imprecise)

Benefit-to-Cost Ratio
MARC staff anticipates that the continued operations of the OGL system will cost approximately $1800
per signal per year in labor, contract costs, equipment repair and maintenance and other direct costs.
Therefore the annual cost associated with the 14 signals on the M-291 corridor is $25,200 per year. The
benefit-to-cost ratio for this corridor re-timing project is therefore 28 to 1.

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Conclusion
The new coordination plans implemented on M-291 are a benefit to the motoring public. Not all
movements see improvements at all times of day, and some see more than others. However, overall
benefits in terms of travel time and fuel savings are significant. Table 2, the summary of the travel time
studies, reveals that several of the measures of fuel and emissions show an increase, that is, the after
conditions are resulting in higher rates of fuel consumption and harmful emissions than the before
conditions. MARC staff have investigated this and are unable to determine how this could be the case
while travel time and number of stops are so greatly improved. These measures are output from the
travel time analysis software, which includes default formulas for the calculations, which formulas
MARC staff have not altered. This result caries over and can be seen in Table 3 as well, where those
effects are combined with the modeled results of the non-coordinated movements. The total result,
seen on the last line of Table 3, shows a net increase in carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxide emissions.
OGL does not currently calculate economic values of emissions, however, so there is no direct effect on
the values shown in Table 4. Further research is being done to try to determine the cause of these
measures showing an increase, rather than a decrease with the clearly improved coordination plans.
Since traffic flow is obviously improved, OGL staff are not concerned that we have actually hurt air
quality, only that there is something wrong with the travel time run technique used.

As a result of the efforts expended on this corridor, the traveling public will save around $699,000
annually in the cost of their time and fuel, as compared with the amount of time and fuel they would
have spent on this corridor without any changes. However, as time passes, traffic patterns will change
that could alter the travel profile along this corridor, thus requiring additional adjustments to the signal
timing to preserve efficient operation. Additionally, as the price of gasoline changes, the savings
realized by the traveling public is impacted.

For more information learn about OGL online:

http://www.marc.org/Transportation/Commuting/Operation-Green-Light/About-OGL.aspx

[Appendix A. Raw PC-Travel results]

[Appendix B. Calculations of net results in MOEs for all significantly affected vehicles]

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