2009 Scope of Services:

• Transportation Impact Analysis
• Custom Trip Generation Study for Distribution Facility
• Master Plan Public Improvements
• Public Informational Meetings
• Phased Engineering Design & Driveway Permitting
• Standard and Reverse Superstreet Design
• Interchange Planning and Design
• Signal Design
• Signal System Timing Plans

The proposed Acme-Hobbs Inland Distribution Facility is located along US 74/76 (Andrew Jackson Highway) and includes property in both Brunswick and Columbus Counties totaling about 1,100 acres.  The project is envisioned as a global logistics park that will accommodate companies that need to be near the NC Port at Wilmington for importing and exporting, and for manufacturing and assembly operations that have port and distribution requirements.  As currently planned, the site will ultimately consist of approximately 8,050,000 gross square feet of inland distribution facility at full build out.



Due to the unique traffic characteristics of this land use, NCDOT Congestion Management staff agreed to allow John Davenport Engineering to conduct a trip generation study for this land use.  A Walmart Distribution Center located in Hope Mills, North Carolina was chosen as a facility with similar characteristics to the proposed Acmes-Hobbs Inland Distribution project and was used to establish the appropriate trip generation rates for this proposed facility.  Separate trip generation rates were developed for Truck and Passenger Vehicle traffic.  As a result, truck traffic was carefully considered in the traffic analysis in order to model the addition of site traffic on the adjacent roadway network as accurately as possible.

The Transportation Impact Analysis (TIA) included phasing analyses in order to determine roadway improvements that would be necessary during various stages of the development.  The development will begin with a standard signalized superstreet providing access to the highway.  As the development proceeds, a second phase was identified that included the construction of a reverse superstreet at the off-site intersection of US 74/76 and NC 87 in Columbus County which will be necessary to accommodate future traffic volumes.  Ultimately, a second superstreet access will be constructed to serve entering and exiting site traffic for the Acme-Hobbs Inland Distribution Facility.



The North Carolina Board of Transportation identified US 74/76 as a freeway on the Strategic Highway Corridor System.  Also, TIP project R-4462 included future plans to upgrade US 74/76 to interstate standards (I-20) from Whiteville to the proposed US 17 Wilmington Bypass.  As a result, the NCDOT wanted to ensure that the development’s master plan considered the possibility that direct access to US 74/76 may be eliminated in the future and planned for the potential of access being served by an interchange.  At the request of NCDOT, an interchange design was considered, and we analyzed a single point urban interchange (SPUI) for the site access of this proposed project. This type of grade-separated interchange has become more popular and has the following advantages as compared with traditional diamond interchanges: construction due to single point urban interchange can be contained within a narrow right-of-way, only one traffic signal is used thus reducing delay, opposing left turn paths do not intersect, and larger left-turning radii allow higher speeds and easier maneuvering for trucks. Additionally, right turns are typically free-flow and are separated from the intersection by large channelized radii.



As a second alternative in planning for interchange access for the property, the modification of a proposed NCDOT interchange at the intersection of US 74/76 and NC 87 was suggested.  With this alternative, one interchange would be required in lieu of the potential costs of two interchanges.