Wayne Avenue Multimodal Transportation Study

A PennDOT Bureau of Public Transportation funded study supported by IRMC, IUP, Indiana County, White Township, & Indiana Borough.

🖱️ To view the study in full, use your mouse to scroll down or click on the headings below.

Study Overview

As a major gateway to the heart of Indiana Borough, the Wayne Avenue (SR 4005) corridor is characterized by diverse mixed-use land development and serves as a key connecting route from the major medical center, Indiana Regional Medical Center (IRMC) in White Township, and Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) to the Borough of Indiana.

🖱️ Explore the study area below by selecting the yellow icons on the map.

Project Purpose & Goals

The Wayne Avenue Multimodal Transportation Plan is an initiative to bring reality to a shared vision that links crucial regional assets along the corridor using transportation and land use strategies. These include:

The development of a plan to examine multimodal transportation access and safety and development within the project focus area,
Improve accessibility for students, residents, visitors, senior citizens and people with disabilities to healthcare, education, special events and recreational opportunities,
Improve pedestrian and bicycle safety, transit access, parking opportunities, and
Enhance economic development at the university and medical center

Existing Conditions

The Wayne Avenue corridor is diverse in its residents, users, and land uses. The university's presence and accompanying student housing in the study area is notable when analyzing sociodemographic and economic characteristics. The hospital, in addition to Indiana's downtown, also influences the corridors economic, demographic, and transportation landscape.

🖱️ To better understand the users of the corridor and its characteristics, scroll through the maps below or use the page navigator on the left hand side of the screen.

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Land Use

The 783-acre study area includes a concentration of commercial uses at the corridor’s southern terminus and a transition to residential uses when traveling north into Indiana Borough. Wayne Avenue serves an important role, connecting the commercial and university properties on the western side of the corridor to the hospital and residential neighborhoods to the east.

🖱️ Select the Legend Icon in the bottom left-hand corner of the map to reveal the layer details.

Demographics

Overall population in Indiana Borough and White Township has remained relatively stable from 2010 to 2019 but are gradually experiencing a decline.

🖱️ Select the buttons below to view the demographic characteristics.

Economics

Major economic and activity generators located along the corridor, including the university, medical centers, and several retail destinations, are critical for sustainable, long term growth.

According to Census LEHD data, the study area itself houses 27 percent of Indiana County’s total job count, which is important to note given the study area makes up just 0.15 percent of the County’s total land area. These top industries include health care and social assistance, educational services, wholesale trade, and accommodation and food services respectively.

A focus of this plan is the presentation of a variety of corridor scenarios that present planning-level improvements to the study area.

A catalyst area for development is in White Township, which once served as a shopping center but is now in private ownership and unoccupied. Given the close proximity to IRMC, IUP, and the Kovalchick Convention and Athletic Complex, this parcel is an important piece to the study and has the potential to shape future redevelopment along the entire corridor and within the study area. IRMC is working to obtain ownership of this property with several uses in mind including medical, retail, and active senior housing.

Transportation Network

The transportation network within the study area consists of a mixture of state-owned, shown in black on the adjacent map, and locally-owned roads.

Annual average daily traffic (AADT) is the total volume of vehicle traffic on a highway or road for a year divided by 365 days. The study area's highest traffic volumes are seen on Oakland Ave, which borders the northeastern portion of the study area, 8,846 AADT and Philadelphia Street at the highest of 12,030 AADT.

Reportable crash data for the study area was obtained for the most recent five-year period (2015-2019). Below are the area's highest crash locations:

Wayne Ave & Maple St: 13
6th St & Wayne Ave/School St: 6
Wayne Ave & Old US HWY 119: 5
Wayne Ave & Indian Springs Rd: 5

Walkability

A walkable neighborhood or corridor provides connections to local areas of interests, boosts economic development, and can enhance a community’s sense of place. Currently, there is a robust active transportation network comprised of trails, sidewalks and some on-road infrastructure spanning the study area.

Sidewalks surrounding the university are in good condition while older sidewalk networks in the residential neighborhoods and along Wayne Avenue are uneven and feature a number of gaps.

A notable sidewalk gap in the study area is surrounding , as there is no safe and direct connection to any of the park's entrances from the western portion of the study area, including the university.

The expansion and integration of the 10-mile (highlighted in green) was a reoccurring desire of the community. Not only is the trail a regional attraction for recreational use but also serves as a commuter resource for bicycles and pedestrians to bypass the heavily traveled Wayne Avenue, which is void of pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure.

Public Outreach

Public outreach is necessary to further understand the study area’s challenges and treasures in addition to available data and analysis. Following interviews with key stakeholders in the region, a three-day planning charrette was held to obtain public input.

The following key themes emerged that included challenges and opportunities:

Improve connectivity
Increase pedestrian/bicycle safety
Redevelop underutilized properties
Accommodate truck delivery traffic
Manage convention center/event traffic
Encourage community social connectivity
Protect and enhance Marsh Run/Stoney Run watershed
Support financial and environmental sustainability at Mack Park
Build oppidan community green network
Support sustainable economic development

From these major themes, corridor design concepts were developed to provide the stakeholders site-specific improvement scenarios to visually address challenges and render potential improvements.

Corridor Design Concepts

Explore the planning-level design concepts developed for each of the focal points identified by key stakeholders and the public. Each concepts was developed in real time to help envision potential opportunities and inspire the community. Engineering considerations and feasibility of each concept will need to be examined further and are dependent upon detailed traffic analyses. The design concepts for each focal point are illustrated below.

🖱️Use the centerline to swipe back and forth to see the before and after.

🖱️ Scroll through the all 12 design scenario renderings and brief descriptions of the location or use the map below. Some locations produced multiple concepts, use the gray navigation arrows on the right-hand side of the screen to page through each image.

💰: < $1M

💰💰: Between $1M and $2M

💰💰💰: Between $2M and $3M

💰💰💰💰: > $3M

🚧: Not complex

🚧🚧🚧🚧🚧: Very Complex

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Indian Springs Rd & Wayne Ave Pedestrian Crosswalk Improvement

💰 🚧

- Indian Springs Road divides the Hoodlebug Trail. The current crosswalk set back from intersection creating visibility and safety concerns.

CONCEPT

- Use green pavement markings to help identify conflict areas between bicyclists and motor vehicles

- Realign to make closer to intersection and install pedestrian refuge islands

PLANNING-LEVEL COST

· $706,306

Plum Street & Wayne Avenue Hoodlebug Trail Access and Crosswalk

💰🚧

- Currently, there is no safe, marked pedestrian crossing but a path has been cleared by trail users to access Hoodlebug Trail. Users park in the Plum Street neighborhood and must cross multiple lanes of traffic on Wayne Avenue, which has a posted speed limit of 45mph.

CONCEPT

- Safe marked pedestrian crossing painted green

- Formalize Hoodlebug Trail entrance

PLANNING-LEVEL COST

· $458,838

Hospital Road & Wayne Avenue Intersection Realignment

💰💰🚧🚧

- Angled intersection with poor sight distance and high speed limit.

CONCEPT

- Realign intersection

- Add right turn lane

PLANNING-LEVEL COST

· $1,023,162

Pratt Drive/Hospital Road & Wayne Avenue Intersection Improvement, Development, and Streetscaping

💰💰🚧🚧🚧

- This section of the corridor serves as the gateway to Indiana Borough. Currently, there are limited pedestrian accommodations to access catalyst properties (vacant shopping center, athletic and convention center, university parking lot, and Mack Park). Vehicles travel at high speeds.

CONCEPT

- Incorporate transit center

- Add a Hoodlebug Trail access point

- Narrow street and add lighting with additional streetscape components

PLANNING-LEVEL COST

· $1,855,704

Private Development at Mack Park

- Annual expenses for park activities now exceed annual park revenue. Privately owned Mack Park needs to develop a sustainable future to continue serving the community and support park activities.

CONCEPT

- Multi-use amphitheater, creates usable community space on track infield

- Develop edges or larger portions of the park to maintain a sustainable funding stream

- Concentrate park amenities

Wayne Ave Streetscape Improvements

💰💰🚧🚧

- Travel lanes are excessively wide, encouraging increased speeds. Lighting is limited along entire corridor.

CONCEPT

- Narrow travel lanes

- Include streetscaping components (lighting, bollards, street trees) and a multimodal path.

PLANNING-LEVEL COST

· $1,732,241

Carter Avenue & Wayne Avenue Intersection Improvements

💰💰🚧🚧

- No pedestrian access to safely cross between Wayne Avenue and Carter Avenue and no safe access to Mack Park.

CONCEPT

- Realign intersection and remove turning lane to improve bicycle and pedestrian safety

- Add sidewalk network and pedestrian crosswalks and signals

PLANNING-LEVEL COST

· $1,471,480

Maple Street & Wayne Avenue University Entrance & Safety Improvements

💰💰💰🚧🚧🚧

- This location is the main entrance to the university with heavy pedestrian traffic. The intersection is wide, creating longer crossing exposure times and increasing bike/pedestrian/motor vehicle conflicts.

CONCEPT

- Narrow street to slow traffic

- Realign turn space to bring pedestrian crossings closer together and create a larger multimodal sidewalk space with enhanced paving to create a more attractive entrance to the university

- Add a designated bus stop south of the intersection

PLANNING-LEVEL COST

· $2,594,702

Grant St & Wayne Ave Intersection Improvements

💰💰🚧

- Wide intersection with underutilized space. High travel speeds and long pedestrian crossing exposure time.

CONCEPT

- Narrow travel lanes with painted bike lanes

- Improve pedestrian crosswalks and lighting

- Create curb bump outs

PLANNING-LEVEL COST

· $1,854,042

Locust St, 7th St, & Wayne Ave Intersection Improvement

💰💰💰💰🚧🚧🚧🚧🚧

- Five point intersection with multiple angles. There is adjacent retail and restaurant destinations around the intersection. This generates high pedestrian traffic with limited safe, direct crossing locations.

CONCEPT

- Redesign the intersection into an oval roundabout for a constant flow of one-direction traffic or simplify intersection and angles of intersections into a grid system

- Add bike lanes (blue) and sidewalks (white) and create a green space or park/monument in center

- Remove a portion of 7th Street and create a developable portion of land along Wayne Avenue

PLANNING-LEVEL COST

· $3,040,038

7th St Corridor Streetscaping

💰💰💰💰🚧🚧🚧

- Continue the Borough’s Philadelphia St Streetscape Improvements.

CONCEPT

- Improve and narrow intersections, add bicycle accommodations, upgrade lighting

- Narrow street and angle on-street parking to increase number of spots

PLANNING-LEVEL COST

· $3,026,664

6th St & Philadelphia St Intersection Improvement

💰💰🚧🚧🚧

- Multiple lanes and turning movements creating longer pedestrian exposure time and safety issues.

CONCEPT

- Insert curb bump-outs to shorten pedestrian crossing, narrow intersection, and protect parked cars

- Add greenspace on corners for planters or rain gardens

PLANNING-LEVEL COST

· $2,875,381

Cost Estimates & Implementation

Each project presented in this study can be pursued independently, or together, to help achieve the study's vision in its entirety. Indiana County, White Township, Indiana Borough, IRMC, IUP, and PennDOT District 10-0 should work together and coordinate an approach to pursuing funding opportunities to support implementing the plan. Several potential funding programs include, but are not limited to:

PennDOT Multimodal Transportation Fund
DCED CFA Multimodal Transportation Fund
Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission (SPC) and PennDOT Transportation Alternatives Set-Aside Program
PennDOT Automated Red Light Enforcement (ARLE) Transportation Enhancement Grants Program
PennDOT Green Light-Go Program
DCED Greenways, Trails, and Recreation Program
DCED Community Development Block Grant

In addition to highlighting total cost in the scenarios above, the table below provides more detailed planning-level cost estimates for each of the potential projects.