We are pleased to welcome traffic engineer Angel Sanchez to our transportation engineering team. Angel brings a wealth of traffic engineering experience from the east coast to the west coast, the Midwest, and even some overseas projects.
Welcome to Wells + Associates, Angel!
Q: What initially attracted you to work in the field of transportation and traffic engineering?
A: When I was in college, I took an intro course to Transportation Engineering and immediately knew this was the field I wanted to get into. I was drawn to the dynamic aspect of traffic engineering; no problem or scenario is ever the same, especially when dealing with human travel behaviors. I was also drawn to the ultimate goal of any traffic engineer, which is to improve our community’s transportation infrastructure and get people from A to B as efficiently and safely as possible.
Q: Angel, you have diverse experiences in your work as a transportation engineer. What were some of your most rewarding projects in terms of multimodal transportation?
A: One of the most rewarding projects I got to work on was for the City of San Jose, California. It was a multimodal transportation improvement plan for West San Jose. We did conceptual design plans for their N First Street corridor that prioritized walking, biking, and public transit modes.
“Some of the main concerns I usually address on Data Center projects are whether or not a traffic impact assessment will be required by the local jurisdiction, what potential off-site improvements will be required based on the size of data center development, and identifying logistic issues with large vehicles accessing the site.”
Q: Your project work in the United States spans the country, from the east coast to the Midwest to the west coast. What similarities have you seen across the country in terms of how traffic engineering is applied in new real estate developments?
A: Very similar across the country; usually the focus is on circulation and site access management – making sure new developments can be accessed as efficiently as possible. Another traffic engineering principle that’s usually applied is shared parking analysis. I’ve been seeing more and more mixed-use developments, and I’ve helped clients right-size their parking needs.
Q: In your transportation work with medical centers, what concerns have you addressed with healthcare facility expansion and development?
A: Some of the key issues I’ve seen across my medical center traffic engineering projects have been with the roadway layout. Usually, the roadways have the same layout when the medical center was first built and therefore are no longer optimal for building expansion. Other issues I’ve seen are inconsistent pedestrian paths or no bicycle accommodation. A lot of the work that I’ve done is doing a realignment of the existing roadway to optimize the land for expansion and also ensure the new roadway accommodates other modes of transportation such as sidewalks, bicycle lanes, bus stops, etc.
“One of the most rewarding projects I got to work on was for the City of San Jose, California. It was a multimodal transportation improvement plan for West San Jose. We did conceptual design plans for their N First Street corridor that prioritized walking, biking, and public transit modes.”
Q: What are some of the key concerns you’ve had to address for proposed data centers?
A: Some of the main concerns I usually address on Data Center traffic engineering projects are whether or not a traffic impact assessment will be required by the local jurisdiction, what potential off-site improvements will be required based on the size of data center development, and identifying logistic issues with large vehicles (WB-67 trucks, construction cranes, etc.) accessing the site.