04-25-2018 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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Traffic Impact Study Little Canada Caribou Coffee Alliant No. 218-0047.0 15 April 11, 2018 6.0 Conclusions/Recommendations The following study conclusions/recommendations are offered for consideration: • Results of the existing intersection capacity analysis indicate that the I-35E Southbound Ramps/Little Canada Road/Country Drive study intersection currently operates at overall LOS C during the a.m. and p.m. peak hours. The southbound Country Drive and southbound I-35E Exit Ramp approaches both operate in the LOS D to LOS E range during the a.m. and p.m. peak hours, though this side-street LOS should not be considered excessive given the atypical geometry and signal phasing of the study intersection. No significant queueing issues were observed in the field or traffic simulation. • The proposed Caribou Coffee development is located on a vacant parcel near the southwest quadrant of the I-35E/Little Canada Road interchange in Little Canada, MN. The current development proposal consists of an 1,810-square-foot coffee shop with a drive-through window to be completed in the year 2019. o The site plan shows access to the development being proposed at the existing curb cut that was utilized by the prior land use along the south side of Little Canada Road. The proposed access driveway is poorly offset with respect to Country Drive. The proposed access is anticipated to be served by the existing traffic signal system and outbound motorists will be given a permissive green indication concurrent with southbound Country Drive. • The proposed Caribou Coffee development is expected to generate approximately 161 a.m. peak hour, 79 p.m. peak hour, and 1,486 daily trips. o A significant portion of these generated trips are expected to be from motorists already traveling within the study area who will now divert their trip to the proposed development before continuing to their destination (i.e. pass-by/diverted link trips). Taking into account the pass-by/diverted link trip reduction, the resultant net new traffic volume impact to the adjacent roadway network is estimated to be approximately 33 a.m. peak hour, 15 p.m. peak hour, and 298 daily trips. • Results of the year 2020 intersection capacity analysis indicate that the I-35E Southbound Ramps/Little Canada Road/Country Drive study intersection is expected to operate a t overall LOS D during the a.m. and p.m. peak hours without signal timing or geometric improvements. o While little operational impact is expected on the southbound I-35E Exit Ramp approach, the southbound Country Drive approach will experience increased delay and queueing without proper mitigation (i.e. signal timing adjustments). Whereas the southbound Country Drive movements currently operate unopposed, outbound proposed development traffic will conflict with southbound Country Drive movements in the future condition. No other significant delay or queueing issues were observed in the traffic simulation.