TO: Mayor Collins and Town Council Members
FROM: Kevin Burke, Town Manager
DATE: June 22, 2017
DEPARTMENT: Town Manager
Staff Contact Kevin Burke, 480-348-3690
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AGENDA TITLE:
Title
Discussion of the Indian Bend Road Traffic Calming Measure Associated with Five Star/Ritz Carlton Development.
Body
Council Goals or Other Policies / Statutory Requirements:
Infrastructure - For efficient and effective execution, review and seek improvements for the planning, timing and coordination of infrastructure maintenance and enhancement.
RECOMMENDATION:
Recommendation
Provide feedback and direction regarding the traffic calming measure approved by the City of Scottsdale on Indian Bend Road between Scottsdale Road and the Town limits.
Background
SUMMARY STATEMENT:
Timeline of Decision Points
As a refresher to this topic that was part of the January 2016 Development Agreement (D.A.) between the Town of Paradise Valley and Five Star Development concerning what is generally known as the Ritz Carlton parcel, below is a timeline of decision points:
- Five Star and Town of Paradise Valley (TPV) TPV agreed that Palmeraie (the commercial element of the project split between Paradise Valley and Scottsdale) traffic should be prioritized to enter the development at 6750 N. Scottsdale Road. This is the current signalized intersection that enables movement into and out of the Spectrum. It was projected at time of the D.A. that such entrance would require a double left turn lane.
- City of Scottsdale (COS) did not approve this. They prioritized the Palmeraie traffic to enter at Indian Bend.
- Because COS prioritized Palmeraie traffic to Indian Bend, the “Ritz Carlton Resort Master Traffic Impact Analysis (TIA)” dated November 2015 called for traffic calming on Indian Bend (Executive Summary page 4, first bullet and Future Rodway Improvements page 29-31).
- As a side note, the left turn lane at 6750 Scottsdale Road was approved as a single lane permissible, non-protected left turn movement. If stacking to make such movement exceeds the left turn lane capacity and creates cars waiting in the through northbound lanes on Scottsdale Road, COS will restripe the left turn lane to allow a double left and change the signal to a protected left turn movement. None of this changes the requirement for traffic calming on Indian Bend.
- Per the D.A. (2.3.5.9), Five Star, TPV and COS met to discuss these traffic impacts and possible traffic calming solutions on Indian Bend. In the early summer of 2016, a traffic calming measure called “the Swoop” was identified as the best solution by all parties. This mirrors the street improvement on Chaparral immediately west of Scottsdale Road and represented a similar transition between a commercial use and a residential use. [See attachement Labeled Indian Bend Traffic Calming Illustration]
- The Swoop would be constructed on Indian Bend in the COS by Five Star. Therefore, the COS had to approve it as part of their TIA.
- COS asked the TPV Town Manager if the Town had a preference. The Manager checked in with councilmembers. The majority of Councilmembers informally expressed support. One member asked for more information. Specifically, the concern/theory was that Indian Bend is used by many drivers to avoid the Lincoln and Scottsdale intersection. If the traffic calming was too effective, these drivers might choose to drive on Cheney or Hummingbird Road and redirect an undue impact onto those streets.
- The Town Manager requested traffic diversion information from Five Star and its traffic engineer CivTech starting in June 2016. It was received in June 2017. [see attachment labeled IBR ADT Comparison_final]
- Prior to receipt of that traffic study, Interim Town Engineer Woody Scoutten reviewed the TIA for Palmeraie submitted to COS. The intersection of the Swoop and the residential portion of Indian Bend showed a Level of Service (LOS) E during weekday PM peak and a LOS F during Saturday travel. This means those choosing to cut through Indian Bend eastbound would have a very difficult time actually making a left turn to reach the Scottsdale Road intersection during these time periods. Thus making it very effective in calming traffic on Indian Bend in TPV, but also raising concerns of greater redirection of that traffic.
- On March 21, 2017, the COS approved the Palmeraie rezoning that included the swoop design.
Summary of Additional Traffic Diversion Information
- CivTech June 2, 2017 report predicts future traffic on Indian Bend will be reduced by 1,670 vehicles or 26% with the Swoop. The report suggests the majority of vehicles will be diverted to the Scottsdale Road and Lincoln Drive intersection. Further, as a result of the swoop, 60 more cars per day are expected to use Hummingbird and 100 more cars per day will use Cheney. Cheney would remain within its current LOS A capacity and Hummingbird would remain within its current LOS B capacity.
- EPS (the firm for which Interim Town Engineer Woody Scouten works), reviewed the CivTech traffic study and made the following additional notes:
o It is somewhat difficult to say how many will divert as it is going to depend on how hard it will be to access the Indian Bend / Scottsdale Road intersection, which may not be a problem for a while until all of the commercial actually develops. Looking back at the original report, it looks as if today, and projected to continue in the future, the majority of traffic on Indian Bend Road west of Scottsdale (cut-thru or otherwise) are going east and west through the intersection. This is likely due to the fact that Indian Bend provides the nearest interchange at the Loop 101 and there aren’t many good alternatives.
o If that is the case, then it is hard to imagine traffic diverting much to the north or the south as they would need to back track to continue east on Indian Bend Road. Again, if it becomes extremely onerous to access the intersection then they may have incentive to divert. The one thing that is concerning, however, is that according to the original report eastbound traffic trying to get from Indian Bend onto the “swoop” is expected to experience a level-of-service “E” in the PM peak and “F” in the Saturday peak with full buildout. This may create a greater incentive.
o In other words, drivers using Indian Bend Road are trying to get to and from the Loop 101 and that many of them will not be dissuaded from continuing to use Indian Bend because there aren’t many alternative routes. So, it’s hard to predict how much through traffic will be diverted because of the east-west congestion caused by the swoop.
- Town Engineer Paul Mood further inquired about the basis for the diversion rate used in the calculation. CivTech provided information indicating that traffic calming usually has a greater impact on speeds rather than volumes of traffic. CivTech will be available to explain the findings during the study session.
- The final note is the CivTech report suggests that TPV monitor traffic on Hummingbird and Cheney and install traffic calming measures if undesirable levels of cut through traffic divert to these residential streets. This was certainly concerning as this is what is the Town is trying to avoid.
Recommendation
As noted above, this traffic calming measure actually occurs in the City of Scottsdale and has been approved. This does not mean alternative solutions are prohibited, but they would require concurrence by the COS. The proposed traffic calming accomplishes the goal of the D.A. which was to apply traffic calming facilities to Indian Bend if Palmeraie traffic was directed onto Indian Bend. The concern regarding diversion of cut through traffic appears to be minimal as analyzed by CivTech and confirmed by the Town’s contracted engineer. For these reasons, staff recommends Town Council direct staff to ensure the traffic calming measure is constructed as approved in the City of Scottsdale.
BUDGETARY IMPACT:
None - all costs are borne by Five Star.
ATTACHMENT(S):
Ritz Carlton Resort Master Traffic Impact Analysis
Indian Bend Traffic Calming Illustration
CivTech’s IBR ADT Comparisons_final