09-12-2018 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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2 of 2 10062 Flanders Court NE – Blaine, MN 55449 – Ph: (763) 780-0450 Fax (763) 780-0452 collected along with information contained within the Caribou traffic study to determine the anticipated impacts of the proposed AFSA site traffic. The Biko report outlines that the proposed AFSA school traffic will have a minor impact on the morning peak hour traffic, however it is not sufficient enough to effect the signals Level of Service (LOS) in the morning peak. Traffic generated from the AFSA site in the afternoon is off-peak relative to the overall traffic signal and therefore does not impact the LOS of the intersection. Only the AM school traffic will occur during the peak hour and was therefore the only modeled scenario. Both access driveways were modeled as T-intersections as part of the study and are reported to function at an overall LOS of A in the AM peak. The eastbound exiting maneuvers out of the north driveway will function as a LOS B with an average wait inside the lot of a little over 11 seconds based on the modeling. Parking Requirements The latest site layout provides a total of 86 parking stalls. With the removal of employee and handicapped parking 38 stalls remain for use by parents’ use which will peak during drop-off and pick-up times. The pick-up period is anticipated to be the period of most demanding use. The applicant has provided information from their AFSA Campus in Vadnais Heights, which serves 8 through 12 grade students, that no more than 31% of drop-off/pick-up parents have ever been in the parking lot at the same time. If this same percentage holds true the 38 stalls provide sufficient parking for the use. However there is still a question as to what that percentage will be based on a Pre-K through 8th grade facility. The City does not have a set standard for required parking stalls for school parent drop- off/pick-up use. To be 100% certain that sufficient parking is provided a stall would need to be provided for every student that does not utilize the bus service. We acknowledge that this would require more parking than would likely be necessary due to a number of factors including multiple children in one family, staggering times for pick-up/drop-off, a varying number of children each year that do not utilize the busing service, and the parking needs experienced by the AFSA school to date at their facilities. Typically the City would require that additional parking stalls be shown on a proof of parking layout to ensure that parking issues, if they occur, could be dealt with. With the existing site and the proposed use, there is little to no ability to provide an option for additional parking. While it is likely that sufficient parking does exist based on the information provided by the AFSA representative, staff does not feel it can be guaranteed. We would recommend that a condition of any approval should be that if drop-off and pick-up practices cause, in the City’s opinion, backups or significant traffic impacts on Country Drive at the access points the Owners will be required to make modifications to their practices or improvements to Country Drive to alleviate the issues. Improvements on Country Drive could include the addition of a turn lane or bypass lane at the cost of the owner. Please contact me if you have any questions regarding the above information at (763) 780-0450 ext. 3.