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HomeMy WebLinkAbout20061617 Ver 1_More Info Received_20060124 Cat or of Com arison Units Wendell Falls Parkvway. (Proposed Revis ' ,i CAMPO Long Range Transportation Plan (Adopted Alignment) Hybrid Alignment Ali nment Len th MI 7.16 7.07 7.16 Stream Crossin s # 3""` 5 5 Stream Buffer Im acts AC 1.11 1.68 1.96 Wetland Impacts AC 5.41 6.01 5.41 Use of Existin Roadwa MI LF 0.76 4029 0.19 1003 0.19 1003 Increase in Im rvious Area AC 43.35 44.06 44.62 Homes within ROW # 3* 1 0 Homes within 20' of ROW # 5 3 3 Im acted Farmland AC 8.29 9.52 9.99 I m acts to O en S ace Parcel AC 0.00 7.88 7.88 Use of Existin ROW AC 9.66 2.13 1.62 * Developer has consulted 2 of these owners to mitigate impactslrelocate at the Developer's cost. "* Developer proposes to span one of these crossings, which will result in zero impact to the stream and buffer. Wake County Transportation Plan Compliance The Wake County Transportation Plan outlines key requirements and guidelines that are to direct all future transportation and roadway design in the county. The proposed Wendell Falls Parkway and accompanying thoroughfare plan preserve the existing characteristics of much of the land that surrounds it as called for in the Wake County Transportation Plan, matching the guideline to "preserve the county's rural character," save for the areas that are specifically dedicated to proposed development. The proposed Wendell Falls Parkway is more north than the CAMPO LRTP alignment and closer to existing developed areas. The LRTP alignment and its more southern approach would encroach on existing wetlands and open up more spaces to development and decrease overall open space in Wake County; it ~~N ~ - - ---- Comparison Mar }~ should be noted that Wendell Falls Parkway would not be built in addition to the LRTP alignment to serve the development. The Wendell Falls Parkway and accompanying thoroughfare plan would preserve the existing characteristics of land use in the surrounding areas. The Wake County Transportation Plan also specifies to "create a plan that accommodates community growth and its related traffic increases," and also to "relieve existing congestion on key roadways." Wendell Falls Parkway and the associated development fulfills both of those tenets in that it will create 4,000 homes and provide a secondary entrance and gateway into Wendell. Wendell Boulevard, which serves as the only entrance into Wendell off of US 64, traffic volumes in 2030 are projected to be double of current traffic volumes. Wendell Falls Parkway would alleviate and provide capacity for the expected community growth and it related traffic increases. Also mentioned in the Wake County Transportation Plan is the guideline of maintaining and improving roadway safety. The current intersection of Martin Pond Road and Richard Road currently has inadequate sight distance. Intersection improvements are proposed as part of Wendell Falls Parkway. Sight distance and dedicated turn areas are slated to improve intersection safety at the intersection of Martin Pond Road and Richard Road thereby fulfilling part of the Wake County Transportation Plan. An important guideline of the Wake County Transportation plan is to "minimize environmental impacts". The proposed Wendell Falls Parkway and thoroughfare plan have fewer stream impacts and avoid more pockets of wetlands than the CAMPO LRTP alignment. Another key factor to reducing environmental impacts is the fact that the Wendell Falls Parkway and accompanying thoroughfare plan provide connectivity using existing roadway alignments. The plan makes use of existing stream crossings, existing roadway footprints, and existing infrastructure whereas the CAMPO LRTP alignment uses new construction and thereby has much greater environmental impacts. The Wendell Falls Parkway and accompanying thoroughfare plan follows the Wake County Transportation Plan in regards to minimizing environmental impacts. Intersection Improvements/Safety The existing intersection of Richardson Road and Martin Pond Road does not meet design standards. Due to these deficiencies the safety of this intersection is questionable at best. A motorist turning left or right onto Martin Pond Road from Richardson Road has limited sight distance in either direction due to the low profile on Martin Pond Road. The grade of Martin Pond Road sits in a cut with high ditch banks (See drawing below). These high ditch banks impair a motorist's ability to see oncoming traffic, especially from a driver on Richardson Road looking to 2 the south. This impaired sight distance has dangerous ramifications; a driver may in turn pull out. Existing Intersection ~l Significant improvements are needed at the intersection of Martin Pond Road and Richardson Road to improve public safety. The proposed Wendell Falls Parkway would terminate at the intersection of Richardson Road and Martin Pond Road. Included in the proposed Wendell Falls Parkway project are significant improvements to this intersection. The roadway profile grade of Martin Pond Road would be lifted up in the vicinity of the intersection, and the southern roadway ditch graded back to increase sight distance along with other improvements. In the drawing below the proposed geometric improvements are detailed. Included in the improvements are added dedicated turn bays, improved intersection turning radii, and dedicated sight triangles. The proposed improvements would greatly increase motorist safety in the intersection; it is important to note that Martin Pond Road is not scheduled to receive any improvements by the year 2030. Pr Gateway into Wendell Currently, from the US 64 bypass there is only one interchange, Wendell Boulevard, that serves as a gateway into Wendell. Wendell Falls Parkway would serve as an additional public gateway into Wendell. A passing motorist has only one chance to exit US 64 off a roadway directly associated with Wendell. The Town of Wendell sits in an ideal location to be involved with the unprecedented growth of the Triangle. Having only one entrance from the well used US 64 bypass will be inadequate as that growth happens. Expected traffic volumes in 2030 are more than double current traffic volumes. Wendell Boulevard may not have enough capacity as growth occurs to adequately serve the town of Wendell. The planned Wendell Falls Parkway provides a gateway into the Town of Wendell with commercial areas, proposed medical facilities, schools, and homes welcoming people into the town of Wendell. With Wendell Falls Parkway residents would have a landing area, such as residential areas, before using the full amenities and opportunities that Wendell offers its residents. Wendell Falls Parkway would serve as a public face and gateway to properly represent Wendell to people coming from the Raleigh area and also have enough capacity and options for motorists. Increased Access to Schools and Hospitals Should the proposed Wendell Falls Parkway and accompanying thoroughfare plan not be approved, development around the CAMPO LRTP may only occur in the Phase 1 area, which consists of the interchange and a segment of Wendell Falls Parkway. This area is to the north of the proposed Wendell Falls Parkway and east of existing US 64 and could include a hospital and medical facilities. Roadway connectivity is essential to more efficiently serve public safety organizations such as police, fire, and ambulance services. As an example an emergency requiring ambulance transport for some one north of Poole Road would require back tracking to the south and using the Smithfield interchange to access US 64 and the hospital. By implementing the full proposed Wendell Falls Parkway, connectivity will exist for residents and emergency services of Wake County north of Poole Road. Connectivity based on using an abbreviated Wendell Falls Parkway also affects school sites. Should the CAMPO LRTP southern path be used, land designated for schools as part of the larger Wendell Falls Development would be inaccessible from major roadways. These sights are located north of the proposed Wendell Falls Parkway and south of Taylor Road. The CAMPO LRTP path would be far south of these sights and any potential improvements to connecting roadways. It should be noted that Wake County Schools hand selected the prime locations of proposed schools to be included in the overall development; using the CAMPO LRTP Southern path would draw residential development and potential roadway improvements away from these sites. Pedestrian and Greenway Connectivity The proposed Wendell Falls Parkway alignment will include pedestrian facilities and provide greenway/multi-purpose path connections to existing parks and facilities, whereas the CAMPO LRTP alignment will be too distant from existing parks and facilities for construction of pedestrian facilities or connections. Currently, there are no existing greenways in the vicinity of the Wendell Falls proposed development. To the northeast of the development, there is one park. However, there are several streams and wetlands within the Wendell Falls project boundaries along which buffers will be preserved for future greenways. In addition, several small parks and a recreation center have been proposed within the development. The Wendell Falls Parkway alignment will include pedestrian facilities (sidewalks and crosswalks) along the length of the alignment. Future plans for the development have proposed greenways/multi-purpose paths throughout and connections to future Town of Wendell greenways/multi-purpose paths. In conjunction with these internal greenways/multi-purpose paths, the Wendell Falls Parkway alignment will include connections to all of the development's greenway facilities at each stream crossing (a total of three within the development). It will be practical to build these connections as well as pedestrian facilities along the proposed alignment in order to connect with greenway and pedestrian facilities within the new development. 4 Should the CAMPO LRTP corridor be constructed, no pedestrian facilities would need to be built because they will serve no immediate purpose to the Wendell Falls development. As proposed, the CAMPO LRTP corridor will be constructed south of the development, making it impractical to construct future connections to greenways within the Wendell Falls development. Although greenway buffers will be preserved around each stream along the alignment, the burden of constructing greenway connections will rest upon CAMPO and NCDOT at a future date. Open Space The Wendell Falls Parkway alignment will preserve current open space areas, and thereby have a limited impact on future parks and open space both inside and outside the proposed development, while the CAMPO corridor will not preserve current open space. The Wendell Falls Parkway alignment preserves current open space by using portions of a direct, existing route to Richardson Road and avoiding several large tracts of undeveloped land and tributaries to Lake Myra. This allows the alignment to maintain existing property lines and protect existing trees and vegetation. By preserving existing property lines, a greater portion of the land is more likely to be maintained as open space. The CAMPO Corridor, on the other hand, will not preserve current open space. By swinging south, rather than connecting to the existing Richardson Road alignment, the CAMPO Corridor will cross a portion of Lake Myra tributaries on new roadway and cut through several large tracts of undeveloped land beyond the boundaries of the proposed Wendell Falls Development. In doing so, the CAMPO Corridor will eliminate the potential to preserve this undeveloped land as open space or a park in the future. In addition, the CAMPO Corridor will create new access to this undeveloped land. It is generally accepted that better access to undeveloped land is often a strong incentive for development, and thus the CAMPO Corridor will create a greater potential for the open land along its alignment to be developed. With the CAMPO Corridor so close to Lake Myra, this raises the potential for increased impervious surfaces due to development which may lead to impacts in water quality in the Lake and its tributaries. Parks Given that there are currently no existing parks within the Wendell Falls development or along either proposed alignment, neither alignment will have any impact on existing parks. The Wendell Falls Parkway alignment, with its pedestrian facilities and greenways connections, will provide connections to the proposed parks and recreation centers as part of the Wendell Falls development, and it will also allow for smoother and more direct connections to any future parks or recreation facilities that may be constructed by the Town or other developers. In addition, by protecting greater chunks of open space, the Wendell Falls Parkway alignment allows for the potential for some of the land to be converted into parks or recreational use. The CAMPO Corridor, however, will be too distant from any existing or proposed parks or greenways to provide connections to them. It wilt also divide undeveloped land and provide more transportation access for future potential development of current open space, thus decreasing the likelihood that the land will preserved as a park or recreation area. Access Management The LRTP corridor presents several issues, one of them being access management. A major component of any thoroughfare plan is access management. Inherently, a roadway corridor with well placed driveways will have a greater level of service. Motorists will feel more comfortable on a roadway that has driveways and access roads placed in areas of adequate sight distance and spacing. Problems occur with the LRTP corridor; in the vicinity of Poole road are several cases of driveways and neighborhood access roads that would have to be relocated with great difficulty to meet engineering standards. The proposed Wendell Falls Parkway and thoroughfare plan have kept access management in mind and have avoided such conflicts due to the primary fact that the proposed thoroughfare plan uses mostly existing roadways which have been adequately designed in respect to access management. Adequate spacing of new driveways and access roads will be difficult to design to engineering standards because of the placing of proposed intersections and roadways built on new construction. Existing driveways and access roads were designed with existing main roads in mind. The Wendell Falls Parkway and accompanying thoroughfare plan is a better choice on the grounds of access management because of the use of existing roadways. Economic Growth and Unity The Town of Wendell is in the position to grow into one of the next large suburbs of the Triangle area. The proposed Wendell Falls Parkway and accompanying thoroughfare plan will create the ideal transportation foundation for this growth. The more southerly CAMPO LRTP plan would divide Wendell into two distinct areas, one of growth and one of the older established town. The CAMPO LRTP plan runs too far south away from the established city of Wendell to effectively fuse new areas of economic development and existing commercial areas together as one. Using the CAMPO LRTP plan would also draw economic growth and expansion south towards Johnston County and away from Wendell due to its southerly location. Adopting the proposed Wendell Falls Parkway and accompanying thoroughfare plan would ensure connectivity and road improvements along with a large consumer base. Designated commercial areas are included in the overall development plan along with 4,000 households to sustain economic development and growth. If the CAMPO LRTP plan is used, an abbreviated segment of Wendell Falls Parkway and the interchange will be built thereby stunting a connected gateway into Wendell and areas of economic potential. 6 Comparison Matrix CAMPO Long Range Wendell Falls Parkway Transportation Plan * Developer has consulted 2 of these owners to mitigate impacts/relocate at the Developer's cost. ** Developer proposes to span one of these crossings, which will result in zero impact to the stream and buffer. Wake County Transportation Plan Compliance The Wake County Transportation Plan outlines key requirements and guidelines that are to direct all future transportation and roadway design in the county. The proposed Wendell Falls Parkway and accompanying thoroughfare plan preserve the existing characteristics of much of the land that surrounds it as called for in the Wake County Transportation Plan, matching the guideline to "preserve the county's rural character," save for the areas that are specifically dedicated to proposed development. The proposed Wendell Falls Parkway is more north than the CAMPO LRTP alignment and closer to existing developed areas. The LRTP alignment and its more southern approach would encroach on existing wetlands and open up more spaces to development and decrease overall open space in Wake County; it should be noted that Wendell Falls Parkway would not be built in addition to the LRTP alignment to serve the development. The Wendell Falls Parkway and accompanying thoroughfare plan would preserve the existing characteristics of land use in the surrounding areas. The Wake County Transportation Plan also specifies to "create a plan that accommodates community growth and its related traffic increases," and also to "relieve existing congestion on key roadways." Wendell Falls Parkway and the associated development fulfills both of those tenets in that it will create 4,000 homes and provide a secondary entrance and gateway into Wendell. Wendell Boulevard, which serves as the only entrance into Wendell off of US 64, traffic volumes in 2030 are projected to be double of current traffic volumes. Wendell Falls Parkway would alleviate and provide capacity for the expected community growth and it related traffic increases. Also mentioned in the Wake County Transportation Plan is the guideline of maintaining and improving roadway safety. The current intersection of Martin Pond Road and Richard Road currently has inadequate sight distance. Intersection improvements are proposed as part of Wendell Falls Parkway. Sight distance and dedicated turn areas are slated to improve intersection safety at the intersection of Martin Pond Road and Richard Road thereby fulfilling part of the Wake County Transportation Plan. An important guideline of the Wake County Transportation plan is to "minimize environmental impacts". The proposed Wendell Falls Parkway and thoroughfare plan have fewer stream impacts and avoid more pockets of wetlands than the CAMPO LRTP alignment. Another key factor to reducing environmental impacts is the fact that the Wendell Falls Parkway and accompanying thoroughfare plan provide connectivity using existing roadway alignments. The plan makes use of existing stream crossings, existing roadway footprints, and existing infrastructure whereas the CAMPO LRTP alignment uses new construction and thereby has much greater environmental impacts. The Wendell Falls Parkway and accompanying thoroughfare plan follows the Wake County Transportation Plan in regards to minimizing environmental impacts. Intersection Improvements/Safety The existing intersection of Richardson Road and Martin Pond Road does not meet design standards. Due to these deficiencies the safety of this intersection is questionable at best. A motorist turning left or right onto Martin Pond Road from Richardson Road has limited sight distance in either direction due to the low profile on Martin Pond Road. The grade of Martin Pond Road sits in a cut with high ditch banks (See drawing below). These high ditch banks impair a motorist's ability to see oncoming traffic, especially from a driver on Richardson Road looking to 2 the south. This impaired sight distance has dangerous ramifications; a driver may in turn pull out. ~~.. Existing Intersection xJ Significant improvements are needed at the intersection of Martin Pond Road and Richardson Road to improve public safety. The proposed Wendell Falls Parkway would terminate at the intersection of Richardson Road and Martin Pond Road. Included in the proposed Wendell Falls Parkway project are significant improvements to this intersection. The roadway profile grade of Martin Pond Road would be lifted up in the vicinity of the intersection, and the southern roadway ditch graded back to increase sight distance along with other improvements. In the drawing below the proposed geometric improvements are detailed. Included in the improvements are added dedicated turn bays, improved intersection turning radii, and dedicated sight triangles. The proposed improvements would greatly increase motorist safety in the intersection; it is important to note that Martin Pond Road is not scheduled to receive any improvements by the year 2030. Pr 3 Gateway into Wendell Currently, from the US 64 bypass there is only one interchange, Wendell Boulevard, that serves as a gateway into Wendell. Wendell Falls Parkway would serve as an additional public gateway into Wendell. A passing motorist has only one chance to exit US 64 off a roadway directly associated with Wendell. The Town of Wendell sits in an ideal location to be involved with the unprecedented growth of the Triangle. Having only one entrance from the well used US 64 bypass will be inadequate as that growth happens. Expected traffic volumes in 2030 are more than double current traffic volumes. Wendell Boulevard may not have enough capacity as growth occurs to adequately serve the town of Wendell. The planned Wendell Falls Parkway provides a gateway into the Town of Wendell with commercial areas, proposed medical facilities, schools, and homes welcoming people into the town of Wendell. With Wendell Falls Parkway residents would have a landing area, such as residential areas, before using the full amenities and opportunities that Wendell offers its residents. Wendell Falls Parkway would serve as a public face and gateway to properly represent Wendell to people coming from the Raleigh area and also have enough capacity and options for motorists. Increased Access to Schools and Hospitals Should the proposed Wendell Falls Parkway and accompanying thoroughfare plan not be approved, development around the CAMPO LRTP may only occur in the Phase 1 area, which consists of the interchange and a segment of Wendell Falls Parkway. This area is to the north of the proposed Wendell Falls Parkway and east of existing US 64 and could include a hospital and medical facilities. Roadway connectivity is essential to more efficiently serve public safety organizations such as police, fire, and ambulance services. As an example an emergency requiring ambulance transport for some one north of Poole Road would require back tracking to the south and using the Smithfield interchange to access US 64 and the hospital. By implementing the full proposed Wendell Falls Parkway, connectivity will exist for residents and emergency services of Wake County north of Poole Road. Connectivity based on using an abbreviated Wendell Falls Parkway also affects school sites. Should the CAMPO LRTP southern path be used, land designated for schools as part of the larger Wendell Falls Development would be inaccessible from major roadways. These sights are located north of the proposed Wendell Falls Parkway and south of Taylor Road. The CAMPO LRTP path would be far south of these sights and any potential improvements to connecting roadways. It should be noted that Wake County Schools hand selected the prime locations of proposed schools to be included in the overall development; using the CAMPO LRTP Southern path would draw residential development and potential roadway improvements away from these sites. Pedestrian and Greenway Connectivity The proposed Wendell Falls Parkway alignment will include pedestrian facilities and provide greenway/multi-purpose path connections to existing parks and facilities, whereas the CAMPO LRTP alignment will be too distant from existing parks and facilities for construction of pedestrian facilities or connections. Currently, there are no existing greenways in the vicinity of the Wendell Falls proposed development. To the northeast of the development, there is one park. However, there are several streams and wetlands within the Wendell Falls project boundaries along which buffers will be preserved for future greenways. In addition, several small parks and a recreation center have been proposed within the development. The Wendell Falls Parkway alignment will include pedestrian facilities (sidewalks and crosswalks) along the length of the alignment. Future plans for the development have proposed greenways/multi-purpose paths throughout and connections to future Town of Wendell greenways/multi-purpose paths. In conjunction with these internal greenways/multi-purpose paths, the Wendell Falls Parkway alignment will include connections to all of the development's greenway facilities at each stream crossing (a total of three within the development). It will be practical to build these connections as well as pedestrian facilities along the proposed alignment in order to connect with greenway and pedestrian facilities within the new development. 4 Should the CAMPO LRTP corridor be constructed, no pedestrian facilities would need to be built because they will serve no immediate purpose to the Wendell Falls development. As proposed, the CAMPO LRTP corridor will be constructed south of the development, making it impractical to construct future connections to greenways within the Wendell Falls development. Although greenway buffers will be preserved around each stream along the alignment, the burden of constructing greenway connections will rest upon CAMPO and NCDOT at a future date. Open Space The Wendell Falls Parkway alignment will preserve current open space areas, and thereby have a limited impact on future parks and open space both inside and outside the proposed development, while the CAMPO corridor will not preserve current open space. The Wendell Falls Parkway alignment preserves current open space by using portions of a direct, existing route to Richardson Road and avoiding several large tracts of undeveloped land and tributaries to Lake Myra. This allows the alignment to maintain existing property lines and protect existing trees and vegetation. By preserving existing property lines, a greater portion of the land is more likely to be maintained as open space. The CAMPO Corridor, on the other hand, will not preserve current open space. By swinging south, rather than connecting to the existing Richardson Road alignment, the CAMPO Corridor will cross a portion of Lake Myra tributaries on new roadway and cut through several large tracts of undeveloped land beyond the boundaries of the proposed Wendell Falls Development. In doing so, the CAMPO Corridor will eliminate the potential to preserve this undeveloped land as open space or a park in the future. In addition, the CAMPO Corridor will create new access to this undeveloped land. It is generally accepted that better access to undeveloped land is often a strong incentive for development, and thus the CAMPO Corridor will create a greater potential for the open land along its alignment to be developed. With the CAMPO Corridor so close to Lake Myra, this raises the potential for increased impervious surfaces due to development which may lead to impacts in water quality in the Lake and its tributaries. Parks Given that there are currently no existing parks within the Wendell Falls development or along either proposed alignment, neither alignment will have any impact on existing parks. The Wendell Falls Parkway alignment, with its pedestrian facilities and greenways connections, will provide connections to the proposed parks and recreation centers as part of the Wendell Falls development, and it will also allow for smoother and more direct connections to any future parks or recreation facilities that may be constructed by the Town or other developers. In addition, by protecting greater chunks of open space, the Wendell Falls Parkway alignment allows for the potential for some of the land to be converted into parks or recreational use. The CAMPO Corridor, however, will be too distant from any existing or proposed parks or greenways to provide connections to them. It will also divide undeveloped land and provide more transportation access for future potential development of current open space, thus decreasing the likelihood that the land will preserved as a park or recreation area. Access Management The LRTP corridor presents several issues, one of them being access management. A major component of any thoroughfare plan is access management. Inherently, a roadway corridor with well placed driveways will have a greater level of service. Motorists will feel more comfortable on a roadway that has driveways and access roads placed in areas of adequate sight distance and spacing. Problems occur with the LRTP corridor; in the vicinity of Poole road are several cases of driveways and neighborhood access roads that would have to be relocated with great difficulty to meet engineering standards. The proposed Wendell Falls Parkway and thoroughfare plan have kept access management in mind and have avoided such conflicts due to the primary fact that the 5 proposed thoroughfare plan uses mostly existing roadways which have been adequately designed in respect to access management. Adequate spacing of new driveways and access roads will be difficult to design to engineering standards because of the placing of proposed intersections and roadways built on new construction. Existing driveways and access roads were designed with existing main roads in mind. The Wendell Falls Parkway and accompanying thoroughfare plan is a better choice on the grounds of access management because of the use of existing roadways. Economic Growth and Unity The Town of Wendell is in the position to grow into one of the next large suburbs of the Triangle area. The proposed Wendell Falls Parkway and accompanying thoroughfare plan will create the ideal transportation foundation for this growth. The more southerly CAMPO LRTP plan would divide Wendell into two distinct areas, one of growth and one of the older established town. The CAMPO LRTP plan runs too far south away from the established city of Wendell to effectively fuse new areas of economic development and existing commercial areas together as one. Using the CAMPO LRTP plan would also draw economic growth and expansion south towards Johnston County and away from Wendell due to its southerly location. Adopting the proposed Wendell Falls Parkway and accompanying thoroughfare plan would ensure connectivity and road improvements along with a large consumer base. Designated commercial areas are included in the overall development plan along with 4,000 households to sustain economic development and growth. If the CAMPO LRTP plan is used, an abbreviated segment of Wendell Falls Parkway and the interchange will be built thereby stunting a connected gateway into Wendell and areas of economic potential. 6