By: Philip LaBerge, Coppell Greens HOA Date: February 23, 2016 This is a formal response to the traffic study done on the intersection at Denton Tap Road, Fallkirk Drive (to the west) and the Entrance/Exit to the Ballantyne Apartment (to the east.) Kimley Horn sent the study by way of a Memorandum dated September 11, 2015. While the study went into great detail to show that the intersection is operating efficiently, does not require a traffic light, and there are no delays, we feel that there are a number of inaccuracies and omissions which should be addressed. Inaccuracies Defining the Intersection In the Signal Warrant Analysis, the intersection is described as follows: For the purpose of this study, Denton Tap Road is considered the major street, and Fallkirk Drive is considered the minor street. Denton Tap Road will be referred to as the North/South roadway and Fallkirk Drive as the East/West roadway. The west side of the intersection is not Fallkirk Drive. It is the Entrance/Exit to Ballantyne Apartments. Also, in the Warrant 1: Eight-Hour Vehicular Volume section, it states: The eastbound approach of Fallkirk Drive is unmarked, but assumed to have one shared leftthrough lane (and) one through-right lane.the westbound approach has one shared leftthrough-right lane. Again, there is no eastbound approach of Fallkirk Dive. It is the Entrance/Exit of Ballantyne Apartments which is an important distinction.) The only other description of the intersection in provided in the police report at the end of the document in the Police Report Diagram which shows Fallkirk Drive and the Entrance/Exit of Ballantyne Apartments directly across from each other. It should have been shown as being located further to the north and it incorrectly shows a deceleration and acceleration lane.
The Ballantyne Apartment Entrance/Exit is not directly across from Fallkirk drive, but rather it is offset about 27 feet to the north and is on a steep grade. This is a significant point as described below. Areial view of the Denton Tap/Fallkirk/Ballanyne intersection. The exit lanes have been extended to show the offset between them.
Aerial view of the Denton Tap/Turnberry/Preserve intersection. The exit lanes have been extended to show the offset between them. Note how much closer it is than the intersection to the Why is that important? Confusion at the worst possible time. Drivers exiting at the same time and meeting head on in the median simply don t know if they should be turning in front of each other, or after they pass each other. When this occurs when there is traffic, it requires a split second decision and can be very dangerous. There are no signs or roadway markings to help eliminate confusion. When a car exiting Fallkirk turning left to go northbound enters the intersection at the same time as a car exiting Ballantyne Apartments to go southbound, because of the offset, cars are headed directly at each other. One has to turn earlier so that the oncoming driver recognizes your intent to turn in front of them. As a comparison, the intersection just to the south at Turnberry Lane and Preserve Place does not have this problem because 1) the offset is much less and, 2) it is not on a grade.
Signs and roadway markings (painted on the road in the median) would be a great help to eliminate confusion. Omissions o At our annual Coppell Greens HOA meeting which George Marshall with the Coppell Engineering Department and Officer Bryce Lee with the Coppell PD attended, Mr. Marshall said that there is a rule that states that turning in front of or after the oncoming car is dependent on the depth of the median (I believe he said 27.) If it is less than that, which the Denton Tap/Fallkirk/Ballantyne intersection is, then cars would turn in front of each other. If it was greater than that, like a divided highway, cars would pass each other before turning. Officer Lee had not heard that rule. Most of the people in the audience were split on which was correct. Most police officers I ve talked to since aren t sure. The Texas Driver s Manual does not address the issue. o The confusion in the above case is made worse when there is a lot of traffic. If there is any confusion, there is no time to react and avoid a head on collision. o Right of way violations. Drivers exiting the Ballantyne Apartments to go southbound frequently enter the intersection after northbound cars are in the intersection waiting to turn left onto Fallkirk. They pull right in front of them, violating their right of way, and using the island as a safe haven until they can see around cars in the southbound turn lane and find a gap in the traffic. Coppell Greens Survey Coppell Greens went to great effort to perform a survey of its residents regarding the intersection. That study was provided to the City of Coppell Engineering Department, but never referenced in the Kimley Horn traffic study. Its omission suggests that the City of Coppell Engineering Department either didn t bother to provide the survey to Kimley Horn, or that the responses from the 71 residents who
completed the survey were deemed to be of little or no value. The two most striking results of the survey were to the questions: When entering the median area on Denton Tap simultaneously with another vehicle from across the street, has there ever been confusion as to which side either car should pass? 87% said that either didn t know which side to pass on, or that they almost had a collision. When exiting southbound on Denton Tap, have you ever had someone speeding southbound tailgate you? 87% said that it happens either sometimes or frequently. When exiting your community, have you had to wait in line to get out? 85% answered Yes in the morning. Accident Reporting In the memo from Captain Danny Barton of the Coppell Police Department to George Marshall with Coppell Engineering, he stated that, There has been zero (0) motor vehicle accidents reported at the intersection since January of 2014. What Officer Barton did not state was that: If the damage in an accident is less than $1,000, a police report is not required to be filed. If the cost of the damage is more than that amount, it is at the police officer s discretion whether to file a report or not, which if often not filed. If there was an accident and the police were not called, no report would be filed. The memo suggests that because no police reports were filed, there were no accidents which is false and misleading. Prior Studies Two prior traffic studies were done on the intersection in 2007 and 2010, one by the City of Lewisville and one by the City of Coppell. Both indicated that a traffic light was warranted. Moreover, the City of Lewisville stated that funding in the 2016 budget would be available for a traffic light. That information was not provided in the Kimley Horn s study. Traffic Study Duration & Method Kimley Horn s traffic study was based on traffic volume counts for a 24 hour period starting the evening of Monday, March 30, 2015. In their survey, they make the assumption that the remaining 364 days of the year have the same traffic volumes despite increased traffic on school days and other impacts. It also does not address the increasing traffic volumes due to the build out of subdivisions to the north as well as the major roadway projects.
Summary The Coppell Greens HOA would like to express our appreciation that the City engaged Kimley Horn to perform a traffic study on the Denton Tap/Fallkirk/Ballantyne intersection. However, in addition to the issues described above, the City has made no effort to review the findings with us and engage us in finding a solution. While we were told the traffic light signal timings would be adjusted to the north and south on Denton Tap, nothing else has been done.