Transportation Engineering and Safety Conference 2024

This session will feature presentations on the history, recent changes, and vision of the national Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD).  Significant and consequential changes in the MUTCD 11th edition, effective January 2024, will impact the type, size and location of traffic control devices across the US. Moving forward, provisions for key priorities are increasingly important, such as the safety and mobility of vulnerable road users and automated vehicles. Presenters will discuss these topics, and more, as they pertain to practitioners.

Topic 1:      MUTCD: History and State Adoption
Speaker: Jason Bewley

Topic 2:      MUTCD: TSMO and Traffic Signals
Speaker: Steve Gault

Topic 3:         MUTCD: Signing and Pavement Markings
Speaker: Justin Smith

PennDOT’s Policy Office works on issues at the edge of the Department’s jurisdiction, including alternative uses of the right-of-way.  This session will look at three of these.

Topic 1:      PennDOT’s New Policy on Murals in State Right-of-Way
Speaker: Jeffrey Young

Topic 2:      Navigating Micromobility from Wheels to Laws
Speaker: Roy Gothie

Topic 3:      Guidance for PA Municipalities on EV On-Street Home Charging
Speaker: Ngani Ndimbie

As the capabilities of traffic signals expand, the needs for the communication networks these signals operate on expand as well. This session will explore the changes to communication occurring at the street level, PennDOT’s Vision for a unified signal network, and what network requirements designers, contractors, and operators need to know. 
 
Topic 1:  Practical Field Communication Applications
Speaker: Mike Post
Mike of Drive Engineering will discuss real-life examples of communication successes and challenges and practical maintenance outcomes.

Topic 2: PennDOT’s Vision for Traffic Signals
Speaker: Mike Centi
Mike of PennDOT Central Office will describe the Department’s vision for connecting traffic signals, explain why PennDOT is doing this and how we get the signals on the Department’s network, and explain costs associated with various connection methods.

Topic 3: PennDOT Traffic Signal Networking
Speaker: Sean Dean
Sean of Skyline IT Services will discuss the networking requirements traffic signal designers and operators need to know who work within the PennDOT system.

Since 2017, we’ve been hosting this session, which I believe is the 8th consecutive and 10th overall Innovative Session, here at TESC. The session is Innovative Alternative Intersections and Interchanges that will focus on innovative solutions, current best practices, and lessons learned.

Topic 1: A Culture of Innovative Intersections and Interchanges in Virginia
Speaker: Gilbert Chlewicki, PE
The Virginia Department of Transportation is a national leader in Innovative Intersections and Interchanges. This leadership came to be with an understanding of the great operational, safety, and cost saving benefits that these designs provide and a willingness to develop policies, processes, and tools to develop the best alternatives no matter how “non-traditional” the design may be. VDOT has designed and/or built roundabouts, diverging diamond interchanges, continuous flow intersections, J-Turns, superstreets, thru-cuts, quadrant roadway intersections, bowties, and hybrid designs. This presentation will show the evolution of innovative intersections and interchanges in Virginia, how Virginia is getting so many designs built, and some of the struggles that VDOT is still facing to get more implemented.

Topic 2:  When Grade Separation is the Answer
Speaker: Smith Siromaskul, PE
 When looking at improving overcapacity intersections, a typical approach involves adding through lanes or turn lanes and then considering grade separated interchange options. With the growing acceptance of innovative intersection treatments such as restricted crossing u-turns, continuous flow intersections, and a myriad of mix and match combinations of at-grade innovative elements, practitioners have far more options to add capacity without grade separations. These treatments vary significantly in footprint, capacity, friendliness to active transportation modes, maintainability, and applicability to any given location. Even with innovative options in hand, there are times when at-grade options simply aren’t enough.
The traditional approach once at-grade options are exhausted is to go to a fully grade separated interchange with at least one of the two intersecting roadways becoming free flow with ramps providing access to and from the intersecting roadway. These interchanges can create their own problems when neither roadway is a fully access-controlled facility such as merging and weaving issues with adjacent intersections or driveways. Free-flowing high-volume treatments can also be challenging for active transportation users and often require significant compromises to accommodate transit stops. Additionally, conversion of an at-grade intersection to a traditional interchange, even one with a small footprint such as a tight diamond or single-point urban interchange, can be cost-prohibitive or overly impactful in a built urban environment.
This presentation will cover partially grade-separated options that involve less structure, smaller footprints, and blend elements from at-grade innovative treatments to create site-specific solutions that do not require creating a freeway “feel” and the subsequent multimodal challenges associated with free=flowing traffic.
One of the case studies that will be covered includes an echelon intersection which grade separates half of the movements at an intersection. The presentation will discuss the what, why, and where to use this particular intersection type using the Okeechobee Road at Hialeah Gardens Drive intersection in Hialeah Gardens, Florida, the 2nd echelon intersection built in the US. Lessons learned will include alternatives analysis, concept development, traffic analysis, and construction staging.
The second case study will cover the intersection of John Young Parkway and Pleasant Hill Road in Kissimmee, Florida, an intersection that includes a grade separation of just one through movement and utilizes a blend of at-grade intersection treatments to fix a highly constrained, high-volume intersection that currently creates nearly a half-hour of delay per vehicle today. The proposed improvement is entering the final design phase and provides the needed capacity while doing so with minimal widening and right-of-way impacts by blending the single-direction grade separation with a displaced left turn and median U-turns. Lessons learned will cover the thought process behind the development of the concept that can be applied at other locations.

Topic 3:  Construction of a Roundabout in South Philadelphia
Speakers: Tyler Barile, & Trevor Booz

This is an overview of the new ADA requirements related to PROWAG and how it has rippled through the new DM2 and PennDOT's design process.  Topics to be covered include pedestrians, plain people considerations, transit, parking, and MPT.

Topic 1: What’s new in PROWAG, conflicts with MUTCD, and PROWAG implementation
Speaker: David Melville

Topic 2: What are the ADA implications for pedestrians, plain people considerations, transit, parking
Speaker: Keith A Johnson

Topic 3: How should ADA be considered in the development of MPT
Speaker: Brian E. Shunk, P.E.

Topic 1:  Urban Motor Vehicle and Pedestrian Tunnel Rehabilitation:  Armstrong Tunnel
Speakers: Jason Molinero & Jon McHugh    

Topic 2: I-95 Cap Project

Topic 3: Lochner Project

Fiber optic communications play a crucial role within the operation of freeway and arterial traffic systems.  Fiber optics enable real-time communication between traffic signal systems and central control systems, ensuring efficient traffic flow and minimizing delays. Real-time data transmission helps transportation agencies make informed decisions, optimize routes, and improve overall safety.  Toll collection systems rely on seamless communication between toll booths, cameras, and backend servers to drive accurate toll calculations and efficient revenue collection.  Additionally, fiber optic networks support vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication. Ultra-low latency fiber networks are essential for reliable V2X communication, improving road safety and enabling innovations in transportation.

In this session, hear from speakers from PennDOT and the PA Turnpike regarding how they will leverage fiber optic and broadband communications to efficiently operate their roadway networks. Additionally, Kokosing Construction will provide insight into construction of PA Turnpike’s network based on their perspective as the prime contractor on a 165-mile fiber deployment between Harrisburg and New Stanton.

Topic 1:   PA Turnpike Fiber Optic & Broadband Deployment Initiatives
Speaker: Brittany Piazza

Topic 1: PA Turnpike Fiber Optic Design-Build – A Contractor’s Perspective
Speaker: Mitchell Radigan

Topic 3:   Pennsylvania Broadband Update
Speaker: Brandon Peters

PennDOT is progressing twelve model as a legal document (MALD) pilots as part of the Digital Delivery Directive 2025 which will allow 3D deliverables for the first time. These pilot projects are setting a new standard for PennDOT design processes and deliverables but are not without challenges. This session will highlight two pilot projects and the PennDOT MALD team leading this effort.

Topic 1
Speaker: Andrew Thompson

Topic 2
Speakers: Scott Mcmasters & Jennifer Steen

Topic 3
Speakers:Rob Nuss & Amanda Olbeter