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HomeMy WebLinkAboutVALLEY STEEL AND WIRE - Filed GC-GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE - 2006-08-163405 Harbor Way MARTI NA Fort Collfm CO 80524 G. Phone: 970-988-0143 L LKINSON, Y f x:970-472-0223 LLC martinawilkinson@msn.com T R A N S P O R T A T I O N M E M O R A N D U M Date: August 16, 2005 RE: Valley Steel and Wire Company Additional Facility Prepared For: David Wasson General Manager Valley Steel and Wire Company 200 Hickory Street (P.O. Box 81) Fort Collins, CO 80522 This document represents a transportation memorandum per the Larimer County Urban Area Street Standards associated with the proposed additional facility at Valley Steel and Wire Company in north Fort Collins, Colorado. The purpose of this study is to address the existing and proposed transportation system in the immediate vicinity of the proposed project and then determine the impact (and mitigation measures if necessary) of the traffic produced by the proposed development. Existing Conditions The location of the Valley Steel and Wire Company is at 200 Hickory Street. This is on the north side of Hickory just west of North College Avenue. Valley Steel has an existing facility on the parcel just to the east of the proposed site. The existing land use of the proposed site is vacant. The general area is a commercial / industrial area with a moving company, muffler shop, and car dealership in close proximity. There are some residential land uses further to the north. The primary streets in the vicinity of the project are Hickory Street and North College Avenue. Hickory Street is a two- lane collector with a 60-foot roadway. It G �o a m warn a Site $ wHa46 f/.W..k St _ g,� amarw. R_EVIPH� 3 B'ararq .. a n .mi6 at so. at Cal" st -L" ti" a gr.q. C. a ___-- um«, cwn.r Dr as ...rr s m Vicinity Map Page 1 of 5 Valley Steel and Wire Company Transportation Memorandum can accommodate two lanes of traffic, parking, and on -street bike lanes. The roadway is signed as a Fort Collins bikeway. The posted speed limit is 25 mph. North College Avenue is a major 5-lane arterial that is also a state highway (US 287). There is a striped shoulder that also serves as a bike lane. The speed limit is 40 mph and parking is prohibited. The intersection at Hickory / College is signalized and simultaneously coordinated with the neighboring signal at Conifer / College. Existing peak hour counts were completed along Hickory Street in the am and pm peak. They are shown below. These volumes are low in terms of traffic capacity and the roadway is functioning acceptably during both the morning and evening peaks. The intersection at Hickory and Conifer at College Avenue is functioning at a LOS A and B in the am and pm peak respectively. Existine Pedestrian Facilities There are existing attached sidewalks on both sides of Hickory Street in the vicinity of the project, including along the frontage of the proposed project. Along College Avenue, there are some sidewalks in areas that have more recently redeveloped. Existing_Bicvcle Facilities sae 651119 Hickory 80 !! 114 street College Ave Existing Peak Hour Traffic Volumes (am / pm volumes) Bicycle lanes are accommodated in the cross section of Hickory Street. Although bike lane striping does not exist, the roadway is signed as a Fort Collins bikeway. Along College Avenue bicycles utilize the paved shoulders, whose width varies. Existing Transit Facilities Transfort, the City's transit service provides service southbound along College Avenue via Route 8. Operating hours are 6:30 am to 6:30 pm in the vicinity of the project with 30-minute headways. Proposed Development Valley Steel and Wire is a distributor of steel and wire products. They purchase large quantities of steel and wire from mills and ship the product in smaller quantities to distributors and manufacturers — primarily on their own trucks. They have an existing warehouse space of 24,000 sf on an adjacent parcel, and this proposed development will simply add another warehouse 19,000 sf in size. Construction will begin upon approval, and "build -out" will occur within a few months. Valley Steel and Wire anticipates adding two additional employees to the workforce. A site plan is attached. As shown in the site plan, the property already has two existing accesses with curb cuts. This development will eliminate one access and maintain the other access driveway. Using the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) Trip Generation Manual, 7s' Edition, anticipated trips for both the existing and proposed facility are calculated. The land use code is 110 — General Light Industrial. The information is shown below, and calculations are made using employees, acres and square footage of warehouse space for comparison. Page 2 of 5 Valley Steel and Wire Company Transportation Memorandum Trip Generation Land Use ITE Units Daily Total Trips Enter / Exit Distribution Code Trips AM I PM AM PM General Light 110 IN OUT IN 1 OUT Industrial Employees Existing 16 48 7 7 i Proposed 18 54 8 8 Acres Existing 2 104 15 i 15 Proposed 5 259 37 1 36 Square Feet Existing 24,000 167 22 23 Proposed 43,000 300 40 1 42 Average Total Existing 106 IS 15 Proposed 204 28 1 29 New / Additional Traffic 98 13 1i 14 11 2 3 11 The distribution and assignment of the traffic will be 1000/6 towards the east and Collage Avenue as Hickory Street to the west is not a through street. The anticipated peak hour turning movements in vehicles per hour at the access to the proposed facility are shown below. Operational Analysis The level of service at the access location to be used by the proposed facility will function at a Level of Service A in both peak hours. It is anticipated to continue to function acceptably in the future. The impact of the site traffic on the intersection at College and Hickory is negligible (<1%) and thus no further analysis was completed. 2111 [.Jk �-11/3 Hickory College Street Ave Site Generated Trip Assignment (am / pm taming volumes) The access location for the proposed development does not meet warrants for auxiliary lanes. Thus the existing geometry is acceptable. Multi -Modal Analysis As indicated by the Larimer County Urban Area Street Standards, a transportation memorandum is appropriate if: • paved pedestrian facilities exist adjacent to the site or the proposed use will not generate any new pedestrian traffic; and • paved bike lanes exist adjacent to the site or the proposed use will not generate any new bicycle traffic. Page 3 of 5 Valley Steel and Wire Company Transportation Memorandum The memorandum also needs to discuss the continuity and adequacy of pedestrian and bike facilities adjacent to the site as well as access to the most direct transit route adjacent to the site. As noted in the existing conditions, an attached paved sidewalk currently exists along the entire frontage of the existing Valley Steel and Wire parcel as well as the proposed new addition on the parcel immediately to the west. This sidewalk provides continuity for pedestrians utilizing Hickory Street and is consistent with the remaining pedestrian amenities in the area. The proposed use is not expected to generate any new pedestrian traffic. All trips are expected to be vehicular in nature. Hickory Street is a signed Fort Collins bikeway with adequate existing width to accommodate bicycle traffic. The proposed use is not expected to generate any new bicycle traffic. The closest transit route is Route 8 that is southbound along this portion of College Avenue. As with other areas of Fort Collins served by transit, the headways run every 30 minutes during the day time hours. The existing sidewalk system along Hickory provides for direct access to the transit route. Special Analysis Areas During the course of the scoping phone call with City Traffic Staff for this memorandum, one area of special analysis was identified and is discussed below. Adherence to the Adopted US287 / SH 14 Access Management Report In the year 2000, the City of Fort Collins, Larimer County and the Colorado Department of Transportation collaborated in an effort to create an access management plan that included this area of College Avenue. The plan shows the creation of parallel roadways along College Avenue, including one that is located in the vicinity of the existing Valley Steel and Wire property. Discussions with City Staff during the conceptual review of this project highlighted the fact that this proposed development is NOT located on a parcel that needs to dedicate ROW for the roadway. If and when the future Mason Street parallel roadway is constructed, either the existing site will be impacted, or roadway alignments could be adjusted to accommodate the roadway and existing buildings as shown in the attached Area Drawing. Conclusions and Summary of Fi~ This study identified, documented and addressed the transportation impacts of the proposed new warehouse facility to be used by Valley Steel and Wire Company in north Fort Collins. The following conclusions can be drawn from the study: • The proposed development is feasible from a traffic engineering standpoint. Once constructed, the new addition is estimated to generate 98 daily trips, including 13 in the am peak and 14 in the pm peak hour. • The current operation of Hickory Street in the vicinity of the access to be used is excellent with low volumes and the closest signalized intersection at Hickory/Conifer/College is also functioning acceptably with existing control and geometry. Page 4 of 5 Valley Steel and Wire Company Transportation Memorandum The addition of the proposed site traffic will have a minimal impact on the roadway network and the system is expected to continue to function acceptably with existing geometry and control. No auxiliary lanes are necessary. Facilities for pedestrians, bicycles and transit modes exist today. Pedestrian and bicycle facilities exist along the Hickory Street development frontage and the sidewalks provide connections to College Avenue and the transit route. The proposed development is not expected to generate any new pedestrian, bicycle, or transit trips. And finally, a special review as requested by City staff of the US287 / SH 14 Access Management Report shows a future north -south parallel connector roadway west of College Avenue. This roadway needs to be accommodated as the area re -develops, but this proposed development does NOT include property that needs to dedicate ROW for the roadway and is not impacted by the report. Page 5 of 5 M, At .f* Ao,(.k 411AWI tv Ln' Hjt:KCRV STREET 4, efw O 38F 170 4) 5 99 35E I drs. fa O 42.