TRAFFIC IMPACT STUDY FOR THE LANDMARK AT TALBOT PARK IN NORFOLK, VA INTERMODAL ENGINEERING, P.C. OCTOBER, 200
The Landmark at Talbot Park is a proposed redevelopment of the existing apartments along the west end of Harvard Street in Norfolk, VA. Intermodal Engineering, P.C. was retained by Collins Enterprises, LLC to perform a traffic impact analysis for this redevelopment to determine its impact on the existing road system. The analysis considers existing conditions and post development impacts on the adjacent roadways, as well as, identifies any needed modifications to minimize these impacts and provide adequate access to the site. This memorandum summarizes the traffic impact analysis, identifies the procedures and assumptions used in its development and also identifies the road system requirements. PROJECT DESCRIPTION The Landmark at Talbot Park is a proposed redevelopment of the existing apartments along the west end of Harvard Street in Norfolk, VA. Originally, there were 232 apartments along Harvard and Warren Streets, west of Newport Avenue. Since the time of the original acquisition of the 232 apartments, 32
units have been demolished and 2 condo units have been constructed. It is Collins Enterprises proposition that the remaining apartments be demolished and that 373 new apartments be constructed. This would be a net addition of 53 units over the original number of apartments. The access to The Landmark at Talbot Park will be from Warren Street and from a new access south of Harvard Street. With the redevelopment of the property, Harvard Street will no longer continue west into the property and the new southern access will be a T-intersection at Newport Avenue. EXISTING ROADWAY NETWORK The existing major roadways adjacent to the site are as follows: ) Newport Avenue is a two-lane undivided northsouth collector street with a speed limit of 25 miles per hour. In the vicinity of the site, Newport Avenue runs north to Little Creek Road and south toward DePaul Hospital. 2) Warren Street is a two-lane undivided east-west collector roadway with a speed limit of 25 miles per hour. In the vicinity of the site, Warren 2
Street runs east to Granby Street and runs west into the site. 3) Harvard Street is a two-lane undivided east-west collector roadway with a speed limit of 25 miles per hour. In the vicinity of the site, Warren Street runs east approximately three blocks along Granby High School and runs west into the site. TRAFFIC COUNT DATA Present traffic demand in the study area was determined from a review of traffic count data. Manual intersection turning movement counts were conducted by Intermodal Engineering, P.C. from 7am to 9am and from 4pm to 6pm on a typical weekday of September 23, 200 at the intersection of Newport Avenue and Warren Street and the intersection of Newport Avenue and Harvard Street. Peak volumes at these intersections are indicated on Figures and 2. Automatic 24-hour traffic counts were also conducted by Intermodal Engineering, P.C. during the weeks of September 20 and September 27, 200 and indicate the following existing two-way through volumes in the vicinity of the site: 3
Newport Ave. (N of Warren St) Warren St. (W of Newport Ave) Harvard St. (W of Newport Ave) 4,96 vpd,28 vpd 704 vpd While these volumes provide a measure of activity on the area road system, it is also important to evaluate how well that system can accommodate these volumes. A comparison of the amount of delay experienced by vehicles at intersections is commonly used and determines the levels of service at those intersections. CAPACITY ANALYSIS The delay for the unsignalized intersections of Newport Avenue and Warren Street and of Newport Avenue and Harvard Street was determined under existing conditions for the morning and afternoon peak hours utilizing SYNCHRO, an overlay program for the 2000 Highway Capacity Manual (FHWA) software. The results of this analysis indicate the following level of service and corresponding approach delay in seconds: EXISTING CONDITIONS Newport/Warren NB left A (0.0s) A (0.0s) SB left A (0.9s) A (.s) EB B (.5s) B (.0s) WB B (.0s) B (0.6s) 4
Newport/Harvard NB A (8.5s) A (8.5s) SB A (9.s) A (8.5s) EB A (7.9s) A (7.9s) WB A (7.3s) A (7.7s) Under existing conditions, the studied intersections operate at acceptable levels of service. GENERATION ANALYSIS The redevelopment plan for The Landmark at Talbot Park is to demolish the remaining 200 apartments and construct 373 new apartments along with maintaining the existing 2 new condo units. In order to forecast future traffic conditions upon the completion of The Landmark at Talbot Park, it is necessary to determine the amount of new traffic which will be generated by the redevelopment. To accomplish this, trip rates were based upon the Trip Generation: An ITE Informational Report (Institute of Transportation Engineers, 8 th Edition, 2008) for Land Use 220 Apartments and Land Use 230 - Residential Condominium/Townhouse. In order to determine the net increase in traffic, first, the trips were generated for the original apartments of 232 units: 5
Original Apts (LU 220 -Apts): 232 units TOTAL IN OUT Weekday Total,530 vpd 765 vpd 765 vpd Weekday AM Peak Hour 7 vph 23 vph 94 vph Weekday PM Peak Hour 45 vph 94 vph 5 vph Then the trips for the redevelopment of the site into The Landmark at Talbot Park were generated: New Condos (LU 230 - Condos): 2 units TOTAL IN OUT Weekday Total 02 vpd 5 vpd 5 vpd Weekday AM Peak Hour 9 vph 2 vph 7 vph Weekday PM Peak Hour vph 7 vph 4 vph New Apts (LU 220 - Apts): 373 units Weekday Total TOTAL IN OUT 2,384 vpd,92 vpd,92 vpd Weekday AM Peak Hour 87 vph 38 vph 49 vph Weekday PM Peak Hour 223 vph 45 vph 78 vph The Landmark at Talbot Park: Weekday Total TOTAL IN OUT 2,486 vpd,243 vpd,243 vpd Weekday AM Peak Hour 96 vph 40 vph 56 vph Weekday PM Peak Hour 234 vph 52 vph 82 vph 6
Finally, the differential between what The Landmark at Talbot Park will generate compared with what were the trips of the original apartments is determined: Change: TOTAL IN OUT Weekday Total +956 vpd +478 vpd +478 vpd Weekday AM Peak Hour +79 +7 +62 Weekday PM Peak Hour +89 +58 +3 The proposed redevelopment of the site into The Landmark at Talbot Park increases in the number trips generated, but whether this is a significant impact to traffic will be determined by distributing these trips to the road system and evaluating the impact to the capacity of the adjacent intersections. DISTRIBUTION The trips generated by The Landmark at Talbot Park were distributed to the existing road system based on the following distribution assumption determined from the existing traffic counts: AM PM To the N on Newport Ave: 45% 65% To the S on Newport Ave: 50% 30% 7
To the E on Warren St: 5% 5% From the N on Newport Ave: 60% 6o% From the S on Newport Ave: 35% 35% From the E on Warren St: 5% 5% The generated trips were then distributed to and from the site for the morning and afternoon peak hours based on these percentages. In addition, it was further assumed that: Two-thirds of the trips exiting the site oriented to the south would use the southern entrance; Two-thirds of the trips exiting the site oriented to the north would use the northern entrance; Two-thirds of the trips entering the site oriented from the south would use the southern entrance; and Two-thirds of the trips entering the site oriented from the north would use the northern entrance. These distributed trips for The Landmark at Talbot Park are indicated on Figures 7 and 8. The distributed trips were then combined with the existing traffic counts with the traffic from the current remaining apartments removed. It is noted that the traffic from the current remaining apartments was removed because these units will be demolished to construct The Landmark at Talbot Park. The traffic from the current remaining apartments was determined from the traffic count for the traffic that was going into and out of Harvard Street as 8
well as the adjacent alley. These combined volumes are indicated on Figures 9 and 0. FUTURE CONDITIONS WITH REDEVELOPMENT Next, the possibility of background growth along Newport Avenue was evaluated. This area of the City of Norfolk is generally considered fully developed and would have minimal background growth. This is supported by a comparison of the traffic count on Newport Avenue from March 2009 (5,696 vpd) with the existing count on Newport Avenue (4,568 vpd) which indicates a decrease in the amount of traffic. Consequently, no background growth rate will be applied to traffic on Newport Avenue. Using the combined volumes for conditions after the redevelopment, the delay for the studied intersections, including the newly created realigned intersection of the entrance to The Landmark at Talbot Park, were again analyzed utilizing SYNCHRO. Since the intersection is being realigned into to T-intersections, it was assumed that the STOP control on Newport Avenue would not remain in effect. The 9
results of this analysis indicate the following levels of service and corresponding approach delay in seconds: FUTURE CONDITIONS WITH REDEVELOPMENT Newport/Warren NB left A (0.2s) A (0.8s) SB left A (0.9s) A (0.8s) EB B (3.2s) B (3.9s) WB B (.7s) B (.6s) Newport/Harvard SB left A (0.s) A (0.5s) WB A (9.5s) B (0.3s) Newport/New Entrance NB left A (0.5s) A (.5s) EB B (.s) B (0.8s) Even with the addition of traffic generated from the development of The Landmark at Talbot Park, the studied unsignalized intersections continue to operate at acceptable levels of service. There is little impact to traffic and no traffic control improvements are required based on capacity. TURN LANE ANALYSIS While highway capacity analysis gives an indication of traffic flow, review of turn lane requirements at the proposed entrances to The Landmark at Talbot Park is needed to 0
determine what, if any, improvements may be needed. Left Turn Lanes A review of the need for left turns into The Landmark at Talbot Park was reviewed utilizing VDOT Access Management Design Standards, Figures 3-4 thru 3-7. A summary of this review is presented below: Newport Ave. & N Entrance/Warren St NB Lts Adv Vol. % Lts Opp. Vol Meet Criteria? AM Peak 4 vph 204 vph 2% 242 vph No PM Peak 7 vph 205 vph 8% 264 vph No Newport Ave. & S Entrance NB Lts Adv Vol. % Lts Opp. Vol Meet Criteria? AM Peak 9 vph 77 vph 5% 265 vph No PM Peak 34 vph 209 vph 6% 93 vph No No left turns would be required from Newport Avenue into The Landmark at Talbot Park. Right Turn Lanes A review of the need for right turns into The Landmark at Talbot Park was reviewed utilizing VDOT Access Management Design Standards, Figure 3-23. According to the VDOT
criteria, the right turn volumes on roads where the speed limit is less than 40 mph and right turn volumes are greater than 40 vph and less than 300 vph are to get adjusted down by 20 vph. This adjustment was applied when applicable. A summary of this review is presented below: Newport Ave. & N Entrance/Warren St. SB Rts Adjd Rts Appch Vol Meet Criteria? AM Peak 5 vph 5 vph 29 vph No PM Peak 59 vph 39 vph 24 vph No Newport Ave. & S Entrance SB Rts Adjd Rts Appch Vol Meet Criteria? AM Peak 8 vph 8 vph 238 vph No PM Peak 30 vph 30 vph 84 vph No As can be seen, no right turns would be required from Newport Avenue into The Landmark at Talbot Park. NEWPORT AVENUE REVIEW As stated earlier, the review of the traffic count on Newport Avenue indicates that the traffic volumes on Newport Avenue have actually decreased. Such a decrease could be partially due to the STOP control was added to the intersection of Newport Avenue and Harvard Street. It is noted that this 2
STOP control does not meet the minimum criteria of the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD), the national standard for traffic control, for a 4-way STOP control. Consequently, this traffic control device is not needed for assignment of traffic. A speed study was also conducted in conjunction with the traffic volume count. This speed study indicates that the 85 th percentile speed, the speed at which 85% of the vehicles are traveling at or less, is 34 mph. Based on the review of the 85 th percentile speed, there is still a speeding problem on Newport Avenue, as there was prior to the installation of the 4-way STOP control at Harvard Street. However, this is an existing condition and the additional traffic from The Landmark at Talbot Park would not be significant enough to dramatically change that either way. 3
CONCLUSION In conclusion, this report finds that the redevelopment of The Landmark at Talbot Park can be approved as planned. The redevelopment has minimal impact to existing traffic flow and no traffic control improvements are needed. 4
THE LANDMARK AT TALBOT PARK 0/4/200 Newport Avenue Warren St 0 23 23 2 2 26 0 20 0 6 26 5 232 4 0 3 0 Harvard St 02 3 8 65 alley 2 0 Figure AM EXISTING
THE LANDMARK AT TALBOT PARK 0/4/200 Newport Avenue Warren St 77 24 0 30 3 3 0 76 0 23 55 0 4 6 8 7 4 59 26 Harvard St alley 2 Figure 2 PM EXISTING
THE LANDMARK AT TALBOT PARK 0/4/200 Newport Avenue N Entrance 5 82 0 Warren Street 47 6 27 4 22 2 35 Harvard Street 28 S Entrance 8 27 24 5 9 4 Figure 3 AM DISTRIBUTION
THE LANDMARK AT TALBOT PARK 0/4/200 Newport Avenue N Entrance 58 29 35 3 9 9 7 7 Warren Street 39 Harvard Street 35 S Entrance 30 9 8 5 34 7 Figure 4 PM DISTRIBUTION
THE LANDMARK AT TALBOT PARK 0/4/200 Newport Avenue N Entrance 5 204 23 26 2 20 Warren Street 47 6 27 4 72 28 265 43 0 Harvard Street 208 0 S Entrance 8 257 24 50 9 68 Figure 5 AM w/redevelopment
THE LANDMARK AT TALBOT PARK 0/4/200 Newport Avenue N Entrance 59 82 23 30 9 4 Warren Street 35 3 9 7 78 0 86 0 8 7 Harvard Street 67 26 S Entrance 30 63 8 5 34 75 Figure 6 PM w/redevelopment