We’re happy to share the news of Howell Traffic and thanks for the opportunity to introduce myself.

Traffic is often a controversial part of the larger land development process and is required at some level for every project. Think about it this way: we spend so much of our lives traveling from place to place without much thought other than how long it takes or why that car cut us off. There is so much that goes on behind the scenes, all directed at the greater effort to improve safety, reduce travel times, reduce emissions and make the overall travel experience as smooth and efficient as possible.

Transportation, or Traffic Engineering, includes the planning, design, operation and management of facilities for all modes of transportation, including vehicles, bikes, pedestrians and public transportation. There are two major elements to transportation engineering: traffic engineering and roadway design. Most people might think they are the same, but they really are different, even if they fall under the same umbrella.

Traffic engineering primarily focuses on planning and analyzing traffic flow through roads and intersections. Tying that into land development, every time a new gas station or subdivision is built it generates additional traffic. So, traffic engineers compare the existing capacity to future conditions with the added traffic generated by the development. That determines what, if any, improvements are needed on roads and intersections adjacent to the proposed development to counter any degradation the additional traffic might cause.

While some drivers will just blatantly ignore traffic laws, improving the flow of traffic with better solutions and greater planning can significantly reduce driver conflicts. Safety is a paramount consideration and there are numerous techniques and solutions in our toolkit, such as traffic calming, improved signage and pavement markings, improving the control type at intersections, and implementing pedestrian and bicycle facilities to name a few.

OK, now that the modifications or improvements have been identified, they must be designed for construction. Enter the roadway design portion of transportation engineering. In land development, we’re most focused on the driveways we’re proposing for access to the greater roadway network and what improvements might be required along the site’s frontage.

Now, with Transportation Engineering in-house, we have another large part of the land development process under our roof. We can provide better insight and coordination for the how and why.