Bellemont is a rural, unincorporated community with a population of approximately 1,000 residents in Coconino County that has become a suburb of Flagstaff, where residents commute to work. Three roads ó Interstate 40 (I-40), Brannigan Park Road and Shadow Mountain Drive ó are used to access virtually all the private land north of I-40 at Bellemont. Frequent congestion from heavy truck volumes and subdivision traffic causes traffic delays and creates concern for safety and timely emergency response. The 2008 closure of the ADOT Parks Rest Area on I-40, just west of Bellemont, has also increased vehicular traffic accessing the truck stop and restaurants. Future build-out of the subdivision and potential commercial/industrial uses in the area are expected to continue to negatively affect the Brannigan Park Road and Shadow Mountain Drive intersection and the I-40 traffic interchange. ADOT recently prepared the I-40 Bellemont to Winona Initial Design Concept Report, which recommended long-term improvements for the intersection and traffic interchange.

Ultimately, this access management and multimodal transportation study will provide a comprehensive review of the Bellemont area transportation system and provide guidance for determining priority needs for future improvements north of I-40, including alleviating congestion and improving/managing access, and improving and evaluating multimodal access to businesses from residential areas.

This project was undertaken to compare operational and safety characteristics of leading versus lagging protected left turn operation. The measures of effectiveness included field measured intersection delay with leading and with lagging left turns. Intersections in Pima County, Glendale, Tempe and Mesa, Arizona were studied with both leading and lagging operation. Intersection delay studies were also done with first car versus third car actuation of leading protected left turn phases. Signal progression was studied with leading, lagging and combination of leading and lagging left turns which provided the best progression. This evaluation was accomplished with an instrumented vehicle and travel time runs throughout a grid. Accident studies were conducted in Tucson, Pima County and Scottsdale, Arizona. These studies compared accident frequency before and after the conversion from leading to lagging left turns. A public opinion survey was conducted to obtain motorists' preference of leading or lagging left turns.

The study objective was to identify a lighting system which has a lower power cost and reduced maintenance requirements and which provides adequately for motorists' needs in terms of legibility and illumination level. Twenty-five candidate lighting systems were identified through a review of technical data and specifications for lamps and fixtures by an independent lighting expert. Photometric tests and computer analyses of sign illumination levels reduced the number of candidates to ten alternative systems which were then field tested. Each alternative lighting system was tested for 10 to 14 months. Sign luminance was measured with a telephotometer. Power consumption was monitored. Maintenance requirements and lamp life were noted. A human factors study determined legibility distance and rated viewing comfort, lighting uniformity, and color rendition. An economic analysis was performed which considered the initial cost of acquiring and installing the lighting systems and annual costs for electric power, washing, relamping, and ballast replacement. A lighting system using the high pressure sodium light source was recommended. Compared to the existing commonly used fluorescent system, it uses one-third as much electric power and has about one-third of the annual owning and operating cost. The recommended system has a satisfactory illumination level and provides the best legibility distance of the ten systems tested.

The purpose of the Program is to set forth the plan for developing projects and account for the spending funds for the next five years. All projects in the first two years of the program will be fully funded and ready to advertise within the year programmed or sooner as determined by the State Transportation Board. The last three years of the program will be illustrative in nature and be used to establish an implementation plan for projects moving through the various preparation phases needed prior to the construction of the project.