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Home My WebLink AboutARAPAHOE/MOUNTAINRIDGE FARM - AMENDED MASTER PLAN - 55-87A - SUBMITTAL DOCUMENTS - ROUND 1 - TRAFFIC STUDYARAPAHOE FARM SITE ACCESS STUDY FORT COLLINS, COLORADO MARCH 1991 Prepared for: Woodcraft Homes 1501 North Cleveland Avenue Loveland, CO 80538 Prepared by: MATTHEW J. DELICH, P.E. 3413 Banyan Avenue Loveland, CO 80538 Phone: 303-669-2061 I. Introduction WoodCraft Homes is proposing to develop a residential, area on approximately 135 acres, located east of Taft Hill Road and north of Harmony Road in Fort Collins, Colorado. The site location is shown in Figure 1. It is proposed to be developed in seven phases over a period of 7-8 years. This traffic study performs four analyses which evaluate the operation at Level I Phases 1 & 2; Level II - Phases 3 & 4; Level III - Phases 5 & 6; and. Level IV - Phase 7. The road's/streets which are primarily impacted by Arapahoe Farm are Harmony Road, Taft Hill Road, and Shields Street. The key intersections which will be impacted are: Harmony/Shields, Harmony/Taft Hill, and Harmony/Arapahoe Farm Access. Harmony Road is classified as a major collector on the Fort Collins Master Street Plan. The segment between Shields Street and Taft Hill Road is two lanes with a rural cross section. There is an eastbound left -turn lane at the Shields intersection. There is a westbound right -turn auxiliary lane at Regency Drive. The posted. speed in both directions is 35 mph. There is signal control at the Harmony/Shields intersectipn and stop sign control on Harmony Road at its intersection with Taft Hi1.1'Road. Shields Street is classified as an arterial on the Fort Collins Master Street Plan. It is a street of varying width south of Drake Road.. It is proposed to have a four lane urban cross section with turn lanes at appropriate locations in the future. It is posted at 35 mph between Harmony Road and Horsetooth Road. Taft Hill Road is classified as an arterial street on the Fort Collins Master Street Plan. It has a two lane rural cross section south of CR 38E. There -are auxiliary lanes at some intersections. The posted speed is 45 mph in the area near the Harmony/Taft Hill intersection. Land uses in this. area are residential, school, and open space. Residential and school uses are east of Arapahoe Farm. Single family residential uses are west (Taft Canyon) and north (Imperial Estates) of the site. There are residential and open land uses south of Arapahoe Farm. II. Existing Conditions The most recent daily traffic counts near Arapahoe Farm were obtained in 1989. These counts are one and two way volumes on Shields Street, Harmony Road, Taft Hill Road, and CR 38E and are shown in Figure 2. Peak hour intersection counts were obtained in '1989 and in February 1991. These counts are also shown in Figure 2. Raw data is shown in Appendix A. 1 Fn tina Reld c ( (;Fi••,ti ••' I L�i ��a' (. � J i /Jrq [ 77 . a �xr' 1 J u -Ugar .t is (- , �! .� .I I�.. Relln rX ] 111 --- 1 aip 2o51 El- SIRis . • 1 Gorlt - .1 cliCi► c.Jl..11__ l�= ■ >s sal I1I I� n Ir�� 1/ ]� AF [] 01 17 'It 5652 • ' i �... 1�J JRos l �J�14J 77 _ @ ; " ti R r 1544 I •� . : l_ IL �;/A1�+ r`- ��i a Hughes... � N �_ Tfieat�� •t�t - r _ q 23n ' 20 I�Ggo ravet.: ---{ rive ill ��pIME Themf- Oimn Can n ° Dam11` �./ -- + rakes' It 1��` mr �. s ti �.r a 1lrllti J` ! 'Ner oh, r ' � �<./ '3.f ' it > i it ,{.,_�R l `mom' I ' xGray I :HORS T ?Qrt I i OmcTdr- r A i jk . �y, ? I r1 � ,1yo p'�;'1 li'ct�►•► c� i (U� Ill)�L_ i 41i.a5' tt ID �• �` ��+' mil ha R 1 Lake 33(C��( J 35 si I Spring Canyon I :•Li ,.��.:� _ ; ,L IW • . \ 9 s - - 4 ?q Il Oam I ; c • R4Wta ml 8 Me Clellantls ( �� . �•- de Bay,- ,._�; ql — �� jai.._ I'. h Il d t.� e� 11 11 O g ti l + •';• h/ j '� ,. I •, � `, 1 � \, ' � I _ :. /5.'45(100 ... ��' •�..J 1 .1 ��-•J't'F'�'., - It •F •, \1/_ r,, ; ��^ �" , �... n ;�•!4�- Rex I'1'lll,' \ It9A ';l �.. ni tpoth t1F,, �', I II i; t ;� ` l'1 � � .—.� � � 11 .. ` I \�! TI'1�� II•t, �;` -• ` J 1 jj �, ; i, l i I' , •:ill rl' � �•-- ; . �'a ��`. r -m. :.,. , .__ - u I �, ` = _=_--'S._.•_-. �. r,ILYnI - . 1, f •� � 1 11 SITE LOCATION Figure 1 v` v- v a' v �N LL COAD.38E � 4128 1959) 1 1991 Il I / 133 14/44 -� r s 4 r- 1991 ON I _ Q. �r 1�1�285 10�35 Z530 S9) RMONY 3131(f9t39 28/Iq 3103/156---� 1989 AM/PM 5511 (1989 �- 83/259 03 �--4b/ 110 ,o) f f-, 53'13(( 9 RECENT TRAFFIC COUNT Figure 2 With the existing control at the various intersections, the peak hour operation of those intersections is shown' in Table 1. This operation is deemed acceptable, except for eastbound left turns at the Taft Hill/CR 38 intersection. Acceptable operation is defined as level of service D or better. Descriptions of level of service from the 1985 Highway Capacity Manual for signalized and unsignalized intersections are provided in Appendix B. Calculation forms for the operation shown in Table 1 are provided in Appendix C. Based upon available traffic counts, the Taft Hill/CR 38 intersection is at or very close to meeting traffic signal warrants according to the charts shown in Appendix D. Further analysis of the existing peak hour traffic volumes at the Harmony/Taft Hill intersection indicates that the southbound lane should be separated into a through lane and a left -turn lane; and the northbound lane should be separated into a through lane and a right -turn lane. Widening for the southbound lane should occur on the west side of Taft Hill Road and should be long enough to include storage, deceleration, and taper for the left -turning traffic plus adequate transition both north and south of the actual left -turn lane. Widening for the northbound lane should occur on the east side of Taft H it Road and should be long enough to include deceleration and taper for right -turning traffic. From observation, it appears that westbound Harmony Road functions with right- and left -turn lanes. However, these functional lanes should be striped on the pavement. These improvements will improve the safety and operation based solely on existing peak hour traffic volumes. III. Proposed Development WoodCraft Homes is proposing to develop 432 single family dwelling units on a parcel of land north of Harmony Road and east of Taft Hill Road. A schematic site plan is shown in Figure 3. This development will occur in seven phases, culminating in 1998. Initial phases of the development are proposed to access existing Harmony Road at a stop sign controlled intersection located 1800 feet east of Taft Hill Road. The ultimate plan shows Harmony Road on a curvilinear alignment through Arapahoe Farm as shown in Figure 3. The 1800 foot segment of Harmony Road., west of the south horizontal curve, will be vacated once the connection to Taft Hill Road at CR 38E is made. Future street plans show Harmony Road continuing to the west on the CR 38E alignment, then turning to the north to meet Overland Trail. M, . _: A. Trip Generation ■ ■ Trip generation estimates for Arapahoe Farm were obtained from Trip Generation, 4th Edition, ITE. The trip generation for Arapahoe Farm was divided into four levels of development as shown �A I/ Table 1 Existing Peak Hour Operation Level of Service (Delay) Intersection AM PM Harmony/Shields (signal) B (10.7 s/v) B (11.8 s/v) Harmony/Taft Hill (stop sign) WB LT D C WB RT A B SB LT A A Taft Hill/CR 38E (stop sign) EB LT E F EB RT A A NB LT A A Land Use Level I (1992) Phases 1 & 2 113 Single Family DU Level II (1994) Phases 3 & 4 98 Single Family DU Level III (1997) Phases 5 & 6 155 Single Family DU Level IV (1998) Phase 7 66 Single Family DU TOTAL Table 2 Trip Generation Daily A.M. Peak P.M. Peak Trips Trips Trips Trips Trips in out in out 1140 23 62 72 42 990 20 5.4 62 36 1560 32 85 98 58 660 13 36 42 25 4350 88 237 274 161 CO. RD. 38E - BRI Y 6 LL I F/m/m, TEMPORARY HARMONY /ARAPAHOE FARM ACCESS *To INTERSECTION TO BE IN PLACE FOR LEVELS I THRU IQ . NY ROX — INTERSECTION NUMBER SITE PLAN Figure 3 in Table 2. Table 2 shows trip generation on a daily and peak hour basis. B. 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 development. The roads considered for the operations analysis are Taft Hill Road, Harmony Road, and Shields Street. Background traffic for impacted streets was projected for each of the future years analyzed (1992, 1994, 1997, 1998). Background traffic was projected to increase at 3 percent -per year for all future years. This rate of increase is normal for streets and roads in. the City of Fort Collins. It accounts for general traffic growth and some level of continued development in the vicinity that would also contribute to traffic growth. Other than Arapahoe Farm, there are no major developments proposed in this area that would cause a dramatic increase in traffic.volumes on the area streets. Therefore,Jthe growth factor methodology is a reasonable means of projecting an increase i.n` background traffic. Should a major development occur which nullifies this methodology, then the traffic study for that development should reflect both the proposed development and the projections for Arapahoe Farm as reflected in this site access study. In the case of traffic studies for future developments, the Arapahoe Farm traffic becomes part of the background traffic for that development. C. Trip Distribution Trip distribution was determined based upon an evaluation of attractions for home -based productions and the most likely routes available to travel to those attractions. The directional distribution of the approaching and departing traffic generated at Arapahoe Farm is a function of: - Geographic location within the City of Fort Collins - Location of employment and business centers which are likely to attract trips from Arapahoe Farm - Access to the site. Figure 4 illustrates the trip distribution percentages used in the subsequent traffic assignments. 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 initial network consisted of Harmony Road, Shields Street, and Taft Hill Road as they are today. The analyzed intersections were Harmony/Shields. with the existing signalization,. 3 d TRIP DISTRIBUTION Figure 4 Harmony/Taft Hill with stop sign control, and a Harmony/Arapahoe Farm Access T intersection with stop sign control. The Harmony/ Arapahoe Farm Access intersection location is shown in Figure 3. This will be a temporary access to Harmony Road used just to serve Arapahoe Farm as it goes through its phased development. This traffic study will go through an iterative assignment process using the development levels shown in Table 2 and Figure 3. At each iteration (level of development), the operation at the key intersections was evaluated. When unacceptable operation is reached at the Harmony/Arapahoe Farm Access intersection, it is recommended that Harmony Road be connected to Taft Hill Road at the CR 38E intersection as is proposed in the Arapahoe Farm Master Plan. Figure 5 shows the Level I (1992) peak hour traffic assignment. This assignment also includes a 3 percent per year 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 E. Only the westbound left turn at the Harmony/Taft Hill intersection will experience unacceptable operation d�iring the morning peak hour. Detailed examination of the analysis shows that this level of operation would occur even without this ..level of development of Arapahoe Farm. The unacceptable operation at this intersection during a single hour of the day_ is attributed to the increase in background traffic on Taft Hill Road. Since this intersection will be eliminated in the next 7 years, this operation, though termed unacceptable, should be accepted. It is recommended that the temporary Harmony/Arapahoe Farm Access have the following geometries: - South.bound left -turn lane - Southbound right -turn lane - Westbound right -turn lane (310 feet including taper) - Eastbound left -turn lane (310 feet including taper) . No additional improvements are required at either- the Harmony/ Shields or Harmony/Taft Hill intersections over the recommendations a made under the "Existing Conditions" discussion. Figure 6 shows the Level 1I (1994) peak hour traffic assignment which includes the background traffic on the area streets. Table 4 shows the peak hour operation at the key intersections. Calculation forms are provided in Appendix F. Only the westbound left -turn at the Harmony/Taft Hill intersection will experience unacceptable operation during the morning peak hour. This level of operation would occur even without the Level II development of Arapahoe Farm. The auxiliary lanes recommended -in the Level I discussion at the Harmony/Arapahoe Farm Access ' intersection will provide safe, efficient movement of traffic. No additional improvements are required at any of the key intersections. 4 C AS LLL r c- � �O N� �— �8/ 303 I 12/40 Ic Q U. W UJ ®IL V 5/25 ---- 384/ZOI — b�1/ 329 HARMO 4l0/ 3 I 41-1/ 183 eo/44 AM/PM 1992 (LEVEL. PEAK HOUR TRAFFIC WITH HARMONY / ACCESS "T" INTERSECTION 90/282 114/ 355 52/ 119 Figure 5 Table 3 1992 (Level I) Peak Hour Operation Intersection Harmony/Shields (signal) Harmony/Taft Hill (stop sign) WB LT WB RT SB LT Harmony/Arapahoe Farm Access (stop sign) SB LT SB RT EB LT Level of Service (Delay) AM PM B (12.3 s/v) B (14.5 s/v) E D A B A A B B A A A A Table 4 1994 (Level II) Peak Hour Operation intersection Harmony/Shields (signal) Harmony/Taft Hill (stop sign) WB LT WB RT SB LT Harmony/Arapahoe Farm Access (stop sign) SB LT SB RT EB LT Level of Service (Delay) AM PM B (13.3 s/v) B (15.6 s/v) E D A B A A B C A A A A 6 cc 15/46 a lz 4c LL LUVi A LLJ cc HARMONY 4016/z I Z, m rA 55/ 1 vo tol/41 491/ZO5 AM/PM 1994 (LEVEL 31) PEAK, HOUR TRAFFIC WITH HARMONY / ACCESS "T" INTERSECTION Figure 6 Figure 7 shows the Level III (1997).peak hour traffic assignment.which includes background traffic on the area streets. Table 5 shows the peak hour operation at the key intersections. Calculation forms are provided in Appendix G. Only the westbound left -turn at the Harmony"/Taft Hill intersection will experience unacceptable operation during the morning and afternoon peak hours. This level of operation would occur even without the Level III development of Arapahoe Farm. No additional improvements are required at any of the key intersections. Figure 8 shows the Level IV (1998) peak hour traffic assignment, which includes background traffic, on the area streets. Table 6 shows the peak hour operation at the key intersections. Calculation forms are provided in Appendix H. At this level of development of Arapahoe Farm, the Harmony/Arapahoe Farm Access intersection begins to experience unacceptable operation. It is recommended that Harmony Road be connected to Taft Hill Road at CR 38E. Throughout the phased development of Arapahoe Farm, Harmony Road will be built to an arterial four lane cross section. It is at this final phase that the aforementioned connection should be -made and the connection at�the east property line of Arapahoe Farm to the existing Harmony road should also be made. Since the segment through Arapahoe Farm will be built to an arterial standard, it is recommended that a 0.6 mile segment between. Arapahoe Farm and Shields Street also be built to an arterial standard. It is expected that the unfinished portion of Harmony Road, east of Shields, will be built to an arterial standard. The segment of existing Harmony Road from the Arapahoe Farm Access. location to Taft Hill Road should be vacated. Given the above recommendations, the traffic assignment shown in .Figure 9 was performed. This shows the peak hour traffic at the various intersections along Harmony Road and the two key intersections on Taft Hill Road.. Traffic volumes at the Harmony/ Shields intersection will be as indicated in Figure B. Table 7 shows the peak hour operation at the key intersections. Calculation forms are provided in Appendix I. The signalized intersections are expected to operate acceptably. The stop sign controlled intersections that are along Harmony Road and the Taft Hill/Brixton intersection will operate acceptably.' The recommended geometrics at the Harmony/Shields intersection are 1 left -turn lane, 1 through lane, and 1 through/right-turn lane on all legs. Consideration should be given to providing a separate westbound right -turn lane due to the existing and future number of right turns at this location. The recommended geometrics at the various intersections, which are along Harmony Road in Arapahoe Farms and the adjacent intersections along Taft Hill Road, are shown in Figure 10. Design of these geometrics used criteria contained in .the "Intersection Channelization Design Guide," NCHRP Report 279, TAB, 1985. The speed on Harmony Road was assumed to be 35 mph. 5 N N e S LL H -120/570 00(-- 28/55 i LL ca W Vi W Q IL �Q �N Q I 210/50 441/ 231 —� N� N 49/ 157- �a/37>3 HARIIAONY N�a 24/57 5210/24 I 75/54 AM/PM 1997 (LEVEE, 311) PEAK HOUR TRAFFIC WITH HARMONY /, ACCESS "T" INTERSECTION 10-6/324 .-- 154/4 b 1 Figure 7 Table 5 1997 (Level III) Peak Hour Operation Level of Service (Delay) Intersection AM PM Harmony/Shields (signal) C (16.6 s/v) C (17.1 s/v) Harmony/Taft Hill (stop sign) E WB LT E WB RT A C SB LT C A Harmony/Arapahoe Farm Access (stop sign) C D SB LT A SB RT A EB LT A A Table 6 1998 (Level IV) Peak Hour Operation Level of. Service (Delay) Intersection AM PM Harmony/Shields (signal) C (18.4 s/v) C (23.8 s/v) Harmony/Taft Hill (stop sign) E E WB LT D WB RT A SB LT C A Harmony/Arapahoe Farm Access (stop sign) SB LT SB RT EB LT A A A A 3 ■ cc J Q lu tu N W Oe Q. do — 131/36(o 32/ 5q 3o/q 4 453/235 —f— 55/1S.O SI/3S9 HARMONY 8 (LEVEL 33r) PEAK HOUR TRAFFIC WITH HARMONY ACCESS 1.0(0/333 156/457 (00/ 14 I. q4/(o4 551/255-=� I Lf% Cj AM/PM Figure 8 CO. RD. 38E zlo/m 52/' Naz ON i BRIXT 3945 -� NoM. —► 39/z"1-� G a ix J J_ LLLL. a H `— Ilz/338 15141 Z7/51- ®°q40 59�3lesS AM/PM t PEAK ® xa :; ■ EAK HOUR TRAFFIC WITH HARMONY ROAD COMPLETE® THROUGH ARAPAHOE FAR Figure 9 Table 7 1998 (Level IV) Peak Hour.Operation with the completion of Harmony Road Level of Service (Delay) Intersection AM PM, Harmony/Shields (signal) C (17.3 s/v) C (18.7 s./v) (improved geometrics and 8 phase signal) Harmony/Taft Hill/CR 38E (signal) B (13.3 s/v) B (11..3 s/v) Harmony/Seneca (stop sign) SB LT C SB RT ' A EB LT A Harmony/Intersection 1 (stop sign) EB LT/T/RT B WB LT/T/RT C SB LT A NB LT A Harmony/Intersection 2 (stop sign) EB LT/T/RT B WBLT/T/RT B SB LT A NB LT A Harmony/Intersection 3 (stop sign) WB LT/RT B SB LT A Harmony/Intersection 4 (stop sign) EB LT/T/RT A WB LT/T/RT B SB LT A NB LT A Taft Hill/Brixton (stop sign) B EB LT EB T/RT A WB LT B WB T/RT A SB LT A NB LT A D A A B A A B C A A A A C A A C C A A CO. RD. _ 4 TJ 38E o BRIXTON r 1 _ �o a N cc �QQ {�xp v� 9q .A i u r� Y x, RECOMMENDED GEOMEiRICS 0 HARMONY ROAD Figure 10 E. Signal Warrants Signals will not be warranted at Harmony Road intersections 1, 2, 3, and 4, at the Harmony/Seneca intersection, or the Taft .Hill/Brixton intersection. A signal may be. warranted .at the Harmony/Seneca intersection in the future, when land to the south of Harmony. Road develops and Seneca connects -to Taft Hill Road. This evaluation should be the subject of future traffic studies when these things occur. The Harmony/Taft Hill/CR 38E intersection will likely meet signal warrants in a few years, perhaps as soon as the Harmony Road connection is made. If a signal is installed at this location prior to the Harmony connection, the construction of the signal should allow this leg to be retrofitted into the intersection signalization scheme. III. Conclusions The following summarizes the significant findings as a result of this study: Arapahoe Farm,' at full development, will generate approximately 4350 daily trip ends. These can be handled on the area streets with various improvements. - Traffic operation at the area intersections is acceptable except for the eastbound left -turns at the Taft Hill/CR 38E intersection. This intersection is close to meeting signal warrants and should be monitored regularly. The Harmony/Taft Hill intersection should be fitted with the following auxiliary lanes: 1) southbound left -turn lane, 2) northbound right -turn lane, and 3) westbound right -turn lane and left -turn lane. a T interse ion near Seneca Rree ttextencdee.i,to Harmony Road at At Level I (1992 ) development ' of Arapahoe Farm, the key intersections operate acceptably, except for westbound left -turns at the Harmony/Taft .Hill intersection in the morning peak hour. This operation is attributed to the increase in background traffic. The following auxiliary lanes should be built- at the Harmony/Arapahoe Farm Access: 1) southbound right -turn lane, 2) southbound left -turn lane, 3) westbound right -turn lane, and 4) eastbound left -turn lane. At Level I I 2-1 tt� At Level Iv (1998) development of Arapahoe' Farm, unacceptable operation is experienced at the Harmony/Arapahoe .Farm Access intersection. It is recommended that Harmony Road be completed at an arterial cross section through Arapahoe Farm, connecting to Taft Hill Road at CR 38E. It is recommended that existing Harmony Road, from approximately Seneca Street to Taft Hill Road, be vacated. It is recommended that Harmony Road be built to an arterial cross section from the east property line of Arapahoe Farm through Shields Street. - The key intersections within and adjacent to Arapahoe Farm.-- will,, operate acceptably when considering the 1998 (full development) traffic, along with an increase in background traffic. The geometries shown in Figure 10 are recommended for the intersections along Harmony Road. The Harmony/Taft Hill/CR 38E intersection should be signalized. 7