Sub-problem 3b: Operational Analysis of the Center Section of Krome Avenue (Class I or II Two-Lane Highway Facility)

The decision on class designation rests solely with the operating agency. The purpose of this Guide is to point out the factors that should be taken into consideration and their relationship to the HCM procedures. Therefore, the question of whether this portion of Krome Avenue should be a Class I or II facility will remain open.

Before we leave this sub-problem, we should take a look at how the operational analysis results compared with the service volume table results from sub-problem 2b. The comparison is evident in Exhibit 3-20. The bottom line is that, for a Class I facility the same estimation of LOS was produced by both procedures. While the LOS was improved for a Class II facility for the reasons just stated, it is not possible to compare this result with the service volume tables, because those tables are limited in scope to Class I facilities.

One last point: the base free flow speed was adjusted upwards to produce the same actual free flow speed used in the service volume tables to facilitate the comparison of the planning and operational level analyses. This topic was explained in detail in sub-problem 3a. The amount of the adjustment in this case was 3.1 mph, resulting in a base free flow speed of 53.1 mph in the table on the previous page.