Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutRIDGEVIEW CLASSICAL SCHOOL PHASE IV ADDITION - SPAR - 16-01A - SUBMITTAL DOCUMENTS - ROUND 1 - TRAFFIC STUDYSUMMARY Based on the above document analyses, investigations, and findings, the following can be 1. The school drop-off / pick-up plan should be modified to include: • Conversion of the Lemay access from right -in, right -out to three-quarter access. • Modifying the south lane on Stuart to a right-tum lane for traffic entering the school. • Changing the striping on eastbound Stuart, east of the school exit, to provide a bicycle lane and parking consistent with Stuart to the east. • Removal of the existing on -site speed bumps. • Modification of the traffic routes for student drop-off and pick-up to those shown on Figure 2. The action of course, is subject to adjustment and modification based upon issues that surface during implementation 2. The drop-off / pick-up plan should be capable of serving school needs until such time that 720 students are enrolled. It will likely remain viable beyond that point given the number of conservative assumptions upon which it is based. 3. Intersection operations will meet or exceed City standards at all site access points and the Lemay — Stuart intersection. 4. Improvements have been made to restrict students from cutting through nearby residences and east -west left turn phasing has been installed at the Lemay — Stuart intersection. Consequently, the issues prompting these improvements have already been addressed. I trust this report meets your current needs. Please give me a call if you have any questions or need additional assistance. Sincerely, *D 15945 Eugene G. Coppola, P.E. N oWes r. 0 Intersection Control Movement/ Direction Level of Service AM Pk Hr. PM Pk Hr. Stuart — Access Stop EB LT A A WB LT A A NB LT C C NB RT A A SB LT/TH/RT B B Lemay — Access Stop SB LT C B WBRT E C Lemay — Stuart Signal EB LT D C EB TH/RT D D WB LT D D WB TH D D WBRT D D NB LT B C NB TH/RT D C SB LT C D SB TH/RT B C Overall C C Based on the above determined levels of service, all traffic movements, all approaches, and all intersection levels of service will be very acceptable in the future. The indicated levels of service easily satisfy City level of service criteria. Closer scrutiny revealed that the combined left turn queue of left turning vehicles on Lemay between Stuart and the access will total 4 — 5 vehicles during peak hours. The available spacing between these intersections will easily accommodate these vehicles. Stacking on Stuart for westbound left turns onto Lemay can be regulated with the recent installation of east — west left turn phasing. 10 T W E m m J m m V u Q U) r.- to . M �145/125 v 1015 to00 N o u> cl) Go OD 95/125 '0 o to 4-- 230/250 115/140 1 lj 50/20 Stuart 105/100 4 40/40 1 70/120 0 I ,n o to 85/215 —► o 0 0 65/70 to °r° m 1701125 —� CO o CO p O N N N `." O N co to f0 O O r m � 170/80 Driveway ? I Go o� m LEGEND: AM/PM Peak Hour NOTE: Rounded to nearest 5 wholes. Figme 3 2010 SCHOOL PEAK HOUR TRAFFIC Si 114W4 STK2} Right-tum Lane Grades 26 Orgy —� nl R Y m o 1 SED SITE P AN I AI y_yF � -vv LEGEND: ,I-- K & 1st Grades 4— Grades 2 - 6 X = Mordtor Zrolf*': Oracles 26 Ordy f—Parldrg+Me --� GRADES K - 1: ENTER LEMAY ONLY. EXIT STUART ONLY GRADES 2 - 6: ENTER STUART ONLY, EXIT STUART OR LEMAY m C•] FUTURE PEAK HOUR TRAFFIC School peak hour traffic for conditions some 6 years in the future was developed. This assumed that the school would reach an enrollment of some 720 students by that time. It also estimates traffic on Lemay and Stuart using annual growth in the range of 2%% per year. Resultant future school peak hour traffic is shown on Figure 3. School traffic was shifted to the appropriate site access to reflect changes in the student drop-off / pick-up plan. No reductions in traffic were taken to reflect diverted traffic movements or use of the drop-off area along Stuart. FUTURE OPERATING CONDITIONS Operating conditions in 2010 were assessed using highway capacity analysis procedures. Levels of service for the site access points and the Lemay — Stuart intersection were determined. The new student pick-up / drop-off plan and increases in both street traffic and the number of students are fully considered in this effort. Resultant 2010 intersection levels of service are shown below. 7 An alternate traffic plan was conceptually prepared. The plan is based on the following desirable concepts: • Better balancing of traffic demands between both the Lemay and Stuart accesses. • Retention of the current drop-off and pick-up areas within the site. • Removal of the speed bumps to allow easier circulation. • Increasing the available waiting area for student drop-off and pick-up. • Providing a location where vehicles can drop-off or pick-up students without entering the site. The indicated concepts will promote a reduction in traffic congestion, more balanced traffic flows, less spillover onto adjacent streets, and more efficient operating conditions. Further study, review, and evaluation determined that the following actions would enhance and support the above concepts: • Assigning different grade levels to specific driveways for primary access and egress. • Modifying the existing right -in, right -out access to Lemay to allow southbound left turn turns into the school. • Converting the south lane on eastbound Stuart to a right -turn lane for vehicles entering the school. • Removal of the existing speed bumps. • Converting the south lane on Stuart (east of the school exit) to parking and a bicycle lane consistent with Stuart to the east. This will provide an off -site location for students to be dropped off or picked up. The above actions were developed into a new traffic plan to facilitate student drop-off and pick-up. The plan maximizes the amount of on -site waling area and results in an increase of some 30% over current conditions. This increase should be sufficient to meet the current shortage and allow for future growth. The traffic plan is shown on Figure 2 and is considered conceptual at this time. It will need to be refined and adjusted prior to implementation; however, the guiding principles behind the plan are appropriate. number of trips. In any event, as the student population increases, the number of overall site trips is expected to more closely reflect average conditions. Consequently, an increase in student enrollment will not cause a proportionate increase in site traffic. FUTURE SCHOOL TRAFFIC The school has stated that a practical growth target is 720 students with some 60 students in each grade. This reflects an increase of some 25% over the current enrollment. As indicated earlier, an increase in enrollment is not expected to result in a proportionate increase in site traffic. In order to conduct a conservative analysis of future conditions however, current school traffic was expanded by 25% to reflect the school's growth target. This reflects very conservative (high) school traffic demands. EVALUATION OF DROP-OFF AND PICK-UP PLAN All vehicles currently enter from Stuart at the beginning and end of school. These vehicles then proceed to either the K —1 or 2 — 6 pick-up / drop-off areas. Older students are dropped -off or picked up along the curb adjacent to the entrance to the school. Given the ages and number of students in the K - 6 group, these students represent the most severe condition. Observation and discussions with others concerning the current traffic plan resulted in the identification of the following deficiencies. • The use of only one access concentrates all entering traffic at one location. • On one observation, the queue of vehicles waiting to enter the site was long enough to cause 5 vehicles to back up onto Stuart. • The westbound left turn queue at the Stuart — Lemay intersection backed up and occasionally blocked vehicles trying to enter the site from the east on Stuart. In turn, those vehicles interfered with vehicles trying to exit the site. • Vehicles are required to enter the site to drop-off students. • Speed bumps internal to the site hinder easy maneuvering. 5 CURRENT ISSUES The City and residents have identified a number of issues surrounding the school. These are generally stated below. Comments or responses are provided where appropriate. 1. Congestion and excessive traffic queues at the beginning and end of school. 2. Long westbound left -turn queues at the Lemay — Stuart intersection. During the course of this study, it was mentioned to the City that east -west left turn phasing might decrease queue length at this intersection. The City considered this improvement and the identified phasing has been or will be installed. 3. Pedestrians crossing Stuart should be quantified and addressed if necessary. Eight pedestrians were observed crossing Stuart during the morning school peak hour with two observed during the afternoon peak hour. The number of pedestrians is considered nominal and therefore, no additional investigation is necessary. 4. Students cut through nearby residential areas to access the school. The school has recently installed a fence to prohibit this action. 5. School traffic backs onto Stuart at the beginning and end of school. Outstanding issues will be addressed in the following sections of this letter. SCHOOL TRAFFIC Driveway activity was counted at 620 morning peak hour trips and 445 afternoon peak hour trips. This includes vehicles associated with Children's World and Stuart Professional Park. School traffic is estimated at 570 morning trips and 425 afternoon trips after adjustment for trips related to other uses. Per the Institute of Transportation Engineers publication, "Trip Generation, Seventh Edition", a private school with grades K —12 and 580 students should generate 460 and 320 morning and afternoon peak hour trips, respectively. Therefore, Ridgeview is generating 25 — 30% more trips than expected for its current student population. This excess will likely lessen as older students become more prevalent and the number of students with siblings at the school increases. Older students could drive their siblings to school thereby reducing the 2 E J V Q N O V `O ^-125/107 W o m 10/6 O N m n—81/108 M o a— 199/216 ,i l-98/122 i �� j- 75/34 Stuart 90/85 J� 1 39/42 ) 1 62/105 —► t- m 55/62 o o to 731184 —► 234/147 o rn G o v o o N rp o v r7 cl) 122l72 Driveway 1 N V r7 O LEGEND: AM/PM Peak Four NOTE: 8 pedeshians were observed crossing Stuart during the rooming peak hour wilh 2 observed during the Figure 1 a8emoon peak hour. 2884 SCHOOL PEAK HOUR TRAFFIC 3 AGENCY DISCUSSIONS A scoping session and several discussions were held with Eric Bracke; City Traffic Engineer. Mr. Bracke asked that a review of current congestion during the beginning and end of school be undertaken in lieu of a normal traffic study. It was agreed that all needed bicycle and pedestrian facilities currently exist and therefore no multi -modal analysis was required. A Base Assumptions worksheet is attached. CURRENT CONDITIONS Ridgeview currently has about 580 students in grades K —12. The number of students is biased to the lower grades since the school is relatively new and the natural maturation process starts in the lower grades and progresses to the higher grades. School hours are 7:45 A.M. — 2:45 P.M. for grades 1 — 6 and 7:30 A.M. — 3:00 P.M. for grades 7 -12. Access is provided by two one-way driveways to Stuart and a right in — right out driveway to Lemay. Current school drop-off and pick-up plans require all traffic to enter from Stuart and exit to Stuart or Lemay. Both Stuart driveways have two lanes with the Lemay driveway having one exiting lane for northbound travel only. The west Stuart driveway (entrance only) is some 225 feet east of Lemay while the Lemay access is 390 feet south of Stuart. All access points are shared by Children's World and the school parking lot is shared by Stuart Professional Park. CURRENT TRAFFIC Traffic counts were undertaken at the beginning and end of school as part of this study. This included all accesses and the Lemay — Stuart intersection during the afternoon peak hour. The City provided morning peak hour counts at this intersection. Drop-off and pick-up activities were observed during both peak periods. Count data includes traffic associated with Children's World and Stuart Professional Park. Traffic data is provided on Figure 1. 2 Tel: 303-792-2450 P.O. Box 260027 EUGENE G. COPPOLA P.E. Fax: 303-792-5990 Ufflkton, 00 80163-0027 April 3, 2004 Mr. Lary Trampe Architectural Resource Group P. O. Box 271305 Fort Collins, CO 80527-1305 RE: Ridgeview Classical School Traffic Study 1800 South Lemay Fort Collins, CO Dear Mr. Mr. Trampe: I have assessed the traffic impacts of the expansion of Ridgeview Classical School in Fort Collins, Colorado. The assessment was conducted in conformance with City criteria. Key areas of investigation are documented in the following sections of this letter. PROJECT OVERVIEW Ridgeview Classical School (Ridgeview) is proposing to expand its current facility by some 11,675 square feet on two levels. This represents about a 20% increase. The current playground will be relocated to the north with the expansion located in the area of the existing playground. The new area will allow more room for elective classes such as band, orchestra and other such subjects, as well as, providing a less crowded environment. The expansion will not result in an increase in the student population.