AGENDA REPORT To: From: By: Honorable Mayor and City Council Members Warren Hutmacher, City Manager Tom Black, Public Works Director Date: March 23, 2016 Agenda: March 28, 2016 WORK SESSION AGENDA: Barnwell Road at Niblick Drive Alternative Analysis- Moved to April 11, 2016 Council Meeting Agenda Issue: Discussion of potential improvements on Barnwell Road at Niblick Drive Recommendation: Staff recommends adjusting the current interim project limits for Barnwell Road from Holcomb Bridge Road to just south of Niblick Drive and consideration of a temporary traffic signal at Niblick Drive intersection. An approval of an additional $60,000 would be required to install the temporary signal. In addition, staff is evaluating the future functional classification of Barnwell Road with future traffic projections on Barnwell Road, Jones Bridge Road, Old Alabama Road, Haynes Bridge Rd, Nesbit Ferry Rd, Old Alabama Connector and Old Scott Rd. Background: Barnwell Road is a 2.5 mile, two-lane roadway that connects Holcomb Bridge Road to Jones Bridge Road. There are turn lanes along Barnwell Road at Holcomb Bridge Road, Old Southwick Pass, and Redcoat Way as well as a bridge over Hogan Creek. There are eight (8) residential neighborhoods, one (1) shopping center, the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area (CRNRA), the Rivermont park, Barnwell Elementary School and the Rivermont Country Club located along Barnwell Road. The City of Johns Creek s Comprehensive Plan was adopted on November 10, 2008 by City Council. This plan identified six (6) Transportation Policies including Policy #3 to enhance capacity along key corridors while preserving the existing character of the two-lane residential roads in Johns Creek. Each policy includes supporting strategies used to develop projects. Barnwell Road is included under Strategy L to improve two-lane roads for efficient operations and safety and can be found as L1 on page 4 of Table T-2 in the attachments. Table T-2 recommends an implementation timeframe as short term, mid term and long term. The Short Term Work Program (STWP) was established by extracting all the short term projects identified in Table T-2. As seen in the chart, Barnwell Road was identified as a short term project and was therefore identified as projects T21 and T22 in the STWP as a
corridor to study for potential turn lanes and traffic calming. Based on this planning document, City Staff identified a number of safety concerns for Barnwell Road as indicated below: Substandard Narrow Lanes Barnwell Road has substandard 9-foot wide lanes with narrow shoulders which increases the risk for head on collisions or running off the roadway. The Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) standard lane width used in design is 11 feet with 16-foot standard width shoulders for trails and 10-foot standard width shoulders for sidewalks. High Vehicle Speed Speed surveys are conducted annually throughout the city and have found cars travel on Barnwell Road at an average speed of 45 MPH which is greater than the posted speed limit of 40 MPH. Roadways are designed to a specific speed and when vehicles travel faster than designed for, there is an increased risk of accidents. The full speed survey is included in the attachments with a summary of the collected data shown in the chart below: Year Total <40 MPH <40 MPH % 40 to 50 MPH 41 to 50 MPH % >50 MPH >50 MPH % Average Speed 2012 10,222 2,161 21% 7,064 69% 997 10% 44.4 2013 11,099 2,337 23% 7,868 77% 894 9% 43.3 2014 11,505 1,895 19% 7,206 70% 2,404 24% 45.1 Substandard Sight Distance Due to the curves in the roadway and steep terrain next to the road, many cars turning from side roads cannot see other cars far enough away on Barnwell Road to safely turn left or right in front of them. This safety concern is increased when cars are driving faster than 40 MPH and results in more serious accidents. Crash data is collected by the GDOT and the entire collection of data is included in the attachments with a summary of the collected data shown in the chart below: 2012 2013 2014 Total Crashes 29 38 44 111 Pedestrian/Bicycle Desire - There are many walkers, runners, and cyclists along Barnwell Road who are looking for safe ways to Barnwell Elementary School, the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area (CRNRA), the shopping centers along Holcomb Bridge Road, and the residential neighborhoods. The city has received numerous requests from residents for sidewalks or trails on Barnwell Road. With the rolling topography, current substandard narrow lanes, narrow shoulders, narrow bridge, guardrail and speeding cars, Barnwell Road is not safe for pedestrians or bicycles. Illegal Left Turns at Shopping Center The Kroger Shopping Center driveway is located on Barnwell Road in close proximity to Holcomb Bridge Road. Drivers are consistently ticketed by the City of Johns Creek police department for making this illegal left turn. The high potential for accidents when making a left hand turn into this driveway lead to it being an illegal movement. In its current configuration, Barnwell Road has a steep slope and approaches Holcomb Bridge Road at a substandard sharp angle. These elements create the potential for accidents when drivers stop while attempting to make the left turn. An additional safety hazard occurs as traffic backs up in the left turn lane onto Holcomb Bridge Road and cars turn through gaps in traffic and then has the potential to be hit by cars driving up the right turn lane where there is no backup.
In response to the safety concerns identified along Barnwell Road, City Staff identified an Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) Grant to perform a study for Barnwell Road to evaluate traffic concerns and pedestrian/bicycle connectivity. The GDOT contract was presented to City Council on November 14, 2013 for approval. Through this study, the City performed extensive public involvement by holding meetings with stakeholders along Barnwell Road. River Glen Homeowners Association (HOA) Board on June 26, 2014 Rivermont Subdivision HOA Board on July 21, 2014 Country Club of the South HOA Board on August 12, 2014 and October 15, 2014 River Ridge HOA Board on August 18, 2014 Fulton County Schools on November 3, 2014 Rivermont Country Club on November 17, 2014 During these early coordination meetings, the City explained the purpose of the proposed study and asked for input on the issues and concerns of the people who live on Barnwell Road to help develop proposed improvements. The most common issues discussed were the illegal left turns from Barnwell Road into the Kroger shopping center, potential impacts to individual properties including fencing and existing drainage problems. After incorporating the feedback received from the early coordination meetings, the City and GDOT held a Public Information Open House (PIOH) on November 17, 2014 at Newtown Park to present alternatives considered to improve the corridor. During the meeting and in the weeks following, a total of 58 comments were received with 31 (53%) indicating support, 14 (24%) indicating opposition and 13 (23%) responding maybe. The comments received include: Proposed sidewalk and bicycle lanes are important and needed facilities The proposed median at Holcomb Bridge Road to block the illegal left turn lanes into Kroger are important for safety on Barnwell Road Please address the high curb at the Jones Bridge Road/Barnwell Road curve Crosswalks should be added to cross to Barnwell Elementary School and to the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area entrance Expressed concern that the addition of roundabouts will slow down traffic and increase congestion along Barnwell Road Expressed concern that five (5) roundabouts are too many for the corridor Expressed concern that the proposed roundabouts need to be larger in diameter Expressed desire to have improved lighting, road surface and drainage along Barnwell Road As a result of all the stakeholder meetings and general PIOH meeting, city staff evaluated comments and revised the final concept was approved by the GDOT on April 23, 2015. Due to citizen comments and safety concerns, improvements to Barnwell Road at Holcomb Bridge Road have moved forward into the design phase. This project proposes to raise the elevation of Barnwell Road and add dual left turn lanes, a through lane and a right turn lane southbound on Barnwell Road to reduce the traffic backup as it approaches Holcomb Bridge Road. It is also proposed to add a raised median on Barnwell Road to restrict the cars from making illegal left turns into the Kroger Shopping Center. Bicycle lanes and the 10-foot trail will be included with this project and will be carried across a pedestrian bridge parallel to Hogan Creek and end at Niblick Drive. The project will allow for better signal timing at Holcomb Bridge Road and by completing this project, the GDOT will allow construction of a
proposed signal on Holcomb Bridge Road in front of the Kroger fuel station. Currently, there is not a safe way for the tanker delivery trucks to exit the Kroger Shopping Center parking area to head east on Holcomb Bridge Road. They can exit onto Barnwell Road which is a very steep driveway where they bottom out, they can exit onto Nesbit Ferry Road which is a narrow, winding driveway where trucks block all traffic or they can exit directly onto Holcomb Bridge Road where they do not have a traffic signal. None of these solutions are safe for the trucks or cars visiting the shopping center. Barnwell Road at Niblick Drive: As a condition of approving the Project Framework Agreement (PFA) with the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) for the engineering phase of the project, council asked to evaluate alternatives to the roundabout to improve sight distance on Barnwell Road at Niblick Drive. Additionally, council has asked questions about the long term planning solution for traffic in and around Barnwell Road. The City currently has multiple transportation planning efforts underway including the North Fulton Comprehensive Transportation Plan Update and the City of Johns Creek Comprehensive Plan Update to help provide answers to this question. In order to allow this planning effort to assist with the direction for improvements to the Barnwell Road at Niblick Drive intersection, council asked if there were temporary measures that could be utilized until a permanent solution was determined. Based on this direction, a temporary traffic signal has been added for consideration by council. With the temporary solution, the GDOT funded Barnwell Road from Holcomb Bridge Road to Niblick Drive project would end just before Niblick Drive with only the trail and bike lanes proposed to be extended to Niblick Drive at this time. 1. Temporary traffic signal construction Will improve safety until such time that a permanent solution can be determined at Niblick Drive Provides increased safety for left turns in and out of Niblick Drive Signal not warranted based on traffic volumes or accident data Total estimated cost: $60,000 2. Construct a roundabout Reduces speed for traffic on Barnwell Road Allows safe pedestrian crossing across Barnwell Road Achieves sight distance with smallest construction footprint Minor roadway realignment required Grading challenge on northwest corner could require a wall Total estimated cost: $1,300,000 (Potentially 100% funded by GDOT as a safety project) 3. Shift Intersection to the east Sight distance provided for 40 mph design speed Left turn lane provided at Niblick Drive Retaining wall not required at the intersection Challenging horizontal geometry to reduce impacts to the bridge at Hogan Creek
Largest construction footprint Stop bar placed in front of crosswalk (Due to sight distance requirements) No apparent improvement to speed of traffic on Barnwell Road Most severe impact to Rivermont Park. Current 27.7 acre park would be reduced to 24.8 Acres. Total estimated cost: $1,600,000 4. Left turn lane addition with large wall Sight distance provided for 40 mph design speed Widen existing roadway for left turn lane Large retaining wall (+/- 25 tall) required behind townhomes Requires acquisition of 40% of property and damages to eleven (11) residential townhomes No apparent improvement to speed of traffic on Barnwell Road Total estimated cost: $2,400,000 5. Close access on Niblick Drive and reroute traffic to Olde Clubs Drive Eliminates sight distance issue at Niblick Drive Restricts access to Barnwell Road Requires acquisition of Right of Way along Club Way Potential damages to 68 units with public access to Niblick Drive Improvements to Club Way required Additional delay for emergency vehicles Reroutes traffic to Olde Clubs Drive Substandard sight distance exists at Olde Clubs Drive and requires additional improvement No apparent improvement to speed of traffic on Barnwell Road Total estimated cost: $670,000* (Costs include construction costs of closing Niblick Drive access, improvements to Club Way, and grading/right of way to provide sight distance at Olde Clubs Drive only. Acquisition costs for Club Way not included.) Financial Impact: Financial implications are listed above. Alternative Approaches: Choose not to proceed with this project Attachment(s): 1) Signal Warrant Study 2) Close Niblick Drive and reroute traffic to Olde Clubs Drive 3) Shift Barnwell Road to the east at Niblick Drive. 4) Construct a roundabout on Barnwell Road at Niblick Drive 5) Construct large wall along Barnwell Road at Niblick Drive. 6) Cost Estimate Breakdown