HomeMy WebLinkAboutLAUREL SCHOOL DEMOLITION AND RECONSTRUCTION ADVISORY REVIEW - 59 91 - SUBMITTAL DOCUMENTS - ROUND 2 - TRAFFIC STUDYLAUREL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
SITE ACCESS STUDY
FORT COLLINS, COLORADO
FEBRUARY 1992
Prepared for:
Poudre School District R-1
2407 LaPorte Avenue
Fort Collins, CO 80521
Prepared by:
MATTHEW J. DELICH, P.E.
3413 Banyan Avenue
Loveland, CO 80538
Phone: 303-669-2061
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Scale: 1" : 400'.
LAUREL STREET / PENNOCK PLACE
STREET CONNECTION
Figure 6
Center (proposed to be used as a family care center in association
with Poudre Valley Hospital). The assumptions used to forecast the
volume on this new link is considered to be conservative (high).
The following assumptions were used:
1. Twenty-five percent of the generated trips from/to the
Riverside/Lemay Shopping Center are from the neighborhood to
the west and would use this new link.
2. Ten percent of the generated trips from/to the proposed
Riverside Junction medical office building are from the
neighborhood to the west and would use this link.
3. Fifty percent of the households in the traffic zone west of
the Riverside/Lemay Shopping Center would use this new link
as their route to destinations along Lemay Avenue,
particularly to the south.
Using these assumptions, the following traffic volumes would occur
on this new link as background traffic:
- Daily volume - 2600
Morning peak hour volume - 105
Afternoon peak hour volume - 215
C. Trip Distribution
Trip distribution was determined based upon an evaluation of
the current travel patterns for the Laurel Elementary School and.
the service area of the Laurel and Harris Elementary Schools.
Figure 7 shows the service area for the Laurel Elementary School.
D. Traffic Assignment and Intersection Operation
Using the vehicular trip generation estimates presented in
Table 2, the site generated traffic was assigned to the area street
network. The street network consisted of the existing streets that
are currently used to access Laurel Elementary School. A second
network consisted of those streets plus the connection to Pennock
Place as shown in Figure 6.
Figure 8 shows the peak hour traffic assignment with the
existing street system. This assignment also includes a 10 percent
increase in background traffic as described earlier in this report.
Table 3 shows the peak hour operation at the key intersections.
Calculation forms are .provided in Appendix D. All of the key
intersections will operate acceptably with the existing geometrics.
School related traffic on Locust Street and Laurel Street will
increase significantly over the school related traffic on those
streets at the present time. However, the number of vehicles
either currently on these streets or that are caused by the
proposed.Laurel Elementary School is so small that traffic volumes
are well under the limit of those that might be expected on a local
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PEAK HOUR TRAFFIC
WITH EXISTING STREET SYSTEM
Figure 8
Table 3
Peak Hour Operation with Existing Street System
Level of Service
Intersection
AM
PM
Stover/Locust
EB LT/T/RT
A
A
WB LT/T/RT
A
A
SB LT
A
A
NB LT
A
A
Laurel/Colorado
NB LT/T/RT
A
A
SB LT/T/RT
A
A
EB LT
A
A
WB LT
A.
A
Laurel/Access
NB LT/RT
A
A
Table 4
Peak Hour Operation with Laurel Street/Pennock Connection
Intersection
S-tover/Locust- -
EB LT/T/RT
WB LT/T/RT
SB LT
NB LT
Laurel/Colorado
NB LT/T/RT
SB LT/T/RT
EB LT
WB LT
Laurel/Access
NB LT/RT
Level of Service
AM PM
A A
A A
A A
A A
A A
A A
A A
A A
A A
street. With the proposed one-way northbound connection to Laurel
Street from the Locust Court cul-de-sac, traffic would
approximately double during the peak school access periods on some
links .of Laurel Street, particularly east of Stover Street.
However, this increase in traffic would last less than half an hour
.in duration per peak period on a normal school day.
Figure 9 shows the peak .hour _traffic assignment with the
traffic caused by the connection of Laurel Street to Pennock Place..,
Table 4 shows the peak hour operation at the key 'intersections.
Calculation forms are provided in Appendix E. "'Even with the_
additional traffic that would be_caused byG„,the..: wLaure1
n, Street/Pennock Place connectioa the , key,.intersections ,would r
continue to operate acceptably with the existing geometrics: As
with the previous analysis, the school related, traffic lasts for
less than half an hour in each of the peak hours.
The proposed one-way (northbound) access to Laurel Street
would begin at the north end of the Locust Court cul-de-sac. There
are four single family dwelling units on the west side of Locust
Court. The segment of the access road from the cul-de-sac to
Laurel Street will likely be closed during school hours so that the
access road will not interfere with playground activity. It is
recommended that Locust Court remain a two-way street so that the
current residents continue to have full access to the public street
system. The site plan. shows that the cul-de-sac is reduced
somewhat. However, a full-size passenger vehicle.will be able to
turn around with no backing maneuver with the proposed cul-de-sac.
It is proposed that buses will exit to the north at Laurel Street
and, therefore, the larger cul-de-sac will not be required for.
them. Parents who are dropping off/picking up children will be
able to exit at Laurel Street or turn around in the cul-de-sac and
exit via Locust Street, as they do today. All entrances to the
school will continue to be via Locust Street.
City staff raised a concern over the need for school crossing
signals at the Stover/Locust intersection. While the pedestrian
activity -at this, intersection will increase significantly with the
additional grades at Laurel Elementary School, the vehicular
traffic on both Stover Street and Locust Street will still be low.
While the warrants for a school signal should be determined by a
traffic engineering study, it is not likely that warrants will be
met with regards to gap availability. Standard crosswalks should
be painted on Stover Street.
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PEAK HOUR TRAFFIC WITH LAUREL
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Figure 9
IV. Conclusions
The following summarizes the significant findings as a result
of this study:
- Traffic from the proposed Laurel Elementary School can
be handled on the area streets.
Traffic operation at the area intersections is currently
acceptable.
The Laurel Elementary School will ingress via Locust
Street as it does today. Egress will occur via a one-way access
road to Laurel Street for school buses and a significant number of
private automobiles. Ingress should also be maintained via Locust
Street as it exists today.
With the existing street system and the new Laurel
Elementary School, the key intersections operate acceptably.
Traffic volumes will increase on area streets during the peak
traffic periods of the school. However, the duration of this
higher traffic volume is less than half and hour and does not occur
during the typical peak hours of the streets.
With a street system that includes a connection between
Laurel Street and Pennock Place, traffic will increase
significantly on Laurel Street. This is not school related
traffic. Key intersections will continue to operate acceptably
with this potential increase in background traffic.
The Locust Court cul-de-sac should remain with two-way
operation. The one-way portion of the access should be from the
end of the cul-de-sac to Laurel Street. This will enable this
portion of the access to be.closed during school hours without
adversely impacting the existing residences along Locust Court.
It is not likely that school crossing signals will be _
warranted at the Stover/Locust intersection. A painted crosswalk
is recommended at this intersection.
6
I. INTRODUCTION
Poudre School District (R-1) is proposing to build an
elementary school located east of Locust Court between Locust
Street and Laurel Street in Fort Collins, Colorado. The site
location is shown in Figure 1. This school will replace the
existing Laurel Elementary School, which is at this same location.
The existing school will be razed and replaced with a facility that
will handle approximately 570 students at capacity. The primary
vehicular access to the site is via Locust Street from the west.
The existing Laurel School houses elementary grades 4, 5, and 6.
There are 197 students at the existing Laurel School. The lower
elementary grades are housed at Harris School, located on Elizabeth
Street between Whedbee and Smith. Four buses serve Laurel School.
These same buses serve Harris School. The new Laurel School will
have grades K-6. Harris School will be closed when Laurel School
opens. The streets which will be primarily impacted by the new
Laurel School are Locust Street, Laurel Street, and Stover Street.
There has been a proposal to connect Pennock Place to Laurel Street
along the rear of the Riverside/Lemay Shopping Center. However,
the availability of right-of-way is uncertain. The key streets and
their relationship to Laurel School are shown schematically in
Figure 2.
Locust Street is classified as a local street. The segment
between Laurel School and Stover Street is two lanes with parallel
parking. Locust Street has stop sign control at Stover Street.
Locust Street turns to the north at Laurel School, creating a short
cul-de-sac (Locust Court) in front of Laurel School. There are 4-
5 foot sidewalks along Locust Street east of Stover Street.
Laurel Street is classified as a local street.. There is a
pedestrian access to Laurel School from Laurel Street. Laurel
Street is a wide street (50'+) with parking allowed. It is posted
at 30 mph. It provides access to some commercial uses (Mountain
Bell, Volvo Repair, etc.) at the east terminus of the street.
—There are no sidewalks along Laurel Street east of Stover Street.
Students using Laurel Street walk in the street, primarily on the
south side.
Stover Street is classified as a local street. It is a
north/south street. Stover Street is wide (50' +) with parking
allowed. It has one lane in each direction and a bike lane on each
side of the street.
Land uses in this area are residential, school, church, and
commercial. Residential uses are east, north, and south of Laurel
School. Churches and other schools are interspersed through the
residential area. The commercial uses are primarily east and
northeast of Laurel School.
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AREA STREETS
Figure 2
II. EXISTING CONDITIONS
Daily traffic counts were not obtained on the area streets
since they are not particularly relevant with regard to school and
street impacts. However, peak traffic counts were obtained at key
locations. Peak intersection counts were obtained in December
1991. These counts are shown in Figure 3._._Raw data is shown in
Appendix A. The new peak period counts are from 8:25-8:45 AM and
3:45-4:10"PM. These are.the._times.of highest activity for the
.:.Laurel Elementary School: Less than a full hour was counted, since
the time of highest activity for the existing Laurel School was
relatively short (20-25 minutes). School related activity was
concentrated within this count period. Counting for a full hour
would dilute the traffic activity. Therefore, the short traffic
count was factored to reflect a full hour for analysis purposes.
(The analysis procedures in the 1985 Highway Capacity Manual
require data for a one hour period.) The factored one hour counts
are shown in Figure 4.
With the existing control at the two intersections counted,
the peak hour operation is shown in Table 1. This operation is
deemed acceptable. Acceptable -operation is defined as level of
service D or better. Descriptions of level of service from the
1985 Highway Capacity Manual for unsignalized intersections are
provided in Appendix B. Calculation forms for the operation shown
in Table 1 are provided in Appendix C.
III. PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT
Poudre School District is proposing to build an elementary
school on a parcel of land currently occupied by Laurel Elementary
School. -'A schematic site plan is shown in Figure 5. --The—new—
Laurel Elementary School will have a capacity of 570 students.
However, the student population is a function of children in the
i school service area. The maximum capacity of the school was used
for analysis purposes in this traffic study. Access (ingress) to
the new Laurel School will be the same as currently exists, via
Locust Street. The Locust Court cul-de-sac will remain. The site
plan shows a private road connection from the north end of Locust
Court to Laurel Street. This connection :.s intended to be open to
one-way northbound traffic during school arrival and departure
times. The private road will be barricaded during school hours in
order to maximize the use of the playground to the north of the
building. This route is expected to be used by all school buses
and a significant number of parents dropping -off children.
2
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AM (20 min) / PM (25 min)
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1991 PEAK PERIOD TRAFFIC
Figure 3
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PEAK PERIOD TRAFFIC
FACTORED TO REFLECT ONE HOUR
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Figure 4
Intersection
Stover/Locust
EB LT/T/RT
WB LT/T/RT
SB LT
NB LT
Laurel/Colorado
NB LT/T/RT
SB LT/T/RT
EB LT
WB LT
Table 1
1991 Existing Peak Hour Operation
Level of Service
AM PM
A A
A A
A A
A A
A A
A A
A A
A A
Table 2
Trip Generation
Daily
A.M.
Peak
P.M.
Peak
Land Use
Trips
Trips
Trips
Trips
Trips
in
out
in
out
Laurel School
Existing
from ITE - 197
students
203
27
18
20
27
Laurel School
Observed
Vehicle Trips
20
20
21
21
Future Laurel
School -
570 Students
590
79
52
56
78
G
C_.cL STREET
One Way (Northbound)
Portion of Access Road
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ELEMENTARY
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SITE PLAN
Figure 5
A. Trip Generation.
Trip generation estimates for the school use were obtained
from Trip Generation, 4th Edition, ITE. Table 2 shows trip
generation on a daily and peak hour basis. Since observations were
conducted at the existing Laurel School, a sensitivity analysis was
conducted using the trip generation factors. The current student
population is 197 students. Trip generation from the above
reference is shown in Table 2 in the row labelled "Existing from
ITE." The observed trip generation is also shown in Table 2 in the
row labelled "Observed Vehicle Trips." Comparing these rows
indicates that the observed vehicle trips are slightly (about 10%)
lower than that predicted using the ITE factors. This difference.
is explained by the short duration of -the observation. The large
'difference is for inbound trips in the morning and outbound trips
in the afternoon. It was'noted that teachers were already at the
school when observation began in the morning and were still at the
school when observation ended in the afternoon. In consideration
of this, it is concluded that the ITE trip generation factors
reasonably predict the vehicle trips at Laurel Elementary School.
The row labelled "Future Laurel School" shows the trip generation
used for subsequent analyses.
B. Background Traffic
Background traffic is defined as the traffic that is and/or
will on the area streets that is not related to the proposed
development. The intersections considered for the operations
analysis are Stover/Locust, Laurel/Colorado, and Laurel/North
Access from Laurel School.
Since Laurel. Elementary School is in an established
neighborhood and is located on/near local streets, there is
little/no increase in traffic due to growth pressures. As long as
the street system remains essentially as exists today, the only
reason that traffic might change would be due to a new land use,. —
The -additional -grades at Laurel Elementary School constitute a land
use change that will cause an increase of traffic on area streets.
However, the background traffic is not likely to change
significantly. In order to take a conservative approach, the
background traffic was increased by 110 percent, which is an
increase of 0.5 percent per year for 20 years.
A reason that background traffic would change in an
established neighborhood would be that the street system changes.
As mentioned earlier, a proposal to connect Pennock Place to Laurel
Street has been suggested as part of a city park development.
While the alignment and availability of right-of-way are uncertain,
it would likely approximate the location shown in Figure 6. The
number of vehicles using this would be primarily associated with
the Riverside/Lemay Shopping Center and the Riverside Junction
3