Mobile Loaves and Fishes TIA, Safety and Circulation Study

WGI is the traffic engineer of record for all phases of the Mobile Loaves and Fishes (MLF) Development in Travis County, Texas. Mobile Loaves and Fishes provides permanent housing for people as they are re-integrating into society from homelessness. Housing options include RV/Park Homes, Micro-Homes, and some 3D-printed homes.

WGI prepared a Traffic Impact Assessment (TIA) for the review and approval of Travis County. The TIA included the traditional analysis elements along with the justification/warrants for a controlled pedestrian crossing treatments along Hog Eye Road (Phase 3) and Burleson Road (Phase 4) using MUTCD. Since the warrants require pedestrian volumes, WGI used creative data projection methodology to assess the need for pedestrian crossing treatments. Data sources included open-source data such as Capital Metro ridership data and current onsite operations data (# of vehicles registered to residents, volunteer and visitor counts). This data was then utilized to project the pedestrian demand for Phases 3 and 4, which resulted in the need for Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacons (RRFB) along Hog Eye Road and Pedestrian Hybrid Beacon (PHB) along Burleson Road. This provides safe crossing options for MLF residents and visitors to access the transit stops.

In addition, WGI performed a site visit to observe existing constraints and pedestrian activity for the existing Phases 1 and 2. Feedback was obtained from MLF staff regarding observed challenges and pedestrian-vehicle conflicts. WGI provided scalable solutions such as striped sidewalks with painted buffers, lane narrowing markings to manage speeding by reducing pavement width, enhanced pedestrian signage, and crosswalk striping, among others.