Maple Drive provides access to the college lands from areas south and west. It currently carries approximately 1500 vehicles per day and provides an important link between the college and 58th Street. (See Exhibit 4-2B) One of the issues raised at the outset of the study was to determine whether or not this roadway could be closed. College Avenue currently carries approximately 3000 vehicles per day west of C&E Trail, and so sufficient capacity exists to accommodate 1500 additional vehicles at that location. However, it may not be appropriate or desirable to re-route this traffic onto C&E Trail south to Woodlands Drive, with much of that volume then being accommodated by Woodlands Drive and/or 54th Avenue. Closure of this roadway could increase daily traffic volumes in the school zone on 50th Street by as much as 25%. Although growth in traffic in front of the schools is inevitable over time, the opportunity to minimize that increase should be pursued. Keeping Maple Drive open will aid that cause.
This retention of Maple Drive as a through route should be maintained until such time as the 63rd Avenue extension is in place, and even then opportunities for the roadway to remain open should be considered, since the forecasting exercises undertaken later in this report note capacity constraints on Woodland Drive between 50th Street and 58th Street.