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Traffic Impact StudyTraffl"c Impact Study Ashley Heights Subdivision Residniial Development Ntalispefl, Montana Prepared For: Hubert Turner 3300 Hwy 2 West Kalispell, MT 59901 AsLe Heights Subdivision Kalispell, Montana Table of Contents A. Executive Summary.................................................................................... I B . Project Description.................................................................... . ................ I C. Existing Conditions..................................................................................... I Traffic Data Collection........................................................................... 3 Level of Service......................................................................................3 D. Proposed Development.............................................................................. 4 E . Trip Generation and Assignment................................................................ 5 F. Trip Distribution.......................................................................................... 6 G. Traffic Impacts Outside of the Development ............................................... S H. Percent Entering vehicles.......................................................................... 9 I. Impact Summary & Recommendations....................................................10 List of Tables Table 1- 2006 Existing Traffic Level of Service Summary .....................................4 Table 2 -Trip Generation Rates.............................................................................6 Table 3 -Level of Service Summary With the Ashley Heights Subdivision ............ 9 List of Figures Figure 1— Vicinity Ma............................................................ 9 Figure 2 —Trip Distribution Without U.S. Highway 93 Bypass.................................7 Figure 3 -Trip Distribution With U. S. Highway 93 Bypass ...................................... 7 Ashley Heights Subdivision Kalispell, Montana Traffic Impact Study Ashley Heights Subdivision Kalispell, Montana A. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Ashley Heights Subdivision will have little effect on the traffic conditions around the proposed development site. Even if constructed at maximum density (41 units), intersection operations will remain within acceptable limits and traffic volumes will not exceed the limits of the functional classifications of any roadways. when the Highway 93 bypass is constructed, Sunnyside Drive will effectively become a collector route and the functional classification of this roadway should be changed to match this operating condition. This change in classification will be necessary regardless of the construction of the Ashley Heights development. No intersection improvements or modification will be required as part of this development. B. Project Description This document studies the possible effect on the surrounding road system from a proposed 8.5-acre residential development located along Sunnyside Drive in Kalispell, Montana. The document also identifies any traffic mitigation efforts that the development may require. The project site is located south of Sunnyside Drive, outside the Kalispell City limits, and would be developed to include up to 41 residential units. See Figure 1 for a location map of the proposed development. C. EXISTING CONDITIONS The existing transportation system that would serve this site is a mixture of local, collector, and minor arterial roadways. These roadways include: Sunnyside Drive is an east -west local street located directly north of the proposed project site and will provide direct access for traffic entering and exiting the subdivision. This roadway has a posted 25 mph speed limit and serves both area residents and other commuters. Sunnyside Drive is currently functioning as a bypass between the southern portion of Kalispell and F oys Labe Road. Commuters can use Denver Avenue, Sunnyside Drive, F oys Labe Road, and Meridian Road to bypass Highway 93 through downtown Kalispell. Sunnyside Drive currently carries 2,1.00 VPD west of Denver Avenue. 5th Avenue South is a north -south, two-lane roadway classified as a collector roadway south of l 1 th Street west Street and a minor arterial route north of 11 th Street west. The roadway has a 25 mph speed limit and currently carries 1,600 vPD north of Sunnyside Drive. Abelin Traffic Services 1 May 2007 As Heights Subdivision KaiLs2ell, Montana 7'h Avenue South is a north -south, two-lane roadway collector roadway that extends north from Sunnyside Drive to Center Street. The roadway has a 25 mph speed limit. I I'h Street West is an east -west two-lane minor arterial east of 5 Ih Avenue west and a collector route west of 5thAvenue. The intersection of I I thStreet West and Main Street is currently signalized. I Bismark Street is an cast -west local route that will provide access to the southeast comer of the proposed project site. This residential roadway currently carries less than 100 VPD. kLMr dL I;r W 16F Abe lin Traffic Services 2 May 2007 Ashie l ei i s Subdivision aheti, Montana Traffic Data Collection ATS obtained turning movement count data collected for the 2007 Kalispell Transportation Plan from Robert Peccia & Associates. This data was collected in the summer of 2006. ATS also collected traffic data along Sunnyside Drive and 5th Avenue west in May ?007 in support of this project. This data is included in Appendix A. of this report. The intersections analyzed for this project include: • Foys Lake Road & Vai ley View Road; • Sunnyside Drive & Denver Avenue; * 11 th Street west & 71h .Avenue west; 11 1h Street west & 5th Avenue west; 11 1h Street west & I't Avenue West; and • 1 1 try Street West &Train Street (U.S. Highway 93). Level of Service Using the data collected for this project, ATS conducted a Level of Service (LOS) analysis at the intersections within the area of impact. This evaluation was conducted in accordance with the procedures outlined in the Transportation Research Board's Highway Capacily Manual (HCA4) - , pecial .Deport ?09 and the Highway Capacity Software (HCS) version 5.2. Intersections are graded from A to F representing the average delay that a vehicle entering an intersection can expect. Typically, a LOS of C or better is considered acceptable for. peak -hour conditions. Table 1 shows the existing ?006 LOS for the AM and PM peak hours without the traffic: from the Ashley Heights Subdivision. The LOS calculations are included in Appendix C. The table indicates that all of the critical intersections in this area are currently functioning adequately. It is likely that the intersection of I 1 th Street and Main Street will soon fall to LOS D if no mitigation measures are taken. However, this issue will be resolved when the Highway 93 bypass is constructed and traffic congestion along U.S. Highway 93 should improve considerably. Abelin Trgffic Services 3 May 2007 Ashie .lei hts Subdivision Kalispell, Montana Table 1 - 2006 Existing Traffic Level of Service (LOS) Summary INTERSECTION AM Peak Hour PM Peak Hour Dela LOS vfc Delay LOS We Fa s Lake Rd. & Valley View Eastbound Thru/Right na na na na na na Westbound Left 8.5 A 0.06 7.7 A 0.06 Northbound Left/Right 13.9 B 0.26 12.1 B 0.15 Sunn side Dr. & Denver St. Eastbound Thru/Right na na na na na na Westbound Left 7.4 A 0.01 7.5 A 0.05 Northbound Left/Right 3.5 A 0.15 10.3 B 0.13 11 th Street & Avenue Eastbound Left 7.5 A 0.00 7.6 A 0.00 Westbound Left 7.5 A 0.01 7.4 A 0. o3 Northbound LeftfThru/Right 10.3 B 0.07 10.6 B 0.05 Southbound LeftfThru/Right 11.3 B 0.08 11.8 B 0.14 11 to Street & 5t' Avenue Eastbound Left 7.5 A 0.01 8.0 A 0.01 Westbound Left 7.6 A 0.01 7.5 A 0.02 Northbound Left/Thru/Right 11.7 B 0.18 11.2 B 0.11 Southbound Left/Th ru/Right 14.1 B 0.18 23.3 C 0.56 11 th Street & 1 "t Avenue Eastbound LeftfThrufRight 12.5 B na 17.9 C na Westbound LeftJThrufRight 10.0 B na 13.4 B net Northbound LeftfThru/Right 13.8 B na 21.5 C na Southbound LeftfThrufRight 11.0 B na 17.7 C na 111h Street & Main Street 29.2 c 33.8 C Eastbound Lef /ThrufRight 21.3 C 0.50 24.4 C 0.63 Westbound Left/ Th rufR ig ht 18.5 B 0.32 24.2 C 0.55 Northbound Left 18.4 B 0.38 35.7 D 0.55 Northbound Thru/Right 41.7 D 0.96 24.6 C 0.80 Southbound Let 11.9 B 0.05 12.1 B 0.08 Southbound ThrufRight 20.7 C 0.71 48.4 D 0.99 D. PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT The development currently under consideration for this site includes 8.5 acres of land south of Sunnyside Drive 0.2 miles merest of Denver Avenue which would be developed into a residential subdivision. The project site would have a secondary access to the east along Bismark Street. Depending on the final zoning of the property, the development would have between 26 and 41 Wr res idert ti al units. Abelin Traffic Services 4 May 2007 Ashley Heights Subdivision al 1, Montana The alignment of the U.S. Highway 93 bypass is currently planned to run along the western side of the proposed development site. The bypass would have full movement grade separated interchanges at both U.S. Highway 2 and l oys Lake Road. The bypass will also include an off -ramp for northbound traffic at Sunnyside Drive, but not for southbound traffic and there would be no on - ramps at Sunnyside Drive. This portion of the bypass is currently scheduled for construction by ITT in 5-7 years, but is dependant on funding availability. It should be noted that the construction of a bypass off -ramp onto Sunnyside Drive will effectively turn Sunnyside Drive in a collector route. It is not typical to have accesses onto or from major access -controlled highways onto local neighborhood streets. Sunnyside Drive should be redesignated as a collector or minor arterial route with the construction of the northbound off -ramp onto Sunnyside Drive. ATS obtained traffic volume information for Sunnyside Drive from the traffic model produced by the Montana Department of Transportation for the Kalispell Transportation Plan and analyzed the data for this report. when analyzing model results, it is important to remember that computer traffic models are not perfect. while traffic modeling can produce meaningful results, it is still a computer -- generated representation of a human activity and can sometimes compute results that observers would consider illogical. Traffic models are based on predicted traffic flow patterns and travel tunes. If two similar adjacent routes are modeled and one of the routes has a computed travel time one second faster than the ether route, 100% of the traffic will use the faster route. This obviously would not happen in the real world. if conditions like this are observed, portions of the model must be altered to reduce this effect. Traffic models are calibrated to provide accurate traffic volumes on arterial and collector roadways. Traffic volumes on low -volume local streets can be off considerably. One important example of this is Sunnyside Drive. The Calibrated traffic model for this road predicts existing traffic volume 60% to 100% higher than the actual existing traffic volumes. This lager level of calibration on these streets carries through to future traffic volume predictions. For these reasons, great care must be taken when analyzing model results. These traffic modeling results indicate that if no bypass is constructed in this area, then traffic volumes along Sunnyside Drive will increase by only 10% by 2030. If the full bypass were constructed, then the traffic model predicts that traffic volumes along Sunnyside .Drive will increase by 35% by 2030. E. TRIP GENERATION AND ASSIGNMENT TS performed a trip generation analysis to determine anticipated future traffic volumes from the proposed development. ATS used the trip generation rates contained in .'rip Generation (Institute of Transportation Engineers, Seventh Edition). These rates are the national standard and are based on Abelin Traffic Services 5 May 2007 Ashley Heights Subdivision Kalispell, Montana the most current information available to planners. A vehicle `trip" is defined as any trip that either begins or ends at the development site. Judging from field observations and the typical nature of residential developments, ATS determined that the critical traffic impacts on the intersections and roadways would occur during the weekday morning and evening peals hours. This analysis provides data for each of the three separate possible development density scenarios. At full build -out the proposed development would produce between 20 and 31 AM peak -hour trips, 26 and 41 PM peak - hour trips, and 249 to 392 daily trips. The trip generation rates and totals are shown in Table 2. Table 2 - Trip Generation Rates AM Peak Total AM PM Peak Total PM Hour Trip Peak Hour Trip Peak Weekday Total Ends per Hour Trip Ends per Hour Trip Trip Ends Weekday Land Use Units Unit Ends Unit Ends per Unit Trip Ends R2-Single Family 20 0.75 20 1.01 20 9.57 249 Residential R3-Single Family 35 0.75 20 1.01 35 9.57 335 Residential R4-Single Family 41 0.75 31 1.01 41 9.57 392 Residential F. TRIP DISTRIBUTION The traffic distribution and assignment for the proposed subdivision was based upon the existing ADT volumes along the adjacent roadways and the peak -hour turning volumes. Prior to the construction of the U.S. Highway 93 bypass, traffic is expected to distribute 40% to/from the west on Sunnyside Drive to Foys Lake Road, 50% to/from the east on Sunnyside Drive to 1 11h Street West,, and 10% to/from the south on Denver Avenue. After the Highway 93 bypass is constructed the trip distribution patterns will change substantially. It is estimated that 10% of the traffic will still distribute to/from the south on Denver Avenue, but the only other exit from the site will be along Sunnyside Drive to 11 th Avenue which will need to accommodate 90% of the exiting Traffic. 1t is likely that 10% of the traffic will be able to enter the site from the south from the bypass exit ramp, but the remaining 80% of traffic will need to approach from the east on Sunnyside ',Drive. The trip distribution for these two scenarios is shown graphically in Figure 2 & 3. Abelin Traffic Services 6 May 2007 Ashly Hei hts Subdivision Kalispell, Montana 40% 0% Figure 2 —Trip Distributions Without U.S. Highway 93 Bypass � Proposed C Development Site 10% Sunnyside Drive 50% Figure 3 —Trip Distributions With the U.S. Highway 93 Bypass Proposed Development site Q C a 10% Sunnyside Drive 90% Abelin Traffic Services 7 May 2007 AshlfE He hts Subdivision Kalispell, Montana G. TRAFFIC IMPACTS OUTSIDE of THE DEVELOPMENT Using the trip generation and trip distribution numbers, ATS determined the future Level of Service (LOS) for the intersections within the area of impact. This analysis assumed full build -out of the property at maximum density (41 units). The anticipated LOS at these intersections for full build - out conditions with the proposed development is shown in Table 3. These calculations are based on the projected model volumes included in Appendix B of this report. Table 3 - Level of Service Summary With The. Ashley Heights Subdivision AM Peak Hour PM Peak Hour INTERSECTION Dela LOS sic Delav Los ►plc Fo s Lake Rd. & Valley View Eastbound ThrulRight na na na na na na Westbound Left 8.5 A 0.06 7.7 A 0. 07 Northbound Left/Right 14.3 B 0.28 12.2 B 0.16 Sunn side Dr. & Denver St. Eastbound ThrulRight na na na na na na Westbound Left 7.4 A 0.01 7.6 A 0.05 Northbound Left/Right 9.6 A 0.16 10.6 B 0.14 11 th Street & 7th Avenue Eastbound Left 7.5 A 0.00 7.6 A 0.00 Westbound Left 7.5 A 0.01 7.4 A 0.03 Northbound Left/ThrulRight 10.4 B 0.08 10.6 B 0.05 Southbound LeftlTh ru/Right '# 1.4 B 0.08 11.9 B 0.15 11 th Street & 6th Avenue Eastbound Left 7.6 A 0.01 8.0 A 0.01 Westbound Left 7.6 A 0.01 7.5 A 0.02 Northbound LeftlThrulRight 11.8 B 0.20 11.2 B 0.11 Southbound LeftlThrulRight 14.5 B 0.18 23.3 C 0.56 11 th Street & 1' Avenue Eastbound LeftlThrulRight 12.7 B na 18.3 C na Westbound LeftlThru/Right 10.1 B na 13.6 B na Northbound LeftlThrulRight 13.8 B na 22.1 C na Southbound Left/Thru/Right 11.1 B na 18..1 C na 11 u" Street & Main Street 29.2 O 34.0 C Eastbound Left/Th rulRig ht 1. 5 C 0.51 24.5 C 0.63 Westbound LeftlThrufRight 18.6 B 0.32 24.4 C 0.57 Northbound Left 18.4 B 0.38 35.7 D 0.55 Northbound ThrulRight 41.7 D 0.96 24.6 C 0.80 Southbound Left 11.9 B 0.05 12.1 B 0.08 Southbound ThrulRight 20.7 C 0.71 48.6 D 0.99 Abelin Traffic Services 8 May 2007 Ashley I-ieiots Subdivision Kalispell, Montana Table 3 indicates that all of the intersections within this area will continue to operate at acceptable levels of service thought the construction of the Ashley Heights Subdivision. No intersection mitigation measures would be required as part of this project. The proposed development will increase traffic volumes along area roadways. Traffic volumes along Sunnyside Drive will increase by Zoo VPD bath east and west of the development site. Traffic volumes on 51h Avenue 'west will also increase by approximately Zoo VPD. However, total traffic volumes along Sunnyside Drive will not exceed 3,000 VPD and traffic volumes along 5th .Avenue west will not exceed 2,000 VPD. These volumes are within the limits of each of these roadways based on their existing functional classifications. As a general rule traffic volumes on local streets (Sunnyside Drive) should not exceed 3,000 and traffic volumes on collector routes (51h Avenue west) should not exceed 10,000 VPD. The traffic volume increase along Bismark Street would be minimal. When the Highway 93 bypass is ultimately constructed, the traffic patterns in this area will likely change substantially. The total traffic on Sunnyside Drive will likely increase due to the direct connection with the bypass (as described in section D) and Sunnyside Drive will effectively become a collector route through this area. The traffic volumes on area roadways will remain at half of the recommended limits for collector routes (3,500-4,500 VPD). It is possible that the construction of the bypass will force more traffic onto 7th Avenue west, however this roadway is also a designated collector route and traffic volumes along the roadway should remain relatively tow (less than 2,000) VPD which is well within the limit of even a lower classification local street. H. PERCENT ENTERING VEHICLES .ITS calculated the percent of the entering volume that would be directly attributed to the proposed development at downstream intersections at full build -out. The percent increase in entering volumes gives a good indication of how a development will affect a roadway or intersection. The study indicates that the development will increase the traffic volumes at area intersections between 1 % and 10% under the highest density development scenario. The increase in traffic volumes at each intersection is shown in Table 4. Table 4 — Percent Traffic Volume Increases Intersection Percent Volume Increase Fe Labe Road & Valley View Road 3% Sunn side Drive & Denver Avenue 10% 11 Street Iffiest & 7Avenue Vest 1 % 11 Street West & 5 Avenue West 3% 11 Street West & 1 s Ave n ue West 1 % 1=1 h Street best & Main Street 0.3% Abelin Traffic Services 9 May 2007 Ashley Hei hts Subdivision Kalis eitd Montana f. IMPACT SUMMARY & RECOMMENDATIONS The Ashley Heights Subdivision will have little effect on the traffic conditions around the proposed development site. Even if constructed at maximum density (41 units), intersection operations will remain within acceptable limits and traffic volumes will. not exceed the limits of the functional classifications of any roadways. when the Highway 93 bypass is constructed, Sunnyside Drive will effectively become a collector route and the functional classification of this roadway should be changed to match this operating condition. This change in classification will be necessary regardless of the construction of the Ashley Heights development. No intersection improvements or modification will be required as part of this development. A.belin Traffic Services 10 May 2007