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Riverchase(1)-SY 931221§ C.E.D. Construction TRAFFIC ACCESS STUDY FOR RIVERCHASE CLUB APARTMENTS IN COPPELL, TEXAS DeShazo, Tang & Associates, Inc. 330 Union Station Dallas, Texas 75202 December 21, 1993 DT&A TRAFFIC ACCESS STUDY FOR RIVERCHASE CLUB APARTMENT~ IN COPPELL, TEXAS Prepared For: C.E.D. Construction Prepared By:. DeShazo, Tang & Assoclate~, Inc. 330 Union Station Dnlln% Texa~ 75202 (214) 748-6740 December 21, 1993 IYr&A Job ~93170 ! I I I I I DT&A TO:. FROM: DATE: SUBJECT: TECltNICAL MEMORANDUM Mr. David W. Brown C.E.D. Construction DeShazo, Tang & Associates, Inc. December 21, 1993 Traffic Access Study for Riverehane Club Apartments, Coppull, Texas; J93170 PURPOSE The purpose of this memorandum is to analyze traffic access for Riverchase Club Apartments, a proposed multi- family development, ia Coppull, Texas. The access issues of this snslysis are limited to projecting the site generated traffic at Belt Line Road and to assess possible congestion at the main driveway at MacArthur Boulevard and Rivereha.ne. Drive. Thc aha ~lysis will also study the need for a southbound deceleration lane and the appropriateness of a second access point for the site off of MacArthur Boulevard. SITE DESCRIPTION The proposed site con~int~s of land located north of Belt Line Road on MacArthur Boulevard ia Coppull, Texas. Thc site is bounded by MacArthur Boulevard to the north and east. Vacant land borders to the west while the St. Louis & Southwestern Railroad borders to the south. Exh'bit 1 illustrates thc site in relation to the sul-roullding thoroughfures. The development COheirs of 280 multi-family dwelling nnlta. The site provides for one driveway at the intersection of MacArthur Boulevard and Rivervhn~e Drive. The proposed site layout is shown in Exhibit 2. EXISTING CONDITIONS Accessibility Accessibility is an important consideration ia the study and design of transportation systems serving any development. Access to the proposed site will be provided via the following roadways: MacArthm' Boulevard - is a north/south four-lane divided arterial adjacent to thc site. South of Belt Linc Road it becomes a six-l~na divided roadway which serves as the major spine road for Valley Ranch. According to data collected ia thc summer of 1993, MacArthur Boulevard carries approximately 17,900 vehicles per day south of Bclt Line Road. With a pc~ed speed limit is 3~ mph, the average speed is 40 mph north of Belt llne Road. The Coppell thoroughfare plan calls for Mac. Arthur Boulevard to be cxpanded to a six-lane divided roadway, but thc improvements have not been scheduled as of now. Rlverchase Drive - is a four-lane undivided roadway that connects Mac. Arthur Boulevard to Sandy Lake Road. Belt Line Road - is an east-west arterial located south of thc proposed development. East of Mac. Arthur Boulevard, Belt Line Road is a slx-lane divided roadway prov~dlng access to IH35. West of Mac. Arthur Boulevard, Belt Line Road is currently a two-lane undivided road. Exhibit 3 illustrates the e~tlng lane a~i~melltg at the following intersections: Mac. Arthur Boulevard end Rivereh~ Drive Mac. Arthur Boulevard and Belt Line Road A major retail center is phnned for the southeast corner of MacArthur Boulevard end Riverchasc Drive. A new fire station is also pl:~nned for the land south of the proposed site, between the railroad end the property line. Tr~flc Volumes Twenty-four hour traffic counts were performed in April, 1.993 at the intersection of Mac. Arthur Boulevard and Belt Line Road. As shown in Exhibit 4, MacArthur Boulevard carries approximately 6,800 vehicles southbound and 10,300 vehicles northbound daring a twenty-four hour period. Belt I Jne Road carries about 6,600 vehicles eastbound and 8,000 vehicles westbound during this same time period. Munual peak hour traffic movement counts were obtained from 4'.30 to 6:30 p.m. on Friday, December 17, 1993 and from 6:30 to 8:30 a.m. on Monday, December 20, 1993 at the intersection of MacA~thur Boulevard end Riverchaso Drive. Exhibits 5 and 6 illustrate the existing morning and evenin~ peak hour tra~c movements. commons Aren Development To determine the appropriate design year in which to e~mlne thc impact of the proposed development on thc adjacent street systam, the year in which thc construction of the site will be completed must be estimated. For this proposed development, a opening date of 1995 is anticipated. Other developments that are expected to affect the traffic conditions in the vicinity of the proposed development in 1995 include a retail center planned for the southeast corner of MacAtthur Boulevard and Riverchase Drive. Although additional apartments are planned on River,-hn~e Drive east of Mac. Arthur Boulevard, they are not expected to be completed until after 1995. Additional single.fAmily homes are also planned in the vicinity of River*'h~e Drive. Thc trips generated by these homes were assumed to be taken into account in thc growth rate applied to existing traffic volumes. Traffic Volumes In order to acotrately asso~ thc impact of the proposed development on the adjacent roadway system, future traffic volumes must be estimated. Because the proposed development is projected to be completed end leased out by mid-LO95, a design year of 1995 was used to analyze the effect of the development on thc adjacent streets. Traffic projections for the study area were obtained by applying a growth factor to existing traffic and adding the retail center trat~fic to the projected volumes. Thc growth rate was determined n,lng historic traffic count data near thc proposed site. In 1986, DT&A performed 24-hour traffic volume counts at the intersection of MacArthur Boulevard end Belt Line Road. Comparing these volumes to the April, 1993 daily traffic counts conducted for the retail center phnned in the southeast quadrant of MacArthur Boulevard/Rivereh~ Drive, a growth rate of 6.~% per year was calculated. This growth rate was applied to the existing turning movements collected by DT&A on December 17 and 20, 1993, at MacArthur Boulevard/Riverehase Drive. Exhibits ? and 8 depict the projected 1995 morning and evening peak hour turnln~ movements without the proposed development. These turning movements include the trips generated by the retail center location the southeast quadrant of MacArthur Boulevard and Riverchase Drive. ! ! 'Jrrip Generntion The fifth edition of thc lustitutc of Transportation Engineers (ITE) ' i was used to determine thc nmnber of trips generated by the proposed development. Thc manual provides rates developed by ffPL for various lend uses. The trip generation rates for multLfi~mily low-risc dwelling units were used to calculatc the trips anticipated to be generated by thc proposed developmcnt. Thc rcsults are shown in Exhibit 9. Exhibit 9 Trip Generation Proposed Multi-Family Development Number Weekday AM Peak Hour PM Peak Hour Use of Trips Trips Trips Units Total In ] Out In ] Out Multi-Family [ 280 18.52[ 26[ 103 10si 56 Note: Trip generation for multi-fsmily low-rise apartments is based on ITE Land Use Code 221 The site is projected to generate 1,852 trip ends during a twenty-four hour period. During the A.M. peak hour, approximately 26 inbound trips will be generated while 108 inbound trips will be generated during the P.M. peak hour. Outbound site trips for the AM. end P.M. peak hours were calculated to be 103 end 56, respectively. The total projected trip ends during the A.M. end P.M. peak hour are 129 end 164, respectively. Traffic Orientation and Assignment Trip orientations of site-generated traffic are based on city staff projections. The orientations used resulted in a 35% am'action to the north, 20% to the south, 20% to the east end 2~% to the west. Trip as-~ignment consisted of modeling thc site with trip ends tsklng thc most direct approach possible to the intended desire linc. Exlfibit 10 illustrates thc trip orientations used in distribntlng site generated traffic to the surrounding thoroughfare network. The morning and evening peak hour trips generated by thc proposed development arc depicted in Exhibits il end 12, respectfully. R~ibits 13 and 14 show the A.M. and P.M. 1995 projected peak hour background traffic with the projected site generated traffic volumes. Bae~r~m'ound traffic includes the retail development located on the southeast corner of Mac. Arthur Boulevard and Riverchase Drive. ANALYSIS/OBSERVATIONS Intersection Analysis Uusigunlized opacity snslyses have been conducted for the intersection of MacArthur Boulevard end River~h~,e Drive. For existing conditions, thc westbound left turns from River,'h~*c Drive to MacArthur Boulevard experience a level of service E in the A.M. peak hour and level of seivice F in thc Pa'VI. peak hour due to the westbound left from Rivereh~e Drive, even though only I vehicle every two mlmltes make this left turn movement in the morning peak hour end I vehicle per minute in the evening peak hour. In the 1995 design year, this i~ersection is exiw~ed to operate at a level of service E in the morning peak hour end level of service F in the evening peak hour due to the westbound left turns. The proposed mulfi-f~mily development is expected to increase the number of trips traveling through the intersection by only 7% during the A.M. peak hour end 7% du~ the P.M. peak hour. Thc unsigaalized location of MacActhur Boulevard at Riverchasc Drive currently analytically operate at level of service F in the P.M. peak hour. Thc left-turn maneuver from the east controls the interaection level of service. However, the unsigaalized nnn]ysis used to determine the level of service for unsigna~cd intersections assumes a random arrival rate. Because of the proximity of Belt Line Road to the nn~;gn,l;?ed intersection of Riverchase Drive, the vehicles on MacArthur Boulevard are grouped in platoons. The platooning of vehicles creates larger gaps in thc traffic on thc major roadway, which allows thc vehicles turning left from the minor roadway to operate more efficiently than analytically predicted. The vehicles wiH queue on the minor roadway and will not effect the flow of traffic on the major roadways. Although the intersection of MaOathur Boulevard and Riverchnse Drive is expected to operate at a level of service E in the morning peak hour and level of sen/ice F in the evening peak hour, the intersection will probably not meet traffic ~ignn! warrants by Lo95 because of the relatively low traffic volumes on Riverehzne Drive. Future signalization of this intersection may be warranted, but should be ernmined ctesely. A signal at this intersection would promote additional traffic on Rivercha~ Drive from Sandy Lake Road to MacA.rthur Boulevard. This additional traffic may be seen es undesirable to the golf coarse patrons and the residents in the area. LeR-Turn Storage lane Requirements One factor in this analysis ia to determine if the northbound left-turn lane on MacArthur Boulevard at the main entrance of the proposed development is adequate to accommodate the vehicles expected to stack in this lane. This was done by conducting a quening ~n~lysis. The quenin,~o theory utilized is documented in thc Transoortation and Traffic Ennineerimz Handbook. 2nd Edition, published by the Institute of Transportation Engineers, 1982 (page 461). The theory ~tiliTes a random (i.e, Poisaon) arrival rate. With a confidence level of 95%, the results reveal rh~t a queue of one vehicle or leas can be expected during thc mornln~ and evening peak hours. Therefore, the existing left-turn storage lane is adequatc to accommodate thc left-turn demand into the development and not disrupt the vehicles northbound on MacAtthur Boulevard. A que~ing analysis was also performed to e~amine southbound MacArthut Boulevard traffic at Belt Line Road. Currently, traffic occasionally queues past Riverchase Drive during the morning peak hour. Thc aer~iee rate necessary for the que~i-g analysis was obtained through the utilization of Grennshields theory. This theory is documented in the Transoortation and Traffic Em~ineeriun Handbook. 2nd Edition (page 465). By thc year 1995 (without the proposed development), it was determined a queue of over 5,000 feet per lane could be expected during the morning peak hour if no changes are made to the intersection of MacArthur Boulevard and Belt Line Road. The distance between Belt Linc Road and Riverchase Drive is approximately 800 feet. In order to improve this queue length, the signal tlmln~ at MacAtthur Boulevard and Belt Line Road should bc e.~nrnlned to determine the possibility of re~imlng the signal to nllow more green time for southbound Mac. Arthur Boulevard during thc A._M. peak hour. For example, if approximately five seconds of green time were added to the southbound movements during cach cycle" the queue length of over $,000 feet could be decreased to about 620 feet. If this is not possible, thc wideni:~E of MacArthur Boulevard from Rivert-ha~ Drive to Belt Line Road from four laoes to six lanes should be e.~arnlned. Not only would this improvement providc additional opacity to thc intcrscction of MacArthur Boulcvard and Belt Linc Road, it would climinatc thc current situation in which thc southbound left turn-lane is in line with a through lane. causing confusion for southbound traffic. Secondary Driveway To allow ~ps to and from the propo~i development improved access to Mac. A~ur Boulevard, a second driveway located at the median Opeullag immediately north of Riverchase Drive should be considered. Because this driveway would be located on the inside of a curve, sight distances ware examined to ensure the safety of implementing a driveway at this location. Baaed on the actual average speed of 40 mph, a minimum sight distance of 275 feet is required to provide safe access to and from the sight (reference ~[,~O~,~d~.~ · ' 2nd Edition). Currently, sight distances exceed 300 feet. ff a sight distance of 275 feet or more cannot be maintained due to fencing or landscaping, the median opening can be modified to allow northbound left turns into the site, but prohibit eastbound left turns out of the site (see Exhibit 15). This design would improve the traffic conditions at thc intersection of MacArthur Boulevard and Rivereh~e Drive by decreasing the tllrnlng movements in and out of the development at Riverchase Drive. Another factor in this analysis was the examination of the need for a deceleration lane on southbound MacArthur Boulevard at the main driveway. The City of Arlln~,ton has developed guldeline~ for the implementation of deceleration lanes thaw they feel provide additional capacity at driveways when necessary. Thc Arlin~on criteria states that a deceleration lane is required if: 1) over :50 vehicles turn right into the development during the peak hour, or over 40 vehicles turn fight into the development during thc peak hour and the speed limit exceeds 40 mph. The main driveway is expected to have a maximum of 38 vehicles turning right into the development during thc peak hour. Therefore, a deceleration lane should not be required. CONCLUSION The proposed 280-unit multi-family development, located on Mac. Arthur Boulevard north of Belt Line Road, is expected to increase the traffic at the intersection of MacArthur Boulevard and Rivereh~ Drive by 7% in the morning and eve-ninE peak hours in the design year 1995. This represents an increase in the morning traffic on MacArthur Boulevard of two vehicles per minute, and three vehicles per minute in the evenin~ peak hour. The increase in traffic on MacArthur Boulevard is not expected to affect the level of service of the intersection of MacArthur Boulevard and Riverchase Drive. Therefore, the proposed development will not adversely affect the roadway system. The left-turn storage on MacArthur Boulevard at Riverchase Drive was also ex, mine, d to determine if the existing storage lengths were sufficient to accommodate the future traffic volumes. The northbound left-turn into the development is not expected to have more th~n one vehicle in the lane at a time during the peak hour. The southbound left-turn lane is expected to have between one and two vehicles stored in the left-turn lane at River~'h~e Drive during the peak hour. Sufficient storage currently exists to accommodate the expected left-turn vehicle queues on MacArthur Boulevard at Riverchase Drive. In order to improve traffic flow from Riverchase Drive to Mac. Arthur Boulevard, a second driveway located at the median opening north of Rivereh~ Drive should be considered. The sight distance for this driveway should be maintained at a minim~un Of 275 feet. If this ~i~ht distance cannot be obtained, the median opening should be eh~nnelized to allow northbound left-turns into the proposed development, but prohibit eastbound left-turns from the development (see F_.lthibit 15). The option of constructing a deceleration lane on southbound MacArthur Boulevard at the main entrance was aiso examined. The deceleration lane had ori~n~lly been recommended due to the controlled access point (gates) at the main entrance. These gates have since been removed from the site plan. Because only 38 vehicles are expected to execute this southbound right-turn movement, a deceleration lane should not be required. ! ! I I I I I I I I I I [ [ ,[ . .Rtverchsse Dr. St.Louis & Southwestern Railroad Exhibit 1 Site Location ! I I I I ~ , .Riverchase Dr. I '~,,, ,,,,.,,,,,, St.Louis _,,... ~'"'"'"",,,,,,.-- '~ ~outhwes I Exhibit 4 Existing 24-Hour Traffic Volumes I Exhibit 5 Existing AM Peak Hour Traffic Volumes i I I ,! ,I Exhibit 6 Existing PM Peak Hour Traffic Volumes Exhibit 7 1995 AM Peak Hour Base Traffic Volumes Exhibit 8 1995 PM Peak Hour Base Traffic Volumes Exhibit 10 Site Trip Distribution & Orientation Exhibit 11 AM Peak Hour Site Tramc Exhibit 12 . PM Peak Hour Site Traffic 0 0 0 0 0 Exhibit 13 1995 AM Peak Hour Base Plus Site Tr~fflc 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Exhibit 14 1995 PM Peak Hour Base Plus Site Traffic