Redesign of Campus Traffic Flow

Tigra Yang, Hayley Logan*, and Sawyer Hawgood*

Department of Civil Engineering, West Virginia University Institute of Technology, Beckley, WV 25801

Presentation Category: Oral-Science & Technology (Oral Presentation #37)

Student’s Major: Civil Engineering

The purpose of this project is to redesign the traffic flow on WVUIT's Beckley campus. As WVU Tech continues to grow, the original design of roadways on our campus have became unsafe. The amount of traffic jams have increased and there have been 2 car-on-car accidents on the Mel-Hancock and South Kanawha intersection. There are 3 main intersections that need redesigned: Mel-Hancock and South Kanawha, Church Street and Minnesota Avenue, and lastly South Kanawha and Church Street. Our biggest part of this project is the Mel-Hancock and South Kanawha intersection. We plan to create a right-hand merge lane coming from South Kanawha onto Mel-Hancock in order to reduce the amount of traffic jams and reduce the amount of car-on-car accidents. For the South Kanawha and Church Street intersection, we plan to incorporate a three-way stop or a traffic light. This will reduce the amount of jams and create a safer walkway for students. For the Church Street and Minnesota Avenue intersection, we have discussed making it a one-way or creating another three-way stop. We believe that with all of these changes, the traffic flow on WVUIT's campus will majorly improve and remain safe as the campus grows.

Funding:

Program/mechanism supporting research/creative efforts: capstone course within my department