Ref. No. 151-00564-01 February 19, 2015 Ms. Ashley Blissett, P. Eng., Senior Development Engineer City of Halifax PO Box 1749 HALIFAX NS B3J 3A5 RE: Traffic Impact Statement, Proposed Multi-Tenant Residential Building with Ground Floor Commercial Space, Robie St. between Bilby St. and Macara St., Halifax, NS Dear Ms. Blissett: W M Fares Group is preparing plans to construct a multi-unit residential building with ground floor commercial space on the east side of Robie Street between Bilby Street and Macara Street in Halifax (Figure 1). The development will include an 80 unit apartment building, approximately 11,000 square feet of commercial space, and approximately 93 underground parking spaces. This is the Traffic Impact Statement (TIS) required to accompany the development application. Description of Site Location - The proposed development which encompasses the east block face of Robie Street between Bilby Street and Macara Street (Figure 1) is illustrated in Photo 1. The site was formerly occupied by a service station that was demolished several years ago Photo 1 - Looking towards the site from the northeast corner of the Macara Street and Robie Street intersection. The parking garage entrance will be from Macara Street to the left of the photo. Vehicles will access and egress at a parking garage driveway on Macara Street towards the east edge of the property approximately 20 meters from the edge Robie Street right-of-way (Figure 1 and Photo 1). While this driveway is less than 30 meters from Robie Street as required by S-300 Section 36 (1) (b), the driveway is located as close as practical to the east site boundary. Since the parking garage doorway is set back from the edge of the sidewalk, there should be adequate visibility between vehicle drivers and pedestrians. Pedestrian access for the residential units will be from Macara Street and entrances for the commercial space will be as required from the three abutting streets. 1 Spectacle Lake Drive, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada B3B 1X7 Telephone: 902-835-9955 ~ Fax: 902-835-1645 ~ www.wspgroup.com
SITE DATA PROPERTY AREA ± 19,094 SF BLDG FOOTPRINT ± 17,9120 SF SITE COVERAGE 89% AREA (TOTAL) ± 11,000 SF TOTAL RESIDENTIAL UNITS 80 ABOVE GRADE PARKING 0 BELOW GRADE PARKING ± 93 2'-11" 3'-7" ±193'-7" 96'-3" 97'-4" 2'-10" 4'-10" M A C A R A S T R E E T ±81'-3" ±94'-2" B I L B Y S T R E E T VEHICULAR ACCESS RESIDENTIAL PROPOSED BUILDING COMMERICAL BUILDING OVERHANG ABOVE R O B I E S T R E E T CURB BILBY SUITES SITEPLAN SCALE 1" = 20'-0" 2859 ROBIE STREET, HALIFAX NS Figure 1 WM F RES G R O U P DATE: 23 DEC 2014 SDP
Page 3 Robie Street is a north - south arterial street with five travel lanes adjacent to the site; two northbound lanes and three southbound lanes. There are curb, gutter and sidewalks on both sides of the street. Parking is not permitted at any time and stopping is prohibited adjacent to the site 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM, Monday to Friday. A manual turning movement count obtained by Halifax Traffic & Right of Way Section during August, 2014, at the Almon Street intersection, indicated twoway volumes of 1,380 vehicle per hour (vph) during the AM peak hour and 1,530 vph during the PM peak hour on Robie Street just south of the site. A count obtained during September, 2013, at the Young Street intersection indicated two-way volumes of 1,680 during the AM peak hour and 1,940 vph during the PM peak hour on Robie Street north of the site. Macara Street is a two lane wide two-way local street with sidewalks on the both sides (Photos 2 and 3). While parking is not permitted on the south side of the street between Robie Street and Agricola Street, unrestricted parking (except street cleaning) is permitted on the north side of the street. While a traffic count is not available, it is expected that peak hourly volumes are reasonably low. Bilby Street is a local street that is restricted to one-way eastbound between Robie Street and Agricola Street. Parking is not permitted on the north side of the street adjacent to the site, however, two hour parking is permitted between 8 AM and 6PM, Monday to Friday, east of the site. There is a loading zone and one hour parking on the south side of the street opposite the site, with unrestricted parking on the remainder of the street. Photo 2 - Looking west on Macara Street towards Robie Street from the parking garage entrance location near the east edge of the site. Photo 3 - Looking east on Macara Street towards Agricola Street from the parking garage entrance location near the east edge of the site. Description of Transit Service - Metro Transit provides service for several bus routes along Robie Street adjacent to the site. Trip Generation - Trip generation estimates for the proposed, prepared using published trip th generation rates from Trip Generation,9 Edition, are included in Table 1. It is estimated that the proposed mid-rise apartment building with ground level commercial space will generate about 39 vehicle trips (15 vph entering and 24 vph exiting) during the AM peak hour and 61 vehicle trips (31 vph entering and 30 vph exiting) during the PM peak hour.
Page 4 Land Use Mid-Rise Apartment (Land Use 223) 1 2 Table 1 - Trip Generation Estimates for Proposed Development Units 80 units Specialty Retail (Use Code 826) 4 11.0 KGLA Trip Generation Rates 3 3 Trips Generated AM Peak PM Peak AM Peak PM Peak In Out In Out In Out In Out 0.09 0.21 0.23 0.16 7 17 18 13 0.76 0.60 1.19 1.52 8 7 13 17 Trip Generation Estimates for Proposed Development 15 24 31 30 NOTES: 1. Rates are for the indicated Land Use Codes, Trip Generation, 9th Edition, Institute of Transportation Engineers, 2012. 2. KGLA is Gross Leasable Area x 1000 square feet. 3. Rates are vehicles per hour per unit ; trips generated are vehicles per hour for peak hours. 4. The Speciality Retail (Land Use 826) rate for Peak Hour of Adjacent Street Traffic, One Hour Between 4 and 6 PM has been used. While the unit is considerably smaller than the average 69.0 KGLA in the published data (Page 1580), the published trip generation rate has been used since this is expected to be pedestrian oriented commercial space. Also, since there is no published rate for the AM peak hour of adjacent street for this Land Use, and since AM peak hour trips to Speciality Retail are generally low, AM trip rates have been assumed to be 50% of the PM rate with reversal of the directional split. Other Proposed Residential and Commercial Projects in the Study Area - Construction is progressing for a fourteen story building at the southeast corner of Robie Street and Demone Street. It is understood that the development will include approximately 138 apartment units, 22,000 square feet of office space and 13,000 square feet of commercial space. A significant mixed use development is also planned on the Bloomfield Center site on the east side of Robie Street south of Almon Street, one block south of the proposed development site. Summary - 1. The proposed development on the east side of Robie Street between Bilby street and Macara Street will include an 80 unit apartment building, approximately 11,000 square feet of commercial space, and approximately 93 underground parking spaces. 2. Pedestrian access for the residential units will be from Macara Street and entrances for the commercial space will be as required from the three abutting streets. 3. Vehicles will access and egress at a parking garage driveway on Macara Street towards the east edge of the property. Since the parking garage doorway is set back from the edge of the sidewalk, there should be adequate visibility between exiting drivers and pedestrians. 4. Trip generation estimates for the proposed development include about 39 vehicle trips (15 vph entering and 24 vph exiting) during the AM peak hour and 61 vehicle trips (31 vph entering and 30 vph exiting) during the PM peak hour. 5. The site has good pedestrian facilities and transit services. Metro Transit provides service for several routes along Robie Street adjacent to the site. 6. While traffic volumes are expected to be low on Macara Street at the parking garage driveway, Robie Street has high traffic volumes during both AM and PM peak hours. However, the Robie Street cross section with two northbound lanes and three southbound lanes accommodates the traffic, with the center southbound lane acting as a left turn lane for both Macara and Bilby Streets.
Page 5 7. When this Traffic Impact Statement letter was prepared in February, 2015, construction was progressing for a fourteen story building at the southeast corner of Robie Street and Demone Street one block north of the site and planning was progressing for a significant mixed use development on the Bloomfield Center site one block south of the proposed development site. Conclusions 8. While traffic volumes are high on Robie Street, the low to moderate numbers of site generated trips are not expected to have any significant impact to the level of performance of Robie Street, Macara Street, the adjacent intersections, or the regional street network. 9. Site generated traffic will be dispersed between Robie Street and Agricola Street. Trips generated by the proposed development and other developments on Robie Street near the site are not expected to have any significant cumulative effect on traffic operations. If you have any questions or comments, please contact me by Email to ken.obrien@wspgroup.com or telephone 443-7747. Original Signed