Innovative Use of CMAQ Funding to Promote Economic Development and Improve Air Quality and Safety

Source: Institute of Transportation Engineers. ITE Journal. Publication date: 2005-01-01.

The Clinton Square Improvement Project had been a dream of the City of Syracuse, NY, USA, for more than 40 years. The reconstruction of Clinton Square showed that CMAQ funding could be used to promote economic development while improving the air quality of the area.

INTRODUCTION

The Clinton Square Improvement Project had been a dream of the City of Syracuse, NY, USA, for more than 40 years. Since the early 1960s, planners had studied ways to close a major thoroughfare in the middle of the square to create a large civic space that could be used throughout the year. When serious efforts began in the mid- 1990s to bring the project back to life, it was hoped that improvements to Clinton Square would spur economic development in surrounding buildings that had long been vacant.

In the mid-1990s, the City of Syracuse commissioned additional detailed traffic studies to determine if it was possible to close New York State Route 5 through Clinton Square while improving air quality and reducing the number of accidents in the area. These studies showed that it was possible to close the route and create a traffic flow pattern that would reduce vehicular delay, thereby improving air quality.

In the late 1990s, the City obtained congestion mitigation and air quality (CMAQ) funding (the area is a maintenance area for carbon monoxide) to develop a detailed design that would include improvements and the closing of Route 5 through the center of the square.

Since completion of the project in late 2001, follow-up studies have shown that traffic flow through the area has improved; the amount of pollutants attributable to vehicles has decreased; the number of accidents at intersections surrounding the square has been reduced; and improvements to Clinton Square have spurred economic development in the surrounding area.

HISTORY

Bounded by West Genesee Street and James Street to the north, Clinton Street to the west, Water Street to the south and Salina Street to the east, and located at the northern end of the central business district, Clinton Square sits astride the bed of the original Erie Canal (see Figure 1). (Note: original tables & figures not available for reprint - Ed.) Clinton Square originally was an area where goods were transferred to and from canal barges; hence, it was an open site with no buildings. When the canal bed was filled to create Erie Boulevard, the available space was used to create a public square.

With its central location within the city and on the Erie Canal, Clinton Square was the site of many public activities. An extensive market took place on the square and the frozen canal became a popular ice skating location in winter. The 1910 erection of the Soldiers and Sailors Monument, a Civil War memorial, was symbolic of the square's importance and served as a focal point for parades and public ceremonies. Stately buildings were constructed surrounding the square to house diverse enterprises that reflected the squares prominence. Major bank buildings, the county courthouse, the opera house and hotels all fronted Clinton Square in the late 19th century.

The street pattern that applied as Syracuse developed left room for one building lot on either side of the Erie Canal before the first public streets (James Street to the north and Water Street to the south) enclosed the square. The street pattern then continued with the regular block pattern typical of cities in the 19th century.

Only after the Erie Canal was closed in the 1920s was Erie Boulevard developed over the old Erie Canal. The creation of Erie Boulevard on the right-of-way of the Erie Canal imposed a new street on the pre-existing grid.

The new intersections did not conform to the historic pattern of most blocks in downtown Syracuse with 300 feet or more between intersections. Instead, the newly created intersections of Erie Boulevard at Clinton Street and Erie Boulevard at Salina Street were only about 80 feet from the adjacent intersections on either side. Figure 1 illustrates Clinton Square and the adjacent intersections.

This short intersection spacing created traffic flow problems. Much of the southbound traffic on both Clinton Street and Salina Street left Interstate 81 only two blocks north of the square. Many drivers still had speed perceptions from the freeway and had not yet adjusted to speeds appropriate for surface streets in the urban core.

Erie Boulevard, with its wide cross-section and relatively low volumes, also invited higher speed operation. The short distance between intersections (three signalized intersections were within approximately 150 feet of each other) accommodated only three to four vehicles per lane when stopped for a traffic signal. The resulting spillback could block the adjacent intersection, diverting a driver's attention and creating the need to stop quickly.

The close spacing of traffic signals also was confusing to drivers, especially those unfamiliar with the area. A driver entering downtown on Salina or Clinton Streets could easily see the signals at the next intersections and could perceive an incorrect indication. Close intersection spacing also resulted in the need for frequent and unnecessary stops, impeding traffic flow and generating additional mobile source emissions.

The street pattern in and around Clinton Square created driver perceptions that supported higher speeds while creating traffic flow, traffic safety and emission issues. Modifying both the operation and appearance of the street system surrounding Clinton Square offered the opportunity not only to address these problems but also to create a northern entrance to the downtown; revive Clinton Square and the adjacent blocks as a central place for public activities; and promote economic development in the adjacent vacant buildings.

BACKGROUND

The initial study of road closings through Clinton Square was performed in the late 1960s. This study concluded that traffic could be rerouted adequately around Clinton Square but that additional parallel roadways would need to be widened significantly to make up for the lost capacity along Erie Boulevard. This plan ultimately was voted down by the Syracuse Common Council because of the perceived negative impacts to the surrounding areas and businesses.

In the mid-1970s, city visionaries again revived the plan for Clinton Square. This plan differed from the previous one in that it studied the impacts of lowering the roads around Clinton Square so that a unified park could be created. Newspaper accounts stated that although the plan was "forward thinking," the cost was prohibitive and, again, the impacts to the surrounding businesses were deemed too great.

In 1995, the concept for a unified Clinton Square was brought to the forefront once again. The key difference in thinking this time was to use the revitalization of Clinton Square as a catalyst to redevelop many of the buildings that lay vacant around the square. During the economic downturn in upstate New York in the early 1990s, many businesses attempted to establish a presence at the northern edge of the downtown around Clinton Square. Due to high vacancy rates and a lack of pedestrian activity and housing, a large percentage of these new businesses failed and many of the established businesses had a difficult time hanging on.

The other key ingredient was the availability of potential new funding streams. In the early 1990s, Onondaga County was identified as non-conforming as it related to carbon monoxide. Shortly after that, Onondaga County was reclassified as a maintenance area for carbon monoxide, making it eligible for CMAQ funding.

The most detailed study to date was initiated in 1995 by the Syracuse Metropolitan Transportation Council (SMTC), the metropolitan planning organization for the Onondaga County urbanized area. The initial step in this study was to use the regional travel demand model to determine on a macroscopic scale the traffic impacts of closing a major four-lane arterial through the middle of the City of Syracuse.

At the time of the SMTC study, Erie Boulevard carried approximately 15,000 vehicles per day. The conventional thinking was that if Erie Boulevard were closed, the traffic using it would overwhelm adjacent roadways. However, the results of the regional model analysis showed that closing Erie Boulevard would not create significant congestion on adjacent roadways, and that some roadways would show a slight decrease in traffic due to diversions to other roadways.

The regional model also showed that a percentage of traffic (approximately 10 to 15 percent) was traveling through the Clinton Square area on Erie Boulevard but did not have a destination in the immediate area. In other words, this was through traffic and could be diverted away from the area completely.

A large-scale data collection program then was undertaken, including weekday peak-hour traffic counts during the a.m., noon and p.m. peak periods and pedestrian counts at the 20 intersections included in the study area. This information, along with signal timing information provided by the City of Syracuse, was input into Transyt-7F to develop a grid network. The Transyt-7F models for each of the peak hours were calibrated to observed traffic conditions so that a baseline condition co\uld be developed.

The regional travel demand model was used again to identify likely travel patterns if Erie Boulevard through Clinton Square were closed. These patterns then were applied to existing traffic volumes to determine the future volumes if Erie Boulevard were closed. Existing volumes entering the Clinton Square area were not reduced by 10 to 15 percent, as the regional model predicted would be diverted, so that a worse-case scenario could be developed. The results of this analysis showed that all intersections could still operate at a level of service C or better during the a.m., noon and p.m. peak hours.

This study also showed that vehiclehours of delay could be reduced by approximately 12 percent through the better coordination of traffic signals and the removal of two signalized intersections, and that mobile source emissions (volatile organic compounds, nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide) could be reduced by approximately 10 percent with the closure of Erie Boulevard.

Again, the improvements to emissions were due mainly to the reduction in traffic congestion at the intersections surrounding Clinton Square and the removal of two signalized intersections that were part of closely spaced intersections.

This study provided the impetus for the City of Syracuse to seek funding from SMTC to pursue the redevelopment of Clinton Square. As the funding request was working its way through SMTC, Clinton Square began to play a more prominent role in bringing people to downtown Syracuse.

Virtually every weekend, festivals or outdoor concerts were held in the square. Because the existing square was not designed for these types of events and the surrounding street system was not set up to accommodate events in the square, the City of Syracuse spent significant amounts of manpower and money to temporarily close streets, remove traffic signals and use police control to help traffic move around Clinton Square.

SMTC ultimately determined that the redevelopment of Clinton Square could receive CMAQ funding along with surface transportation plan funding, provided that the monies would be spent only on transportation related improvements. In 1999, the monies were allocated and the City of Syracuse was allowed to begin the project.

Prior to beginning, the City of Syracuse commissioned an updated traffic study of the project to quell questions brought up by the Syracuse Common Council and the public. This study also showed that traffic could be accommodated adequately on the surrounding street network without adversely affecting vehicle delays or emissions.

As part of the process for locally administered projects using federal monies, the New York State Department of Transportation requires the development of a design report that describes all aspects of the project, including the impacts to traffic and air quality. Because the initial SMTC study used traffic data that was collected in 1995, new a.m., noon and p.m. peak period traffic data needed to be collected at the 20 study area intersections. This updated traffic data then was utilized to establish a new baseline condition to which future traffic conditions could be compared.

Utilizing the same traffic routing algorithms that were used in the SMTC study, new estimates of traffic were made for the proposed future condition without Erie Boulevard. During that phase of the study, the proposed design was refined further to include the conversion of two two-way streets leading into the square to one- way streets leading away from the square (see Figure 2).

This analysis also showed that the closure of Erie Boulevard could be accomplished without negatively affecting intersection delays or air quality. This was an important point in the process. If the opposite were true, the project likely would have died because CMAQ money could not have been used to fund the project.

RESULTS

Once the traffic modifications were complete, the new patterns were opened to traffic in December 2001. During the first month of operation, minor refinements to traffic signal timing parameters were made to study area intersections to optimize phase times and offsets. While this was being performed, the previously drab Clinton Square was converted into a showpiece for the City of Syracuse. All work was completed in summer 2001 and the project received numerous awards for its design.

As Clinton Square was undergoing its transformation, another kind of transformation was occurring on the blocks surrounding Clinton Square. Immediately to the east, in an area know as Hanover Square, formerly vacant buildings that originally housed first-floor retail and second- and third-floor storage were converted into first-floor restaurants and bars and upper-floor apartments. This is significant because the apartments were one of the first new residential units constructed in the central business district.

By 2004, eight new restaurants and three new retail stores had opened in and around the Clinton Square area and approximately 30 high-end apartments had opened in rehabilitated buildings. A proposal to rehabilitate the last remaining vacant building into approximately 100 high-end condominiums, first-floor retail and a meeting space gained approval from the City of Syracuse.

The ultimate test of the Clinton Square redevelopment occurred in April 2003 when SMTC required a post-construction analysis of the project to determine if the air quality benefits touted in all of the previous studies actually materialized and if CMAQ funding was an appropriate use of these federal funds. As in the past, new traffic counts were completed at the 20 study area intersections. As was predicted by the regional travel demand model in 1995, the most recent traffic counts showed an overall decrease in traffic entering and exiting the study area.

Table 1 illustrates the change in traffic volumes pre- and post- construction. The total amount of traffic entering and exiting the study area was reduced by between 13 and 16 percent, similar to the results predicted by the regional travel demand model. This was not unexpected given the amount of through traffic previously using Erie Boulevard through Clinton Square to travel from the west side of Syracuse to the east side.

Table 1. Clinton Square redevelopment: total volume entering and exiting study area.

Table 2. Clinton Square redevelopment: analysis results.

Although the total amount of traffic entering and exiting the square decreased, there still was an increase in traffic at eight of the 20 study area inter sections due to the rerouting of traffic around the closed portion of Erie Boulevard. In addition, traffic signal timing, phasing and offsets were changed at study area intersections to accommodate the predicted change in travel patterns. In the end, the result was an overall decrease in average intersection delay of approximately 200 hours per day over the 20 intersections.

Table 2 presents the results of the analysis. As the table shows, the redevelopment of Clinton Square proved worthy of CMAQ funding. Not only were emissions reduced by approximately 15 percent, but the redevelopment of the square spurred additional economic development. This is an ongoing process.

The reconstruction of Clinton Square has proven to be a success from an economic development standpoint, a traffic flow standpoint and an air quality standpoint.

BY TIMOTHY R. FAULKNER, P.E., PTOE

TIMOTHY R. FAULKNER, P.E., PTOE, is an associate partner and senior traffic engineer with Clough, Harbour & Associates LLP in Syracuse, NY, USA. He has worked in both the public and the private sectors for more than 19 years and in a variety of traffic engineering and transportation planning projects. He is a member of ITE.

Note: This feature originally was presented by the author at the ITE 2004 Annual Meeting and Exhibit, held August 1-4, 2004 in Lake Buena Vista, FL, USA.

© 2005 Institute of Transportation Engineers. Used by permission.