CC PACKET 05232006 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

Memorandum May 16, 2006 Page 4 of 15 and a Wal-Mart store have opened in the Northwest Quadrant Redevelopment site which has contributed to much of the increased traffic on Silver Lake Road. Upon the completion of the Northwest Quadrant Redevelopment, it was assumed that the background traffic volumes will grow at a rate of 0.75 percent annually on Silver Lake Road. This, combined with local development traffic, will yield a net growth in traffic similar to both Hennepin and Ramsey County State Aid growth rates. The 2007 traffic forecast volumes assumed the Northwest Quadrant Redevelopment was constructed and fully occupied. The a.m. and p.m. 2007 traffic forecasts are shown in Figures 3A and 4A in the Appendix. The 2017 and 2027 traffic forecast volumes assumed ten and 20 years of background growth respectively added to the existing counts and the traffic generated from a fully occupied Northwest Quadrant Redevelopment site. The a.m. and p.m., 2017 and 2027 traffic forecasts, are shown in Figures SA through 8A in the Appendix. Methodology The Level of Service (LOS) is the rating of an intersection's performance. An intersection with a LOS A has very little delay per vehicle, and no congestion, hence, operates well. An intersection with a LOS F has extreme delays per vehicle and often severe congestion. In an urban area similar to the proposed site, LOS D is typically the minimum acceptable rating. The second fundamental component of operational analysis is a study of vehicle queuing. The queue length is important in determining if traffic will backup from an intersection and block vehicles from entering turn lanes or private accesses. The 95th percentile queue is considered the accepted design standard for an intersection. This is the longest length of queue with a 5 percent chance of occurring during the peak hour. Traffic operations were analyzed using the Synchro/SimTraffic 6 software package which uses the methodology contained in the 2000 Highway. Capacity Manual. The lane geometry, signal timing, and traffic volumes are entered into the traffic analysis software. The software provides intersection delay and queue data used to evaluate the operations of each intersection. Operational alysis Results Table 3 below shows the modeled LOS for the intersection of Silver Lake Road at 37th Avenue N.E. As can readily be seen from the table, the existing lane configuration operates better and has shorter queue length of vehicles on Silver Lake Road than the alternative: dropping a southbound through lane at 37th Avenue N.E. The key issues caused by removing the southbound through lane are: Increased queue of vehicles on Silver Lake Road southbound approach to 37th Avenue N.E. blocks the Wal-Mart access in the a.m. and p.m. peak hours with the 2027 design year forecast volumes, causing access problems to/from the Wal-Mart parking lot. .wsb6�projccts�Ol53R-03`Trat ic�HC Silvcr (u CR D`060417%Mcmo.doc 1