Grade separation would draw two interior lanes along Genesee Avenue, one northbound and one southbound, below Governor Drive in a short (115' long) underpass. This would permit continuous flow along Genesee at this critical intersection. Such a focussed improvement, which does more to increase the performance of the existing road system as opposed to increasing its capacity, is extremely well-suited to the particular type of congestion experienced on Genesee Avenue.

Peak hour traffic on Genesee Avenue is commuter traffic. The flow is essentially one-way: northbound in the morning and southbound in the afternoon. This commuter traffic is largely associated with the business and commercial sites along Genesee Avenue in North University City: UTC, Costa Verde, Eastgate, Renaissance, etc.

Between Nobel Drive and SR-52, Genesee Avenue has a low density of signalized intersections and curb cuts. Congestion nucleates at the Governor Drive intersection. There, commuter traffic backs up when Genesee through traffic gets a red light. The cycle time for the signal is an excruciatingly long three minutes. Impressive queues form behind the intersection, particularly southbound during PM peak, when then can extend half a mile to Centurion Square (UCHS), or, on Fridays, an entire mile up to Nobel Drive.

Traffic counts show that 80% of northbound traffic on Genesee proceeds straight through the Governor Drive intersection during AM peak, and 70% during PM peak. An underpass, with one lane in each direction, would permit continuous N/S flow at this critical intersection, completely relieving this critical bottleneck. No other structural alternative can accomplish this result.

Grade separation would result in a dramatic improvement at this critical intersection. The cycle time could be brought down from three minutes to close to one minute, and the intersection level of service improved from F to C (at build-out). Pedestrians, rather than crossing seven lanes of traffic, or even nine (with Genesee Avenue widening), would cross only four lanes. Their safety and convenience would be improved by the placement of broad 54' wide safe islands over the underpass. These islands would also afford an opportunity for creative landscaping. Finally, by taking thousands of through moves out of the intersection each peak hour, the signal could be re-phased and green time reallocated, giving more green to other turning movements and to pedestrians, and dramatically reducing delays.

The intersection is extremely well-suited for a grade separation, since it lies at the top of a hill. Unlike the Genesee Avenue widening, it would not require elimination of the entire median strip, much of which is nicely landscaped with mature trees. Most of Genesee Avenue would remain unchanged, as a four lane major street, within the grade separation scenario.

The knee-jerk response to congestion is to build more roads. Traffic engineers and planners increasingly recognize that new roads rapidly fill with new traffic, often resulting in comparable or even worse congestion than the status quo ante. In other words, "managing congestion by adding capacity is like managing your weight by loosening your belt."

The main problem with the grade separation is that the Draft EIR traffic study projects volumes on Genesee to continue to increase, to the point where other intersections at Decoro Street and University City High School would fail. However, we question whether the projected increases, forecast for the year 2030, are reliable. The City's own traffic counts show that the average daily traffic on Genesee Avenue has not changed since 1987.

(Click here to see real-world examples of grade separation.)