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Home My WebLink AboutHILL POND EAST SUBDIVISION PRELIMINARY - 35 92 - SUBMITTAL DOCUMENTS - ROUND 1 - TRAFFIC STUDYCOLLEGE PARK STUDENT APARTMENTS 0WE HILL POND SINGLE FAMILY SITE ACCESS STUDY FORT COLLINS, COLORADO SEPTEMBER 1991 Prepared for: PolarBEK 1900 International Park Drive, Suite 50 Birmingham, Alabama 35243 Prepared by: MATTHEW J. DELICH, P.E. 3413 Banyan Avenue Loveland, CO 80538 Phone: 303-669-2061 Table 1 1991 Peak Hour Operation Intersection AM (Delay) PM (Delay) Shields/Prospect (signal) C (18.2 S/V) C (22.8 S/V) Shields/Stuart (signal) B (7.8 S/V) Shields/Hobbit (stop sign) WB LT E (D)** E (D)** WB RT A A SB LT D C Shields/Hill Pond (stop sign) EB LT E (C/D)** E (D)** EB T/RT C B WB LT E (C/D)** E (C/D)** WB T/RT A A SB LT C C NB LT B D Shields/Shire (stop sign) WB LT E (C/D)** E (C/D)** WB RT A -A SB LT C C * Delay and level of service not meaningful when V/C >1.2. ** Level of service when considering delay per approach vehicle. peak hours. By other criteria in the 1985 HCM, the level of service of these left turns is more appropriately defined as level of service C/D. Copies of two research papers, presented to the Institute of Transportation Engineers, are presented in Appendix D. Much of the data used in "Intersection Delay at Unsignalized Intersection" was obtained in Fort Collins. Signals along Shields Street also impact the actual delay by introducing gaps in the northbound and southbound through traffic. It is concluded that the level of service E operation at the stop sign controlled intersections shown in Table 1 should be tempered when considering the additional operation information provided above. These minor street left turns are in the level of service C/D categories. III. PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT College Park and•Hill Pond Single Family are two developments located east of Shields Street in Fort Collins. Figure 4 shows a schematic of the site plan of Hill Pond, indicating location of the uses indicated in Table 2, Trip Generation. College Park is a student apartment development consisting of 180 four bedroom apartments. This results in a total site population of 720 students. Based upon information supplied by PolarBEK, students are mostly upperclassmen and graduate students. The main access to College Park will be across from Stuart Street, taking advantage of the signalized intersection. A secondary access is proposed on Hobbit Street. It is expected that this secondary access will have very light traffic. The Hill Pond Single Family development will gain primary access to the street network via Hill Pond Road and Shire Court. This development will have a maximum of 110 dwelling units (3 D.U./ acre). When Centre Avenue through the Centre for Advanced Technology is completed, the Hill Pond Single Family area will also have access to Centre Avenue. However, the timing of the completion of Centre Avenue is unknown at this time. Access solely to Shields Street via Hill Pond Road and Shire Court- is a worst case scenario. A connection to Centre Avenue will mitigate traffic impacts of the Hill Pond Single Family area by providing alternative means of access to the street network. Trip Generation and Modal Split Trip generation is important in considering the impact of a development such as this upon the existing and proposed street system. A compilation of trip generation information, prepared by the Institute of Transportation Engineers dated 1987, is customarily used to project trips that would be generated by the proposed uses at this site. This document was used for the Hill Pond Single Family area. However, Urban Travel Patterns for 4 FUTURE CENTRE AVENUF- Center for Advanced Technology o+ Y c WLLI r cn oC r O C O a r r ..� E r'c n r Y ' O, c Q N IL a a H W a H C in LU W J Z Y CC E N V �~ C ~ O J 0 N a = t SHIELDS aW �N J Z oa aU. -J Uj J 'J x0 Z N cq �qY q0 O 2 C C 4 a° " N ,� 0 Y 41 �U a d � c a .. CO H c O STREET 0 a ♦ SITE PLAN Figure 4 Land Use Hill Pond Single Family . 110 D.U. College Park Student Apartments - 180 D.U. - 720 Students School Person Trips School Vehicle Trips Non -School Vehicle Trips College Park Vehicle Trips Subtotal Table 2 Trip Generation Daily Trips 1100 1600 A.M. Peak Trips Trips in out 23 60 P.M. Peak Trips Trips in out 69 41 7 187 115 22 4 94 58 11 17 40 51 30 21 134 109 41 Hospitals, Universities, office Buildings, and. Capitols, NCHRP Report 62, HRB, 1969, was used to project the student travel from/to College Park since the data in this document was more definitive pertaining to diurnal travel behavior of students. Table 2 shows the trip generation expected from both developments. Vehicle. trips generated at the Hill Pond Single Family development is straightforward. However, travel from the College Park student apartments bears some explanation. College Park trips were divided into two categories: school (CSU) and non - school trips. The non -school trips can be categorized as work trips, shopping trips, recreation trips, etc. Using the apartment use from Trip Generation, 4th Edition to determine the trip rates, it was assumed that 20 percent of the trips would be non -school trips. This is shown in the row labelled non -school trips in Table 2. Using the information contained in NCHRP Report 62, the number of peak hour person trips was determined. This is shown in the row labelled school person trips in Table 2. Based upon the location of College Park with regard to CSU, it was assumed that half of the school person trips would be by modes not involving a personal motor vehicle. These modes are Transfort, work, or bicycle. Transfort operates on Shields Street with service to CSU. It is expected that there would be a bus stop on Shields Street between Stuart and Hobbit. Transfort and CSU are working together to make transit on attractive travel alternative for college students. College Park is less than one mile from the geographical center of CSU. This makes pedestrian and bicycle travel another attractive travel alternative. The number of school motor vehicle trips is considered to be conservatively high. These trips are also shown in Table 2. The above references and assumptions were discussed with Fort Collins Transportation Division Staff and it was agreed that the trip generation was reasonable for the proposed uses. Trip Distribution Two directional distributions of the generated trips were determined for the Hill Pond developments. Distributions for the single family and non -school travel for College' Park used employment as the attraction variable in the gravity model. Future year data were obtained from information supplied by the Fort Collins Planning Department. School related vehicle trips for College Park were oriented to CSU. Seventy percent of the trips were assumed to travel north on Shields Street. Both trip distributions are shown in Figure 5. It was assumed that a minimal number (10%) of College Park generated vehicle trips would utilize the secondary Hobbit Street access. 5 aR 0 0 5% / 0% .w — Nom. / 0% t- W W N N G J W STUART STREET ei 0 0 co 35% / 30% I College Park I I Site I I I L� HILL POND ROAD SHIRE COURT Q N PROSPECT ROAD � I I I Hill Pond I I Single Family I 1•" Site I I I LEGEND: Residential (Non -School) School TRIP DISTRIBUTION Figure 5 Background Traffic Background traffic is defined as the traffic that is and/or will be on the area streets that is not related to the proposed developments. Future analysis years were 1993 (short range) and 2010 (long range). It was assumed that both developments would be built out by then, although, in reality, the Hill Pond Single Family area is controlled by market conditions and may take longer. Based upon historic traffic counts on Shields and Prospect, it is concluded that traffic has been fairly stable over the last few years. Therefore, the background traffic was assumed to increase by one percent per year to 1993. The traffic projections from the North Front Range Regional Transportation Plan, May 1990 were used to obtain the long range background traffic projections. Figure 6 shows the 1993 peak hour background traffic. Trip Assignment Trip assignment is how the generated and distributed trips are expected to be loaded on the street system. The assigned trips are the resultant of the trip distribution process. Figure 7 shows the short range morning and afternoon peak hour site generated traffic plus background traffic at the key intersections. Figure 8 shows the long range peak hour assignment of the site generated traffic plus background traffic. Signal Warrants As a matter of policy, traffic signals are not installed at any location unless warrants are met according to the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices. No new signals are anticipated at any of the key intersections. However, it is expected that the Shields/Stuart signal will be modified to include the east leg access to College Park. Signal Progression Signal progression was not evaluated since no new signals are warranted due to the Hill Pond development. Signal progression analyses have been done for a number of traffic studies for other projects along Shields Street and have been submitted to the City of Fort Collins over the past five years. These progression analyses show that acceptable progression can be achieved on Shields Street. 2 STUART OFFICE —109/21a — I lo,2 6 boo/Zl l Iolo/90 III/ao —� t IZb/103—� _ Ncr cr C� _ tII - 24/ 15 0/0 15/Io � t� W N — 1993 PEAK HOUR BACKGROUND TRAFFIC (WITHOUT HILL POND DEVELOPMENTS) Q N PROSPECT HOBBIT HILL POND SHIRE AM/PM Figure 6 1Cl/ zI& Ilolo/e40 130/454 ZZ(o/$5—�- 1 t (0'70/Z-7b 108/91c N �t dst,�4, s =� `� Z 9 r= 110/ STUART 111/ v — IJOM. —► 12b/103 —� OFFICE 2;9. Ito/ 14 PROSPECT HOBBIT HILL POND SHIRE AM/PM Q N SHORT RANGE (1993) PEAK HOUR TRAFFIC Figure 7 140/300-91- 1 1 1 ILO/110 —� S o o Cl o�6N N 5O /60 z5/ Lo STUART IZO/9O —� wo m . ---+ 140/ 115 0 U*1 OFFICE 0010 �o PROSPECT HOBBIT HILL POND SHIRE AM/PM LONG RANGE (2010) PEAK HOUR TRAFFIC Figure 8 , EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The College Park Student ApartmentE, and Hill Pond Single Family area are proposed developments located east of Shields Street near Stuart Street. This traffic impact study involved the steps of trip generation, trip distribution, trip assignment, capacity analysis, traffic signal warrant analysis, and accident analysis. This study assessed the impacts of the Hill Pond developments on the short range (1993) and long range (2010) street system in the vicinity of the proposed developments. As a result of this analysis, the following is concluded: - The development of the College Park Student Apartments and the Hill Pond Single Family area is feasible from a traffic engineering standpoint. At full development as proposed, approximately 2700 trip ends will be generated at these sites daily. The single family area will generate 1100 trip ends and the student apartments will generate 1600 trip ends. Current operation at the Shields/Prospect signalized intersection is acceptable. A northbound left -turn lane should be provided at the Shields/Stuart intersection for more efficient and safer movement of traffic. Left turns from the minor streets at the stop sign controlled intersections experience delays of 15-28 seconds during the peak hours. This delay is considered to be in the level of service C/D categories. - In the short range future (1993) without the proposed developments, operation will continue to be acceptable except for the northbound through/left-turn condition at the Shields/Stuart intersection. A left -turn lane should be provided at this location. - In the short range future with the proposed Hill Pond developments and the increase in background traffic, the signalized intersections of Shields/Prospect and Shields/Stuart will operate acceptably. With the College Park portion of the development, it is expected that turn lanes will be provided at the Shields/Stuart intersection. The minor street left turns at the stop sign controlled intersections will experience delays of 16-31 seconds. This is considered to be level of service C/D operation. It is recommended that a right -turn taper be designed approaching Hobbit Street. This will allow the northbound right turns to Hobbit to operate efficiently and safely. In the long range future (2010), the signalized intersections will operate acceptably in the peak hours. Left turns from the minor streets at stop sign controlled intersections will be at level of service D, experiencing delays of 18-34 Operations Analysis Capacity analyses were performed on key intersections adjacent to and near the Hill Pond developments. Two short range (1993) analyses were performed. One included analysis of only the background traffic conditions without the proposed developments. The second short range operation analysis included the site development traffic. One long range operation analysis was performed with the proposed developments. Using the traffic volumes shown in Figure 6 and the existing geometrics, the key intersections operate in the short range condition as indicated in Table 3. Calculation forms for these analyses are provided in Appendix E. The Shields/Prospect signalized intersection will continue to operate acceptably during the peak hours. Operation at the Shields/Stuart intersection will be acceptable during the morning peak hour, but continues to be unacceptable during the afternoon peak hour. Provision of a northbound left -turn lane on Shields Street approaching Stuart will allow this intersection to operate more efficiently and safely. It is recommended that the left -turn lane be provided whether or not the College Park development proceeds. From observation, it appears that there is adequate width on the Spring Creek bridge and to the north of Hobbit Street that this can be accomplished at a reasonable cost. It appears that the signal poles on the east side of Shields Street will not require relocation. Left turns from the three stop sign controlled intersections are in the level of service E category, based upon the 1985 HCM capacity technique. However, based upon the research cited earlier, the delays to these left turns will range from 15-30 seconds per approach vehicle. This would place the delay more appropriately in the level of service C/D range during the peak hours. This range of delay occurs at numerous stop sign controlled intersections in Fort Collins and is generally accepted. Using the traffic volumes shown in Figure 7, the intersections operate in the short range condition with the proposed developments as indicated in Table 4. Calculation forms for these analyses are provided in Appendix F. The Shields/Prospect and Shields/Stuart intersections operate acceptably. The northbound left -turn lane at the Shields/Stuart intersection improves the operation significantly during the afternoon peak hours. As with the analysis of the background traffic, the left turn exits at the stop sign controlled intersections will be at level of service E according to the 1985 HCM technique. However, according to the research in Appendix D, the left turn delay will be in the range of 16-31 seconds per approach vehicle during the peak hours. This range. of vehicle delay places the operation in the level of service C/D categories for the left turns at all these intersections. There is little that can be done to improve the operation, since the delays are caused by the background traffic volumes on Shields Street. With good signal progression on Shields Street, the 7 Table 3 1993 Peak Hour Operation Without Hill Pond or College Park Developments Intersection AM (Delay) PM (Delay) Shields/Prospect (signal) C (18.6 S/V) C (23.75/V) Shields/Stuart (signal) B (8.0 S/V) Shields/Hobbit (stop sign) WB LT E (D)** E (D).** WB RT A A SB LT D C Shields/Hill Pond (stop sign) EB LT E (C/D)** E (D)** EB T/RT C B WB LT E (C/D)** E (C/D)** WB T/RT A A SB LT C C NB LT B D Shields/Shire (stop sign) WB LT E (C/D)** E (C/D)** WB RT A A SB LT C C * Delay and level of service not meaningful when V/C X1.2. ** Level of service when considering delay per approach vehicle. Table 4 1993 Peak Hour Operation With Hill Pond or College Park Developments Intersection AM (Delay) PM (Delay) Shields/Prospect (signal) C (19.7 S/V) D (25.6 S/V) Shields/Stuart (signal) B (12.2 S/V) B (13.3S/V) Shields/Hobbit (stop sign) WB LT E (D)** E (D)** WB RT A A SB LT D D Shields/Hill Pond (stop sign) EB LT E (C/D)** E (D)** EB T/RT C C WB LT E (D)** E (D)** WB T/RT A A SB LT C C NB LT B D Shields/Shire (stop sign) WB LT E (C/D)** E (C/D)** WB RT A A SB LT C C. ** Level of service when considering delay per approach vehicle. operation of the left turns will be improved due to the gaps in traffic that are created by platoon flow. Using the traffic volumes shown in Figure 8, the key intersections operate in the long range future conditions as indicated in Table 5. Calculation forms for these analyses are provided in Appendix G. The Shields/Prospect and Shields/Stuart signalized intersections will operate acceptably. While not related to the proposed Hill Pond development traffic, provision of a southbound right -turn lane and a westbound right -turn lane at the Shields/Prospect intersection will significantly improve the operation at this intersection. Given the present right-of-way and land ownership patterns at these locations, provision .of these right -turn lanes is not likely until/unless there is redevelopment of multiple properties adjacent to this intersection. The left - turn exits from the stop sign controlled intersections will continue to operate at level of service E according to the 1985 HCH techniques. Delays to these left -turn exits will be in the range of 18-34 seconds per approach vehicle during the peak hours. This would be level of service D condition according to the research presented in Appendix D. At the Shields/Hill Pond and Shields/ Shire intersections, a worst case condition is presented. By the year 2010, Centre Avenue may be completed between Prospect Street and Shields Street through the Centre for Advanced Technology. If this is the case, generated traffic from the Hill Pond Single Family area will have an alternative route via Centre Avenue. .The cross section of Shields Street through the area adjacent to College Park should be four lanes plus the center left -turn lane. This is the cross section that exists to the south of Spring Creek. This cross section provides the recommended northbound and southbound left -turn lanes at the Shields/Stuart intersection. Based upon guidelines in "Intersection Channelization Design Guide," TRB, NCHRP Report 279, 1985, a right -turn taper of 180 feet on Shields Street approaching Hobbit Street will facilitate the vehicles turning off Shields Street, eliminating any delay to the through vehicles in the right through lane. This taper can be incorporated to the design of the curb and gutter along Shields Street. Parking is currently allowed on Hobbit Street. Safer and more efficient operation would occur if on -street parking were not allowed from Shields Street to the first driveway access to the Landmark Apartments (180 feet). All of the minor stop sign controlled streets (Hobbit, Hill Pond, and Shire) should be striped with an exclusive left -turn lane. This will allow the right turns to move if the left turns experience delays. The east approach of Stuart Street (main access to College Park; should be striped with a left -turn lane and through/right-turn lane. 8 Table 5 2010 Peak Hour Operation With Hill Pond or College Park Developments Intersection AM (Delay) PM (Delay) Shields/Prospect (signal) C (22.4 S/V) D (30.7 S/V) Shields/Stuart (signal) B (13.0 S/V) C (15.25/V) Shields/Hobbit (stop sign) WB LT E (D)** E (D)** WB RT A A SB LT D D Shields/Hill Pond (stop sign) EB LT E (D)** E (D)** EB T/RT C C WB LT E (D)** E (D)** WB T/RT B A SB LT D D NB LT B D Shields/Shire (stop sign) WB LT E (D)** E (D)** WB RT A A SB LT D D ** Level of service when considering delay per approach vehicle. Accidents Accident records for this segment of Shields Street were reviewed. The data covered 1988, 1989, and 1990. At the Shields/Prospect intersection, there were 23, 27, and 28 accidents, respectively. The predominant types of accidents were rear -ends and broadsides. These are typical for signalized intersections. Considering the amount of traffic passing through this intersection, the number of accidents is not excessive. The accident rate at this intersection is not expected to change with the additional traffic generated by the proposed developments. The number of accidents at the Shields/Stuart intersection were 6, 12, and 7, respectively. Over half of the accidents were rear -ends, with a significant number being in the northbound direction. The northbound left -turn lane should significantly reduce the accidents at this intersection. The southbound left - turn lane at this intersection will remove left -turning vehicles from the southbound through lane on Shields Street. The right -turn taper approaching Hobbit Street will allow this turn to be made more efficiently. This will reduce the likelihood of rear -end accidents occurring at this location. The recommended control devices and geometrics should minimize vehicular conflicts and maximize vehicle separation. Therefore, the accident rate should be at its minimum for a typical urban condition. Other Issues This section discusses three issues which were raised at the neighborhood meetings. These issues are alternative modes, alternative bike routes and air pollution as caused by auto emissions. The location of the College Park portion of these developments presents an opportunity for use of many modes. This is especially true for the school (CSU) related trips. Located less than one mile from the center of campus, students will likely use pedestrian and bicycle modes for many school trips. These modes will be used throughout the school year. On adverse weather days, which are relatively few along the Northern Front Range of Colorado, many students will likely use Transfort, which is oriented to serve CSU. The opportunities to reduce the amount of personal vehicle travel are tremendous. Since parking on campus requires a permit fee, students will likely realize that the modal opportunities will save them time and money. Bicycle travel to/from campus by students is a very popular mode of travel. Casual observation of the bicycle traffic on Plum 2 Street between Fort Ram Village and CSU can verify this. As mentioned earlier in this report, it is expected that bicycle traffic between College Park and CSU would also be a primary mode of travel. Bicycles could be used by as many as 40-60 percent of the College Park residents. However, schedules being what they are, all the bicycle use would not occur in a single hour or two of the day. Bicycle traffic would likely be spread over the school day with some low peaks at certain times of the day. Given the location of College Park, the bicyclist has a number of alternative routes to get to campus. One of the most direct routes is north along Shields Street, accessing campus in the vicinity of Lake Street, South Drive, or the Moby Gym parking lots. However, Shields Street is narrow north of Prospect Road with minimal sidewalks. The city of Fort Collins recognizes this and is undertaking a study to develop a safer pedestrian/bicycle facility adjacent to Shields Street. It is likely that implementation of the results of that study will coincide with the completion of College Park. Other alternatives will be via Farm Tree Road to Prospect and via the Spring Creek Bike Trail to Whitcomb Street or Centre Avenue. Development of the Centre Avenue bicycle route from the. Spring Creek Bike Trail should be pursued, since Centre Avenue accesses the central part of campus and has a signal at Prospect to aid in crossing this busy street. Given the location of College Park, many alternative bicycle routes exist which will reduce the concentration of bicyclists on any one facility. Potential air pollution concentrations in the Spring Creek drainage basin have been raised as an issue related to the College Park Student Apartments. It is reasonable to assume that almost, all residents of College Park will have a motor vehicle. However, it is not reasonable to assume that those motor vehicles will be used every day or at times of the day when traffic is at its peak. The location of College Park is favorable from an alternative modes perspective. This will have a positive impact on air pollution. If this type of development were located further south in the Shields Street corridor, further west in the Prospect Road corridor, or anywhere between these corridors in the southwest area of Fort Collins, then these students would travel through the Shields/Prospect intersection. If they lived further from campus, the likelihood of personal vehicle use would increase significantly, especially in the winter which is the critical time as far as air pollution is concerned. It is concluded that the proposed location of College Park is the most favorable related to alternative travel modes which, in turn, has the most positive impact on air pollution in this area. IV. CONCLUSIONS This study assessed the impacts of the Hill Pond developments on the short range (1993) and long range (2010) street system in 10 the vicinity of the proposed developments. As a result of this analysis, the following is concluded: The development of the College Park Student Apartments and the Hill Pond Single Family area is feasible from a traffic engineering standpoint. At full development as proposed, approximately 2700 trip ends will be generated at these sites daily. The single family area will generate 1100 trip ends and the student apartments will generate 1600 trip ends. Current operation at the Shields/Prospect signalized intersection is acceptable. A northbound left -turn lane should be provided at the Shields/Stuart intersection for more efficient and safer movement of traffic. Left turns from the minor streets at the stop sign controlled intersections experience delays of 15-28 seconds during the peak hours. This delay is considered to be in the level of service C/D categories. - In the short range future (1993) without the proposed developments, operation will continue to be acceptable except for the northbound through/left-turn condition at the Shields/Stuart intersection. A left -turn lane should be provided at this location. - In the short range future with the proposed Hill Pond developments and the increase in background traffic, the signalized intersections of Shields/Prospect and Shields/Stuart will operate acceptably. With the College Park portion of the development, it is expected that turn lanes will be provided at the Shields/Stuart intersection. The minor street left turns at the stop sign controlled intersections will experience delays of 16-31 seconds. This is considered to be level of service C/D operation. It is recommended that a right -turn taper be designed approaching Hobbit Street. This will allow the northbound right turns to Hobbit to operate efficiently and safely. In the long range future (2010), the signalized intersections will operate acceptably in the peak hours. Left turns from the minor streets at stop sign controlled intersections will be at level of service D, experiencing delays of 18-34 seconds. The Hill Pond Single Family area will have an alternative route via Centre Avenue through the Centre for Advanced Technology. - The location of College Park Student Apartments provides a unique opportunity for travel by many modes, particularly for school trips to/from CSU. Use of the alternative modes has the positive effect of mitigating the use of personal vehicle travel for school trips. The bicycle travel for school trips will have a number of alternative routes which will reduce the concentration of bicycles along any single route. 11 - The location of College Park and the available alternative travel modes will have a positive impact on air pollution in this area of Fort Collins. - With the recommended control and geometrics, the accident rate should be at an acceptable level for typical urban conditions. 12 seconds. The Hill Pond Single Family area willhave an alternative route via Centre Avenue through the Centre for Advanced Technology. - The location of College Park Student Apartments provides a unique opportunity for travel by many modes, particularly for school trips to/from CSU. Use of the alternative modes has the positive effect of mitigating the use of personal vehicle travel for school trips. The bicycle travel for school trips will have a number of alternative routes which will reduce the concentration of bicycles along any single route. ' - The location of College Park and the available alternative travel modes will have a positive impact on air pollution in this area of Fort Collins. - With the recommended control and geometrics, the accident rate should be at an acceptable level for typical urban conditions. I. INTRODUCTION This traffic impact study addresses the capacity, geometric, and control requirements at and near a proposed development known as Hill Pond in Fort Collins, Colorado. It is comprised of two separate developments. College Park is a student apartment development, located east of Shields Street between Hobbit Street and Stuart Street (extended). The Hill Pond Single Family development is located between the Sundering Townhomes and Parcels E and H of the Centre for Advanced Technology. During the course of the analysis, numerous contacts were made with the project planning consultant (Vaught*Frye, Architects), PolarBEK (College Park), Albrecht Homes (Hill Pond Single Family), and the Fort Collins Transportation Division. This study generally conforms to the format set forth in the Traffic Impact Study Guidelines. The study involved the following steps: - Collect physical, traffic, and development data; - Perform trip generation, trip distribution, and trip assignment; - Determine peak hour traffic volumes and daily traffic volumes; - Conduct capacity and operational level of service analyses on key intersections and roadway sections; - Analyze signal warrants; - Analyze potential changes in accidents and safety considerations. This report is prepared for the following purposes: - Evaluate the existing conditions at key intersections; - Estimate the trip generation by the proposed developments; - Determine the trip distribution of site generated traffic; - Evaluate operation at key intersections; - Determine the geometrics at key intersections; Determine the impacts of site generated traffic on key intersections. Information used in this report was obtained from the City of Fort Collins, the planning consultant, the developers, research sources (ITE, TRB, etc.) and field reconnaissance. II. EXISTING CONDITIONS The location of Hill Pond is shown in Figure 1. It is important that a thorough understanding of the existing conditions be presented. 1 _Tv i4l Pits Grave • • Cq r It e., ........... .. 2 �0 3 L- - .. - ..... . 5 4 coze FT VI ; , IZ4 Lot JQ E: All r ima Field I It VY it ar -11 North Yai �Oa Refin w WU 1 aill i Iwcl Lim] .,V1 - . . p r 4 4/ 16 9 20 lot it „�pb So wz je r Di ;p sal__ E3 4 4954 PF 17 "AD U Flosp 0 31' If I Hughes- ____ -Stadium Zj, r 20 22 LARIMEA Hill Pond Single Family,, ra avel.j 'I op, Pit Dri ;Th ealp 0 rakes I) . 7;k will't U A blb )"it r�.' it I ini? % Res ! 27 29 -8 26 D. -Ve F K —Lake 33Q�-j -=a ing Canyon34 Dam!i.. G , e I Pit J%b f i o 5 41 . IV, J, 13 r t 4991, 15� 5z 1 35, Me Clellanicto, ei Harmottv 50,0 2 % SITE LOCATION Figure 1 Land Use Land uses in the area are primarily vacant, commercial or residential. Residential development exists on all sides of the College Park portion of the development. Some commercial uses exist to the southwest across the Shields/Stuart intersection. Land to the northwest of the College Park site, across Shields Street, is vacant. The Hill Pond Single Family portion of the development has residential uses on the north and west, and vacant land within the Centre for Advanced Technology on the south and east. Land in the area is essentially flat. Beginning at approximately Hobbit Street, Shields Street climbs a small grade through the Prospect intersection. There is a grade change approximately 0.4 miles to the south near Rolland Moore Park. The center of Fort Collins lies to the northeast of these sites. Roads The primary streets near the Hill Pond developments are shown in Figure 2. Shields Street is west of Hill Pond. It is a north - south street designated as an arterial on the Fort Collins Master Street Plan. In this area, between Shire Court and Prospect Road, it has a four lane cross section with auxiliary turn lanes at Prospect, Hobbit, Hill Pond, and Shire. A curb section is complete on the west side of the street. There is a gap in the curb on the east side along the College Park frontage. Therefore, widening of Shields will likely be accomplished on the east side of the street between Spring Creek and Hobbit Street. The Shields/Prospect intersection is signalized. The speed limit is 30 mph. Sight distance is generally not a problem along Shields Street. The Shields/Hobbit intersection is stop sign controlled. The Shields/Stuart intersection is signalized. The Shields/Hill Pond and Shields/Shire intersections are. stop sign controlled. The nearest other signals along Shields Street are at Drake to the south and Elizabeth to the north. Prospect Street is approximately 600-700 feet north of Hobbit Street. It is a east -west street designated as an•arterial on the Fort Collins Master Street Plan. In this area, Prospect Road has a four lane cross section with a center left -turn lane at appropriate locations: West of Shields Street, Prospect narrows to a two lane cross section. The speed limit is 30 mph. Signals currently exist at the Shields/Prospect intersection as mentioned earlier. Stuart Street is an east -west street designated as a collector. It intersects with Shields Street at a signalized T intersection. It is approximately 60 feet wide with two travel 2 STUART STREET Office PROSPECT ROAD H W W H N N HOBBIT STREET Uj = I i N I College Park I Student Apartments j � I I I I L� HILL POND ROAD SHIRE COURT I I Hill Pond I I Single Family Area I I I I I I I L-----------J PRIMARY STREETS Figure 2 lanes (3 lanes near the Shields Street intersection), a wide bike lane on each side, and parking on both sides. On the north side of the proposed College Park is Hobbit Street. It is a local street, approximately 36 feet wide. It provides the only access to the Landmark Apartments. It intersects with Shields Street at a stop sign controlled T intersection. Hill Pond Road and Shire Court are local streets which will provide access from Shields Street to the Hill Pond Single Family area. Both streets intersect with Shields Street at stop sign controlled intersections. Existing Traffic Daily traffic flow is shown in Figure 3. These are machine counted volumes conducted by the City of Fort Collins in 1989.. Peak hour turning movements obtained in 1989 and 1991 are also shown in Figure 3. Raw traffic count data is provided in Appendix A. Adjustments were made to the traffic counts in Appendix A that more appropriately reflect the traffic volumes during the school year. These adjustments are reflected in the turning movement volumes shown in Figure 3. Existing Operation The five key intersections shown in Figure 3 were evaluated regarding operational efficiency. They were evaluated using their respective control with existing geometrics. The peak hour operation in shown in Table 1. Calculation forms are provided in Appendix B. Appendix C describes level of service for signalized and unsignalized intersections from ..the 1985 Highway Capacity Manual. The signalized. Shields/Prospect intersection operates acceptably. At the Shields/Stuart 'signalized intersection, the northbound left turns share a lane with the northbound throughs. There is an additional northbound through lane, however: It was observed during traffic counting and is indicated in the operational analysis during the afternoon peak, that left -turning vehicles did block this lane causing delays to vehicles desiring to proceed north on Shields. This situation can cause driver frustration and is potentially a hazardous condition. The three stop sign controlled intersections operate acceptably, except for minor street left turns which operate at level of service E. By definition, acceptable operation is considered to be level of service D or better. Based upon recent research, it was found that the 1985 HCM capacity technique for stop sign controlled intersections gives an overstatement of the level of service. The expected delay to the minor street left turns ranges from 15 to 28 seconds per approach vehicle during the 3 � M \tA � N� N L-IDS/210 l � Ibo/bb3 (1583) �IIZ/38Z +* (aosa Zn/ aZ b44/ZIo5-�-►, IOZ/W7 S Ic, go �— 35/5Z Z4/I(o o- ej ��_ �9 STUART cn -9 qr 0/0 14/l0 OFFICE to � o • I t r J O N rc o N !2 DAILY & PEAK HOUR TRAFFIC Q N PROSPECT HOBBIT HILL POND SHIRE AM/PM DAILY: (Il,* -0. Figure 3