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Traffic Impact Letter 04-14-2015Suack THE TRAFFIC STUDY COMPANY Technical Memorandum To: Tyler Stevens, BeeHive Homes From: Bryant Ficek, P.E., P.T.O.E. Date: April 14, 2015 Re: Traffic Impact Letter— Proposed Expansion Project in Chanhassen BeeHive Homes of Excelsior provides residential assisted living in the City of Chanhassen. This residence "maintains the look and feel of a family home while offering the safety features and care required for each resident." Based on discussions with the site managers, memory care is the primary function of the housing. Located on the west side of Hazeltine Boulevard (Highway 41) to the south of the intersection with Highway 7, the acquisition of the adjacent property has provided an expansion opportunity. This memorandum provides an overview of the expected traffic associated with this potential expansion project. Existing Conditions and Expansion Plans BeeHive Homes is accessible through a sole intersection to Hazeltine Boulevard. This driveway "T" with Hazeltine Boulevard is located between the intersections with Chaska Road and the Minnetonka Middle School West. The proposed expansion area covers approximately 7 acres and is located adjacent to and just south of their current site. The proposed site is currently occupied by a single family home with two driveways accessing Hazeltine Boulevard opposite the school driveway. The proposed expansion is envisioned for two phases. Phase 1 would expand the current BeeHive Homes facility and provide an additional 17 bedrooms for memory care residents. This expansion project is expected to occur in the next year. Phase 2 would develop the remaining five acres with townhomes. Initial review of the site proposes eight units per acre for a total potential of 40 townhomes. The townhomes would be available for general use, not restricted to any type of assisted living. Phase 2 is expected to occur in five years. The existing home is expected to remain at least through Phase 1 and potentially with Phase 2. Phase 1 would also combine the existing BeeHive Homes and single family home driveways into a single access opposite the school drive. The Phase 2 townhomes, when developed, would also use this new connection as the sole access to and from Hazeltine Boulevard. Traffic Impact Study Requirements Traffic Impact Studies (TIS) provide an assessment of existing and future traffic operations to identify the impacts of a proposed development. A TIS can identify capacity deficiencies at key intersections and potential mitigation to avoid safety or operational problems due to expected traffic from a proposed development. However, a TIS is not always necessary. Both the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) and Carver County have guidelines that trigger the need for a TIS. PO Box 16269.st. Louis Park, MN55416.888-232-5512.www.SpackConsulting.com Spack Consulting 2 of 3 Traffic Impact Letter BeeHive Homes Expansion Project MnDOT uses the following guidance: • Development proposals that are estimated to generate fewer than 250 peak -hour vehicle trips or 2,500 new daily trips • Development proposals that will be evaluated sufficiently by applying other elements of guidance from the MnDOT Access Management Manual, such as access spacing. Carver County uses the following as a trigger for a TIS: • Development expected to generate 750 or more vehicles trips per day. • Development expected to generate 100 or more vehicle trips in any one hour period. • Associated roadway traffic is increased by 50% or more. • Development is determined to create a potential hazard to public safety as determined by the County Traffic Engineer. • Development traffic could substantially affect an intersection or roadway segment already identified as operating at a level of service D or worse. If these guidelines are not satisfied, than a full TIS is not needed. The proposed BeeHive expansion is evaluated against these guidelines in the rest of this memorandum. Trip Generation A trip generation analysis performed for the development site based on the methods and rates published in the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) Trip Generation Manual, 9" Edition. In this case, the trip generation for the Assisted Living and Townhome land uses was used. Assisted Living is described as "residential settings that provide either routine general protective oversight or assistance with activities necessary for independent living to mentally or physically limited persons." Memory living, serving only those with cognitive issues, as currently provided by BeeHive Homes is not a perfect match with the ITE Assisted Living land use. However, this is the best source available and likely provides a conservatively high estimate of traffic. Table 1 shows the estimated traffic generated by Phase 1 and Phase 2 proposed developments. Table 1 Trip Generation Estimate AM Peak Hour PM Peak Hour Phase— Land Use ITE Code Units Daily Entering Exiting Entering Exiting -Assisted: m �©aa© h.. - M • . ®©®Es . mmm©mmm As shown, the expected traffic generated by the proposed development is well below the thresholds identified by MnDOT and Carver County. Based on trip generation, the proposed expansion project would not be a significant impact on the roadway system for either phase separately or in total. Hazeltine Boulevard (Highway 41) Traffic MnDOT maintains a database of existing traffic volumes on roadways across the state. The latest MnDOT flow map shows a 2012 average daily traffic volume of 14,000 vehicles per day on Hazeltine Boulevard. The estimated daily traffic from the proposed development is less than two percent of the current daily and would not represent a significant increase in the existing volume. Spack Consulting 3 of 3 Traffic Impact Letter BeeHive Homes Expansion Project The City of Chanhassen 2030 Comprehensive Plan presented information on this section of Hazeltine Boulevard. This plan noted a higher volume at that time (17,900 vehicles per day compared to 14,000 vehicles per day today) and did not note any segment or intersection capacity issues in this area. Since traffic has decreased, operations would be expected to be better than when the Comprehensive Plan was completed and would not be impacted by the estimated traffic from the proposed development. Site Access As mentioned, the proposed plan will consolidate access to a single driveway opposite the existing school access. By reducing several access driveways into one, safety will be improved on Hazeltine Boulevard. In addition, left turn lanes at this location are currently provided on Hazeltine Boulevard, allowing those turns to occur safely without impacting through movements. The relatively small amount of traffic is from the proposed development would likely only need a single outbound lane, particularly since the peak hour traffic is low. Similarly, the expected amount of traffic is not expected to necessitate a change in traffic control from the existing side -street stop control with Hazeltine Boulevard traffic able to proceed without stopping. When the new approach is constructed, the sight distance could also be examined. Combined with the existing turn lanes on Hazeltine Boulevard, this would ensure a safe connection to and from the proposed expansion project. Conclusions and Recommendations The principle findings of this technical memorandum are: • The proposed BeeHive Expansion Project is expected to be developed in two phases and ultimately expected to generate 278 daily vehicle trips with 21 trips and 25 trips during the a.m. and p.m. peak hours, respectively. • The proposed traffic represents less than two percent of the existing 14,000 vehicles per day on Hazeltine Boulevard (Highway 41). In addition, this area of road, either segment or intersections, were not identified as having capacity issues in the 2030 Comprehensive Plan even with a higher volume of 17,900 vehicles per day. • The proposed plan consolidates access into one driveway opposite an existing school access, reducing access points on Hazeltine Boulevard and making use of the existing left turn lanes. • The expected low amount of traffic would not drive the need for a traffic control change from the existing side -street stop control at the new intersection. Based upon the information presented in this traffic impact letter, the BeeHive Homes proposed expansion does not represent a significant impact to the surrounding roadway system and does not require a full traffic impact study.