School Is Underway – How Will it Affect Your Project?
Back-to-school season is underway – how will it affect your project?
If your project requires a traffic impact study, it’s important to know that there are relatively few days each year when valid and acceptable traffic counts can be collected. According to jurisdictional and U.S. Department of Transportation guidelines, traffic count data must be collected when public schools are in session and on a “typical” weekday (Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday). 
Counts cannot be collected when public schools are not in session, immediately before or after a holiday, or on days impacted by weather events that may delay or cancel public school. Additionally, traffic counts may not be appropriate near highly active retail shopping areas between Thanksgiving and New Year’s, depending on the location of your site.
To keep your project on schedule, it’s advantageous to work with Galloway’s transportation team to conduct your traffic impact study, address outstanding traffic concerns, and ensure due diligence during this timeframe.
Traffic counts provide the foundation for any requested traffic impact study. They capture existing baseline conditions, help understand current local travel patterns, and/or provide site-specific information regarding site access utilization. Traffic counts help quantify existing traffic issues and opportunities, and they support analyses that evaluate the impacts a future development might have on the adjacent road network. A key component of traffic counts is also measuring and developing insights into an area’s multimodal use (e.g., pedestrians and bicycles).
Make sure to check the in-session dates for your local school district when planning your project schedule.
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