Congestion Management

Congestion Management

Roadway congestion is a primary concern facing the users of the Hampton Roads transportation system as it adversely impacts quality of life and economic competitiveness. In order to evaluate current roadway conditions, assess regional transportation needs, and outline strategies to manage current and future roadway congestion, the HRTPO staff maintains a Congestion Management Process (CMP).

The Congestion Management Process – which is a federal requirement for urbanized areas over 200,000 in population – is an ongoing program in which congestion in the multi-modal, regional transportation system is evaluated and for which improvements are recommended. The main goals of the CMP are to reduce congestion/travel time delays, encourage the use of alternative modes of transportation, and improve air quality through the promotion and coordination of congestion mitigation strategies. The Hampton Roads CMP is a vital element of the HRTPO planning process that takes a “regionwide” approach to identify and address congestion concerns.

The CMP assists in performing the following actions for the regional transportation system:

Develop regional objectives for congestion management
Define the CMP roadway network
Develop multimodal performance measures
Collect data/monitor system performance
Analyze congestion problems and needs
Identify and assess strategies
Program and implement strategies
Evaluate strategy effectiveness

The CMP report is updated approximately every five years and is used as a guide to develop project recommendations for the Transportation Improvement Program and the Long-Range Transportation Plan. In those years where the CMP report is not updated, HRTPO prepares the Annual Roadway Performance Report, which details average weekday traffic volumes, speeds, and congestion levels for major roadways in Hampton Roads.

The Hampton Roads Congestion Management Process Report is being updated. The report will be released in three parts:

PART I – INTRODUCTION AND SYSTEM MONITORING

INTRODUCTION – Contains information on Performance Management and Performance-Based Planning and Programming, the elements of a CMP, CMP goals and objectives, and how the CMP in incorporated into the regional transportation planning process.
SYSTEM MONITORING – Contains information on HRTPO’s system monitoring efforts including the State of Transportation report, Annual Roadway Performance report, and regional performance measures and target setting. This section also includes information on regional roadway travel and trends, traffic volumes and characteristics at major bridges and tunnels, recently completed roadway projects, and the benefits of selected projects.

PART II – SYSTEM PERFORMANCE

SYSTEM PERFORMANCE – Includes a description of the CMP roadway network and the data used in this study, and the roadway congestion analysis.
RANKING OF CMP CONGESTED CORRIDORS – Includes a ranking of congested corridors throughout the region, and a description of the criteria used to produce the rankings.

PART III – CONGESTION MITIGATION

FUTURE AND ONGOING ROADWAY PROJECTS – Describes ongoing and upcoming planned and programmed projects included in both short-term and long-term planning documents.
CONGESTION MITIGATION STRATEGIES – Describes the tools and methods that have been and can be implemented to improve congested roadways.
APPLICATION OF STRATEGIES TO CMP CONGESTED CORRIDORS – Identifies causes of congestion and recommends improvements to the highest ranked congested freeways and arterial roadways

HRTPO staff collects transportation data from a wide variety of sources and incorporates this information into the CMP Database. The CMP Database includes the following information for roadways throughout Hampton Roads:

Traffic counts, speeds, and congestion levels
Traffic volume forecasts
Peak hour characteristics
Roadway characteristics (such as number of lanes, number of traffic signals, and speed limits)
Truck volumes
Crash data

If you would like receive information from the CMP Database, please contact Keith Nichols at (757) 420-8300, or knichols@hrtpo.org.