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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOUNTRY CLUB RESERVE - PDP - PDP170008 - CORRESPONDENCE - TRANSPORTATION ISSUEJoint Meeting Notes June 2, 2017 Regarding: Transportation challenges in Northeast Fort Collins and next steps towards planning and improvements Joint City / County Transportation Staff Attendance: City County Mark Jackson Mark Peterson Chad Crager Rusty McDaniel Dean Klingner Suzette Mallette Martina Wilkinson Aaron Iverson The purpose of these notes is to summarize an informative and collaborative meeting between City and County Staff on June 2nd to discuss transportation challenges in northeast Fort Collins. County staff provided information on historical growth of Country Club Road, and shared concerns from both citizens and County leadership about the increase in traffic and proposed City developments that are impacting County roadways. City staff provided an overview of the traffic impact review of area developments, and what type of proportional improvements are being required of approved projects. The following were noted: • Country Club Road is in unincorporated Larimer County and connects State Highway 1 (SH 1) and Lemay to Turnberry Road. It is the only east-west connection in the three mile distance between Vine Drive and Douglas Road. Given that it is the only through roadway in the area, Country Club Road functions somewhat like an arterial. However it is classified as a collector. This is deliberate and due in large part to the physically constrained nature of the road alignment combined with adjacent residential development that occurred in the 1960s and 70s. The roadway follows a curved alignment along Long Pond Reservoir, which is located immediately to the north. There is also a sharp, nearly 90 degree turn located at the entrance to the Fort Collins Country Club. Residents along the entire length of the south side of Country Club Road from Turnberry Road to Belmont Drive, all have direct driveway access onto the roadway. These residents, as well as those living to the south in Country Club Estates and taking access to their neighborhood off Country Club via Longview Drive, Warren Drive and Lakeview Drive have voiced concerns about safety and traffic speed and historically advocated for retaining the lower classification and maintaining a rural feel to the road. • Volumes along Country Club are increasing, from 6,000 Average Daily Traffic (ADT) in 2010 to 7,500 ADT in 2016. Although not an atypical increase in a growing area, the change is acutely felt by residents along the corridor. The current volumes are higher than typical collector roadways, but not above the capacity of a 2-lane roadway. The group discussed various ways that improvements can occur. In the short term, individual developments are required to meet the City’s level of service standards and mitigate their own impacts to meet the standards. The focus of transportation improvements for recent developments in the area has been to improve arterial intersections where congestion currently exists or is forecast. The intent is to make the arterial road system function well by ensuring adequate intersection capacity. Intersection improvements for which funding (from development, street oversizing, and federal safety dollars) is identified include Turnberrry / Country Club, State Highway 1 / Douglas, and Timberline / Vine. The other source for improvements is through capital improvement projects. To date, the City has focused capital improvements in the northeast on Suniga Road and on design for Lemay/Vine. At this time, neither the County nor City has identified funding for improvements to Country Club Road. Finally, in the longer term, improvements in the area will be dependent on facilities shown in the City’s and County’s Transportation Master Plans (TMP). The County is just finishing an update to their TMP while the City is beginning an update to theirs. The County expressed an interest in looking at this area more comprehensively through the City’s TMP update process as most of the streets are within the Urban Growth Area. The County is open to the discussion about supporting the improvement or expansion of roadways to assist the current County residents. This would include discussion of funding options. The pros and cons of improving several roads in the area were discussed at a conceptual level. Included in the discussion besides Country Club were Douglas Road, Suniga, and the extension of Turnberry south to Suniga or Vine. The bottom line is that this area is an area of growth and includes challenges, including jurisdictional complexities. Current developments are required to mitigate their impact in accordance with approved traffic impact studies and City / County performance and design standards, and currently funded improvements are focusing on the intersections to support the arterial road system instead of Country Club Road. In the next year or so, the update to City Plan and the Transportation Master Plan is the mechanism by which citizens can engage in determining the future of the area. City staff will include County staff in the TMP update process. Staff from both the County and City will continue to meet for project specific opportunities, as well as meet bi-annually for overall coordination of regional transportation solutions and partnership opportunities. All attendees expressed a commitment to continued collaboration in working towards transportation improvements in the area.