VIII. LAND USE ISSUES

Transcription

1 VIII. LAND USE ISSUES The & Route 57 Land Use and Circulation Study (Land Use Study, Figure 6) was completed for the Town of Clay in November 1999 (Clough, Harbour & Associates). This study investigated the existing Land Use along Route 57 and (including this study area) to: provide the Town of Clay with an updated set of land use and vehicular & pedestrian recommendations which are to be used when evaluating new development proposals within the corridors of these two routes. ( & Route 57 Land Use and Circulation Study, 1999) This document was an update of The Route 57 Corridor Study (1978) and The Corridor Study (1987), as well as an updated assessment of the transportation circulation, and land use issues presented since the completion of each of the studies. The recommendations contained within the study are intended to guide land-use decisions for the next ten to fifteen years. Figure 7 presents the future land use recommendations from the Land Use Study. The Land Use Study indicates that the immediate study area for this study has experienced a significant amount of development pressure since the 1987 study. The north side of has continued to develop westward from the interchange with several large commercial developments with the most recent being the Clay Shopping Center development. This area has, and will continue to be, a hot-bed of commercial development and needs careful planning to avoid further congestion and traffic issues in the future. Presently, the developments in the area are consistent with the future land use recommendations presented in the Land Use Study. Figure 6 Land Use Study Cover 12

2 Figure 7 Land Use Map ( & Route 57 Land Use and Circulation Study, 1999 CHA) 13 13

3 The future ten to fifteen-year recommendation from the Land Use Study is that the corner of Route 31 and contain an area of planned commercial land-use along the roadway, then transition into office and high density residential, then to medium and low density residential. The Raymour & Flanigan site recently approved by the Town is again consistent with these land use recommendations. As of March 2003, the Town of Clay has approved commercial development on the southwest corner of the Carling Road/ intersection. The Town has not approved any developments for the other areas between the Raymour & Flanigan and the Pinegate community. Finally, the Land Use Study provided a number of future year traffic circulation recommendations and possible new roadways within the study area. In particular, the Land Use Study made mention of a separation of and the southbound on-ramp, while leaving a ramp from northbound to southbound. The individual developers should be required to further investigate the traffic circulation recommendations presented in the Land Use Study as they bring development proposals before the Town. Similar to the actual assessed land use, the study area contains a mix of residential, commercial, and agriculturally zoned lands. C-5 zoning, Shopping Center District, represents the majority of the land north of within the study area. South of the land is typically zoned residential with some agricultural and commercial interspersed. The study area zoning appears to be consistent with the assessed study area land use. IX. BACKGROUND TRAFFIC CONDITIONS A. Peak Intervals for Analysis Given the existing land use and the existing nature of traffic, the peak hours selected for analysis are the weekday AM (7-9 AM) and PM (4-6 PM) peak and Saturday midday (11 AM 1 PM) peak. B. Background Peak Hour Volumes The background peak-hour volume conditions were obtained from full-build volumes contained in Appendix 2 Traffic Study of the Clay Shopping Center, Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS). This study investigated the impact 570,000 SF of new retail space would have on the surrounding roadway network. The new retail space will be built on 70 acres of land, located on, approximately 0.5 miles west of the immediate study area. Additionally, the DEIS incorporated the proposed traffic generated by a new Raymour & Flanigan store located south of within the immediate study area, directly across from the existing Wegmans supermarket. Figure 8 presents the locations of the proposed Clay shopping center and the new Raymour & Flanigan. Appendix D, DEIS, Raymour & Flanigan Site Plans, contains copies of the site plan layouts for both the DEIS and Raymour & Flanigan developments. 14

4 Figure 8 Clay Shopping Center and Raymour & Flanigan Locations The retail nature of the developments considered in the DEIS necessitated the analysis of the AM, PM, and Saturday peak hours. Since this study also considered these three peak periods, no additional traffic counts were necessary. Additionally, the developments analyzed in the DEIS have been approved by the appropriate agencies. Therefore, this study included the volumes generated by the developments, or full build volumes, into the background analysis. Figure 9 presents the background volumes used in this study. and typically contain approximately five percent heavy vehicles while Carling Road and Wegmans Drive contain approximately three percent heavy vehicles. X. BACKGROUND CAPACITY ANALYSIS A. Level of Service The capacity of a highway system is predicated on two components: the capacity of the roadway sections and the capacity of the affected intersections along the route. Intersecting roadways generally provide the initial constraint on a system's capacity due to the centralization of vehicular interactions. Efficiency at the intersections becomes the critical constraint for capacity. Vehicle interactions at these points must therefore be analyzed to assess the projected capacity levels. 15

5 Break in Access Study, March 2003 NB On-Ramp 137(266)[149] 692(1275)[1593] 51(351)[248] 4(5)[10] 302(812)[484] SB Off-Ramp Wegmans 192(302)[259] 31(71)[41] 114(184)[247] 129(388)[408] 0(7)[7] 9(51)[63] 769(1549)[1678] 225(538)[430] 111(412)[365] 864(1513)[1700] 48(97)[160] 138(241)[230] 704(1575)[1944] 514(1288)[1634] 603(697)[802] 136(227)[281] 140(289)[334] 31(107)[146] 0(7)[7] 7(40)[49] 14(77)[55] 958(1491)[1884] 12(36)[49] 624(507)[584] 272(800)[689] SB On-Ramp 440(104)[105] 288(516)[615] FIGURE 9 - BACKGROUND PEAK HOUR VOLUMES N Carling Road 39(353)[413] 0(11)[13] 33(194)[163] 122(254)[367] 699(1156)[1184] 59(194)[274] 104(153)[213] 0(11)[12] 25(54)[72] 82(174)[238) 842(1098)[1361] 16(63)[79] KEY XX(XX)[XX] = AM(PM)[SAT] 16

6 The standard procedure for capacity analysis of signalized and unsignalized intersections is that of the 2000 Highway Capacity Manual published by the Transportation Research Board. The procedure yields a Level of Service (LOS) as an indicator of how well intersections operate. LOS is defined by delay, which is a measure of driver discomfort, frustration, fuel consumption, and lost travel time. The concept of Level of Service is defined as a qualitative measure describing operating conditions within a traffic stream and their perception by motorists and/or passengers. Six Levels of Service are defined for analysis. They are assigned letter designations, from "A" to "F", with LOS "A" representing the best conditions and LOS "F" the worst. Suggested ranges of service capacity and an explanation of Levels of Service are included in Appendix E, Level of Service Description. B. Background Analysis The developments included in the DEIS have added a significant volume of traffic to the background highway network. Figure 10 presents the background lane configurations. In order to accommodate the increased traffic volumes, the following mitigation measures were constructed by the developers within the immediate study area (red arrows on Figure 10): A new eastbound through/right-turn lane from the proposed Clay Shopping Center, through the immediate study area, and connecting to the existing right turn lane at, New northbound approaches to the Carling Road and Wegmans Drive intersections, each containing a left-turn and a shared through/right-turn lane, and Signal timing modifications at each of the study intersections to optimize traffic flow throughout the corridor. Similar to the background traffic volumes, these full build mitigation measures were incorporated into the background model for this study. The full-build Synchro 5.0 model was obtained from the DEIS and used as the starting point for this background analysis. The mitigation measures mentioned above were incorporated into the model and the background LOS was obtained. Table 2 presents the background LOS at each of the immediate study area intersections. All capacity analysis calculations and output sheets are contained in Appendix F, Background Capacity Analysis. The background capacity analysis indicates that the three of the four signalized intersections along ; Carling Road, Wegmans Drive, and NB on/off-ramp intersections operate at an acceptable overall LOS. The left-turn movements at all intersections typically experience the most delay (typically LOS C or D), which is typical of many high volume commuter roadways. 17

7 Break in Access Study, March 2003 NB On-Ramp N SB On-Ramp SB Off-Ramp Wegmans Carling Road Note: Red arrows denote new lanes/approaches currently being built by developers for previously approved projects. FIGURE 10 - EXISTING LANE CONFIGURATIONS 18

8 Intersection Carling Road (signalized) Wegmans Drive (signalized) / SB Off-ramp (signalized) NB On/Offramp (signalized) Table 2 BACKGROUND CAPACITY ANALYSIS RESULTS NETWORK INTERSECTIONS Approach Movement AM Peak PM Peak Saturday Peak LOS Delay LOS Delay LOS Delay EB Left D 37.3 D 43.3 D 40.5 Thru/Right A 9.0 B 18.9 C 26.7 Left D 38.4 D 43.8 E 60.0 WB Thru A 7.7 C 20.3 B 19.0 Right A 0.0 A 0.0 A 0.1 NB Left D 39.1 D 38.1 D 42.5 Thru/Right A 0.0 A 8.4 B 10.3 SB Left D 39.4 D 38.3 D 39.7 Thru/Right A 0.0 A 6.7 A 7.9 Overall B 10.4 C 21.5 C 25.1 EB Left D 53.2 D 39.2 C 32.7 Thru/Right A 3.1 C 20.2 D 39.2 Left D 51.4 D 45.2 D 48.0 WB Thru A 5.5 E 65.7 D 42.9 Right A 0.4 A 0.5 A 0.6 NB Left D 39.7 D 38.7 D 43.5 Thru/Right A 0.0 A 9.5 A 8.9 SB Left D 38.5 C 34.5 D 39.5 Thru/Right A 0.0 B 10.5 B 10.9 Overall A 7.5 D 36.6 D 36.5 EB Thru B 10.5 F F Right A 3.4 B 18.2 B 12.7 WB Left C 34.0 C 30.2 C 29.9 Thru B 11.5 A 9.5 C 25.4 NB Left C 28.7 D 36.5 E 67.9 Right C 25.3 B 17.5 C 24.3 Left C 29.4 C 27.7 C 29.3 SB Thru D 36.9 C 33.1 D 35.8 Right A 7.5 C 30.0 E 55.6 Overall B 14.3 D 44.1 E 60.8 EB Left A 3.1 B 17.8 C 28.3 Thru A 4.5 A 9.6 B 12.9 WB Thru B 13.2 D 49.8 D 49.0 Right A 2.2 A 2.4 A 2.9 Left C 29.2 D 38.2 C 34.0 NB Left/Thru C 29.3 D 38.9 C 34.3 Right A 7.9 C 30.5 C 33.5 / SB On-Ramp Southbound Left (unsignalized) Overall B 11.0 C 27.8 C 29.0 D 30.2 C 15.6 C 19

9 XI. The / SB off-ramp operates at an unacceptable LOS E during the Saturday peak period. The capacity analysis indicates that the / Route 481 SB off-ramp intersection experiences unacceptable LOS E or F for three movements during the Saturday peak and one movement during the PM peak. The eastbound through movement (PM and Saturday) experiences LOS F while the northbound left-turn movement (Saturday), and southbound right-turn (Saturday) movement experience LOS E. The DEIS considered mitigation measures to improve the LOS for these movements, however, no feasible measure was possible. The capacity analysis for the / southbound on-ramp unsignalized intersection indicates that the southbound left-turn onto the ramp operates at an acceptable LOS for all peak periods. No other movements at this intersection experience delay, therefore, the LOS is A (free-flow traffic). It was observed, and mentioned at the first public meeting, that queues tend to develop for the southbound left-turn movement during the peak hour periods. The DEIS indicated that nine (9) accidents occurred during a four year, six month period from 1993 to Eight of these accidents involved southbound left-turning vehicles colliding with northbound through vehicles. The predominant cause of the accidents was the failure to yield the right-of-way. The remaining accident was a northbound rear-end accident on at the on-ramp. Five of the nine accidents occurred on dry pavement. The crash rate at this intersection was slightly above the statewide average (0.34 to 0.17 accidents per million entering vehicles) for this type of intersection. Additional accident information supplied by NYSDOT s Safety Information Management System (September 1996 to September 1999) supplemented the accident diagram. These accidents were broken down as 16 percent injury, 33 percent property damage only and 51 percent non-reportable. There were no reported fatalities. Appendix G, Accident Analysis, contains the accident diagram and supplemental NYSDOT data contained in the DEIS. STUDY ALTERNATIVES This study originally included three roadway alternatives for the immediate study area. The Future No Build Alternative maintains the existing roadway network configuration (i.e. No Carling Road Extension). Alternative 1 provides the Carling Road extension to create the eastbound leg of the existing three-leg intersection at the / southbound on-ramp intersection. Alternative 2 separates from the southbound on-ramp and realigns Soule Road to intersect, opposite Carling Road. Figures 11, 12, and 13 present the proposed roadway configurations for the original three alternatives. As a result of resident input during the second public meeting, another alternative was added to the study. Alternative 3 provides the same network configuration as Alternative 2 with one slight modification. Alternative 3 constructs a slip ramp from northbound to the southbound on-ramp. Figure 14 presents the proposed roadway configuration for Alternative 3. 20

10 Carling Road Figure 11 Future No Build Carling Road Carling Road Extension Figure 12 Alternative 1 - Carling Road Extension 21

11 Carling Road Ramp Carling Road Extension Figure 13 Alternative 2 Separate Carling Road Ramp Carling Road Extension Figure 14 Alternative 3 Separate with ramp to 22