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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSD-22-10 - Supplemental - 0500 Old Farm Road (23) Date: March 22, 2022 To: Andrew Gill, Director of Development, O’Brien Brothers From: Corey Mack, PE Subject: Eastview PUD at O’Brien Farm: Bicycle and Pedestrian Infrastructure Review WCG has reviewed the proposed bicycle and pedestrian transportation network in and around the Eastview Planned Unit Development (PUD) at O’Brien Farm in South Burlington, VT. This memorandum seeks to evaluate the bicycle and pedestrian design and features within the Eastview PUD, review local permit conditions and regional transportation system goals related to bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure, and make recommendations towards achieving these local and regional goals through this project. The results of this memorandum are intended to inform the final plat design. Specifically, this transportation infrastructure review included the following tasks: • Review regulatory bicycle and pedestrian permit conditions, local and regional planning efforts, and the Eastview PUD design intent. • Review the proposed features within the Eastview PUD and evaluate missing elements; recommend modifications to achieve bicycle, pedestrian, and traffic calming goals. • Provide documentation and narrative of the recommended elements, features, and design approach to achieve these goals to be included in the PUD design. BACKGROUND The Eastview PUD is a residential and commercial development located near 500 Old Farm Road in South Burlington, consisting of 155 proposed homes in single-family, duplex, and three- family arrangements, one existing single-family home, and 17 commercial development lots, all on a total of 102.6 acres. The project is related to and permitted separately from the nearby Hillside development. The most recent available site plan for this analysis, dated March 8, 2022, is illustrated in Figure 1. The Eastview PUD is subject to both Act 250 and South Burlington land use permitting. Most recently, the proposed project applied for and received Preliminary Plat Approval from the South Burlington Development Review Board on August 31, 2021, under plat application SD-20-40. The conditions and recommendations within the findings of fact for the decision as related to bicycle and pedestrian access and features through and around the site are summarized in the following section. Eastview PUD at O’Brien Farm: Bicycle and Pedestrian Infrastructure Review 2 FIGURE 1: EASTVIEW PUD BOUNDARY OUTLINED IN DASHED RED, DATED 3/8/2022 (KREBS & LANSING) Eastview PUD at O’Brien Farm: Bicycle and Pedestrian Infrastructure Review 3 INFLUENCES ON BICYCLE AND PEDESTRIAN SITE FEATURES The project is committed to creating an interconnected bicycle and pedestrian network within the Eastview site, the adjacent Hillside neighborhood, and existing and future offsite City paths and trails. Various land use regulations and local and regional planning documents have influenced the design and application of bicycle and pedestrian features through and around the Eastview PUD. Land Use Permits South Burlington Preliminary Plat approval SD-20-40 has assigned the following conditions related to bicycle and pedestrian features through and adjacent to the Eastview Site: 5.e. The applicant must provide a crosswalk from the cross-lot sidewalk south of the homes at the north end of Meadow Loop to the sidewalk on Meadow Loop Site plan has been revised with sidewalk on the west side / outside of Leo Lane (formerly Meadow Loop); this crosswalk is no longer applicable (a crosswalk is provided to the cross-lot sidewalk midway through Meadow Loop to Old Farm Road). 5.h. Traffic calming measures to include at minimum a four-way stop and raised pedestrian crossing shall be provided at the intersection of O’Brien Farm Road and Old Farm Road. Additional measures including differentiated surface treatment are encouraged. The MUTCD specifically states “STOP signs should not be used for speed control” and further states “at intersections where a full stop is not necessary at all times, consideration should first be given to using less restrictive measures”. Recommend implementation of a less restrictive control measure: two-way stop control on the minor approaches (O’Brien Farm Road), with multiway stop control (or traffic signal) warrant assessment as volumes grow. Recommend raised crosswalks and / or speed tables at feasible locations along Old Farm Road as traffic calming. 5.l. The pedestrian connection between the R1 and I/C one shall be made accessible to non-pedestrian non-motor vehicle traffic including bicycles and strollers. It shall also be modified to include a greater visual break so as to obviate and make the path comfortable to use. Such a change will require a modest realignment of the homes on Legacy Farm Ave. Site plan revised to include an accessible path between R1 and Potash Road (formerly I/C), shown in Attachment A; recommend including wayfinding signs with walking distance and time to key destinations (Dog Park, Fitness Trail, etc., with space for other destinations like Red Barn Market & Deli, Whale Tails, etc. when connections are made). 5.n. There shall be an off-road footpath across Business Park North Lot 4. Site plan revised to include easement from Kimball Ave to back of lot. 5.u. The non-vehicular connection between the Hillside PUD and Eastview PUD must be revised to show a paved multi-use path as indicated in applicant’s “Hillside Bike and Recreation Connectivity” plan. Multi-use path should be navigable without stairs. Eastview PUD at O’Brien Farm: Bicycle and Pedestrian Infrastructure Review 4 Path is included in current site plan and shown in Attachment A. 5v. There shall be a separated path connection for the entire length of lot 31 between Old Farm Road and Legacy Farm Road. The proposed surface material shall be indicated at final plat. Lot renumbered to 32; site plan revised to include separated path, opposite cross lot sidewalk through Lot 20 from Leo Lane with crosswalk across Old Farm Road. Path surface material recommended as Portland cement concrete. 5.w. There shall be a sidewalk along the eastern side of Old Farm Road from the southern terminus of the proposed rec path on the western side to Hinesburg Road. The site plan has been revised to illustrate a designed sidewalk concept along Old Farm Road from the project boundary to Hinesburg Road. As illustrated, the potential sidewalk may impact adjacent landowners. Given the adjacent property owners support for a public scoping process to determine the preferred alternative for bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure on Old Farm Road south of the Eastview PUD, we recommend: • Eastview PUD contribute to funding the local match requirement for a scoping study to evaluate a preferred alternative for recommended bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure along Old Farm Road. • Eastview PUD contribute into an escrow account the estimated cost of the designed sidewalk per the Boards preliminary plat requirement. Escrow funds to be used by the City to construct the preferred alternative resulting from the scoping study. 5.x. The plans must be revised to include a sidewalk on the east side of Hinesburg Road between lots 31-1 and 32. Lots renumbered to 32, 33, and 49. We understand this comment to be in reference to Old Farm Road, not Hinesburg Road; Sidewalk along Old Farm Road has been included in site plan. 5.y. Provide landscaping along the meandering portion of the sidewalk on the Old Farm Road ROW near the center of Meadow Loop. Site plan will be revised to include meandering portion of path with landscaping along Old Farm Road. 5.z. The sidewalk along Legacy Farm Extension must be extended to the terminus of the ROW. Road renamed to Barn Road. Site plan has been modified to include requested sidewalk extension as shown in Attachment A. 5.aa. There shall be a walking path through Lot 45 which creates a viable loop connecting to the open space on Lot 46. The Natural Resources Conservation Committee has noted that the Lot 45 open space provides opportunity for wildlife connectivity. The design of the path shall be sensitive to preservation of wildlife connectivity. Eastview PUD at O’Brien Farm: Bicycle and Pedestrian Infrastructure Review 5 Lot 45 renumbered to 47; 46 to 48. Site plan illustrates an accessible aggregate trail designed to be minimally impactful to wildlife corridors, shown in Attachment A. 5.bb. There must be a crosswalk across Legacy Farm Road at the pedestrian connection for Lot 45 as part of the final plat submission. Lot 45 renumbered to 47. Mid-block crosswalk recommended across Potash Road to connect to trail as shown in Attachment A. 5.cc. Throughout the plans, the Board finds the applicant must work with DPW staff to identify locations to including bulb-outs at pedestrian crossings, both to promote a pedestrian- oriented neighborhood and to provide physical and visual cues to drivers to maintain slow speeds. Bulb-outs are typically placed to narrow a roadway, often where large shoulders or street parking is located to reduce the pedestrian crossing distances and / or provide friction along the roadway for traffic calming purposes. Bulb outs should have a minimum width constraint (recommend 4-feet). Narrower than 4-feet, the bulb-out risks being too subtle for drivers to recognize and may result in curb strikes and plow damage. There are no locations within the Eastview PUD where the roadway is excessively wide that a bulb-out could be installed without impacting two-way vehicle operations: • The widest roadways are 24-feet wide, curb to curb. Maintaining 10-foot minimum lanes results in a maximum bulb-out of 2-feet on each side. • The on-street parallel parking on Old Farm Road alternates sides, providing on-street friction along the road. The parallel parking does not overlap with crosswalks in a way that a bulb out would be an effective traffic calming tool. No recommended bulb-out locations have been identified. 5.dd. Sidewalks and recreation paths shall be aligned with one another as they cross streets and driveways. Site plan has been updated to align walks and paths through drives and across streets where applicable. 5.ee. On-street parking shall comply with ADA design requirements. Recommend three ADA accessible on-street parallel parking spaces: two on Old Farm Road, and one on O’Brien Farm Road Extension. These on-street accessible spaces will supplement the off-street accessible spaces in Lot 33 and at the Dog Park. 5.ff. The final plat plans shall identify the surface for the following pedestrian connections i. between the Hillside PUD and the north end of Meadow Loop between lots 16-14 and 16-15 ii. between the Hillside PUD and across Open Space Lot 19. iii. on Open Space lot 45 Eastview PUD at O’Brien Farm: Bicycle and Pedestrian Infrastructure Review 6 The pedestrian connections described in 5.ff. have been defined as pedestrian trails in Attachment A. These trails are intended to be asphalt concrete, Portland cement concrete, and accessible aggregate surface, respectively. The aggregate surface is recommended to consist of 2” depth of ¼” minus crushed stone over 3” dense graded stone subbase material. 5.gg. Relocate the sidewalk from the east side of Meadow Loop to the west side of Meadow Loop. The Board supports this being done by swapping the positions of the road and sidewalk without impacting the location of the homes. Site plan has been updated to swap sidewalk and roadway locations; refer to 5.e. 5.hh. A mid-block sidewalk connection shall be provided between lots 20-14 and 20-15 to link Meadow Loop and Old Farm Road. This location coincides with a proposed crossing of Old Farm Road in this area. Site plan has been updated to include this crosswalk; recommend a crosswalk across Old Farm Road at this location, with speed table on opposite side of Lot 32 alley. 6.i.iii. Combine figure 3 with figure 4 to get a comprehensive view of the pedestrian and bicycle amenities as they relate to the projected parks and community center. This combined figure is presented as Attachment A to this memo. 6.n. Demonstration that short-term bicycle parking meets the standards of 13.14B(2) The site design team will document and demonstrate the bicycle parking requirements are met. While not required at public parks, we recommend the smaller parks / pause places include at least 2 U-style bicycle racks for a capacity of 4 bikes and the larger parks include at least 4 U-style bicycle racks for a capacity of 8 bikes. Bicycle parking at the community center is recommended to match the vehicle parking, or at least 9 U-style racks for a capacity of 18 bicycles. 6.o. Details of long-term bicycle parking including demonstration of how the required minimum numbers will be provided. The site design team will document and demonstrate the bicycle parking requirements are met. 17. Recreation paths shall be 10-ft wide, though the applicant may discuss site-specific exceptions with the Board at final plat. The shared use path along Old Farm Road south of O’Brien Farm Road is 8-feet wide. A 5-foot concrete sidewalk is proposed on the opposite side of the street, and there exist several other parallel north-south bicycle or pedestrian connections throughout Eastview (Meadow Loop, Legacy Farm, I/C Road) and Hillside PUDs. This segment of path is not expected to experience high bicycle and pedestrian volumes requiring a 10-foot width. The non-vehicular connection between the Hillside PUD and Eastview PUD described in 5.u. is recommended at 10-feet wide total: the existing 5-foot-wide concrete sidewalk, recommended to remain, with a new 5-foot-wide adjacent asphalt path. Eastview PUD at O’Brien Farm: Bicycle and Pedestrian Infrastructure Review 7 21. The off-site path connecting to Tilley Drive shall be 10-ft wide. The paths along Potash Road and between Potash Road and Mabel Way are both10- feet wide. An easement to continue the path on the private property south of the project area to Tilley Drive could not be secured and therefore no path is proposed. VT 116 / Kimball Avenue / Tilley Drive Area Land Use and Transportation Plan The VT-116 / Kimball Avenue / Tilley Drive Area Land Use and Transportation Plan (LUTP) from 2020 developed a map of recommended shared use paths in the plan’s study area, including the Eastview PUD. The relevant paths near the Eastview PUD are shown in Attachment A as “City Planned Paths” and include a path along VT-116, Old Farm Road, Kimball Avenue, and I/C Road / Potash Road. FIGURE 2: EXCERPT FROM LUTP WITH EASTVIEW AND HILLSIDE SITE PLAN FEATURES The LUTP indicated a location of a recommended path as a simple line over orthophoto with no design analysis. The LUTP acknowledged limitations of the recommendations, noting that the paths should be progressed to a scoping study and evaluated further in order to quantify the impacts and costs associated with various alignments, document public support, and identify a preferred alternative. The Eastview PUD includes provisions for constructing the paths identified in the LUTP that are within or directly adjacent to the boundary of the project, including the Kimball Ave Path from Kennedy Drive to Potash Brook, Potash Road to the property line, and Old Farm Road to the property line. The connection along Old Farm Road to Hinesburg Road (VT-116) is outside of the immediate project area and is not proposed by the applicant due to complexities of the design, limited public right of way, and potential private property impacts that are recommended to be investigated through a scoping project. Applicant has prepared a designed project with cost estimate consistent with the DRB’s recommendation. Applicant proposes to escrow the estimated funds for construction of the Eastview PUD at O’Brien Farm: Bicycle and Pedestrian Infrastructure Review 8 preferred alternative resulting from the scoping study recommended by the LUTP and requested by the adjacent property owners (see section 5.w above). CCRPC Active Transportation Plan The 2017 CCRPC Active Transportation Plan (ATP) identifies Hinesburg Road and Kimball Avenue as medium priority, medium feasibility gaps in the active transportation network. The ATP did not identify Old Farm Road as a gap in the regional active transportation network. FIGURE 3: EXCERPT FROM CCRPC ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION PLAN VTrans Bike Ped Infrastructure Plan The 2016 VTrans Bicycle Priority Map, focused specifically on state highways, identified VT-116 (Hinesburg Road) as a high use / high priority corridor. FIGURE 4: EXCERPT FROM VTRANS BICYCLE CORRIDOR PRIORITY MAP Eastview PUD at O’Brien Farm: Bicycle and Pedestrian Infrastructure Review 9 RECOMMENDED FEATURES AND MODIFICATIONS TO DESIGN Raised Mid-Block Crossings on Old Farm Road Old Farm Road has the potential for serving as a desirable short-cut route between Hinesburg Road and Kimball Avenue / Williston Road. The city and adjacent landowners appear to have conflicting visions regarding the ultimate vision of the road (shared use path or not; closed to through traffic, etc.). The ultimate vision for Old Farm Road is recommended to be evaluated in a scoping study, described in Land Use Permit recommendation 5.w. In the interim, we recommend reducing the desirability of Old Farm Road as a shortcut and enhancing pedestrian safety by incorporating a raised crosswalk and a speed table along the road. The raised crosswalk and speed table will reduce traveling speeds, reinforce the pedestrian environment, and enhance the profile of pedestrians while in the raised crosswalk. We recommend the design follow the standard practice for a raised crosswalk / speed table, with 3” vertical deflection, parabolic approaches, and a 10-foot-wide accessible crossing section. A sample Delaware DOT raised crosswalk sample design can be found at the FHWA Traffic Calming ePrimer1. Design Considerations: • Drainage inlets should be placed on the uphill side of the raised crosswalk to avoid ponding water. • The crosswalks should be marked with a standard pedestrian warning sign (W11-2), with a “RAISED CROSSWALK” supplementary plaque to warn drivers of the vertical deflection. • The raised crosswalk and speed table approaches should be painted with chevrons to warn drivers of the vertical deflection. Enhanced Crosswalk Features We recommend rectangular rapid flashing beacons (RRFBs) at the northernmost and southern most crosswalks on Old Farm Road. These two locations serve as gateways to the Eastview neighborhood. Additionally, these two locations will serve shared use path crossings and would likely receive the most crossing activity. Pedestrian Scale Wayfinding We recommend including a pedestrian scale wayfinding system with several signposts at path intersections noting the distance and walking travel time to key destinations. These destinations could include the Dog Park, Community Center, Red Barn Market and Deli / Tilley Drive, Whale Tails, Fitness Trail, Hillside destinations, transit stops. or other locations. 1 https://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/speedmgt/ePrimer_modules/images/tceprimer63.jpg Eastview PUD at O’Brien Farm: Bicycle and Pedestrian Infrastructure Review 10 Parallel Parking Adjacent to Crosswalks We recommend evaluating the distance between marked parallel parking spaces and crosswalks. Typically, parked vehicles should be 20-feet from a crosswalk to maximize sight lines between pedestrians and vehicles in the roadway. Kennedy Drive Transit Stop Consider working with GMT to site a new westbound transit stop opposite the Hillside signal on Two Brothers Drive. ATTACHMENTS Attachment A – Eastview PUD Bicycle and Pedestrian Feature Summary © 2021 Microsoft Corporation © 2021 Maxar ©CNES (2021) Distribution Airbus DS © 2021 Microsoft Corporation © 2021 TomTom Attachment A 03/22/2022Bicycle and Pedestrian Features Eastview PUD, South Burlington VT DATE: PROJECT:N 21-174 CommunityCenter Rec ParkDog Park HillsidePark RAISED RAISED Path consisting of existing 5-foot concrete walk and new 5-foot asphalt path adjacent Recommend scoping study to develop community-supported and consistent vision for Old Farm Road Recommend at least two (2) U-style bicycle racks at all seven fitness stations Recommend at least four (4) U-style bicycle racks at Dog Park / Playground Recommend at least nine U-style bicycle racks at Community Center Priority gateway crosswalk: RRFB; potential pedestrian scale wayfinding signs Recommend at least four (4) U-style bicycle racks at Rec Park Priority crosswalk: raised Priority gateway crosswalk: raised with RRFB (remove with future signal); potential pedestrian scale wayfinding signs Recommend at least four (4) U-style bicycle racks at park Potential new transit stop 8-foot path along Old Farm Road south of O'Brien Farm Road Legend Existing Path City-Planned Path Signalized Intersection Existing Transit Stop Eastview PUD Boundary Proposed Shared Use Path, Asphalt Proposed Concrete Sidewalk Proposed Aggregate Surface Trail Proposed Midblock / Uncontrolled Crossing Potential Transit Stop Accessible On-Street Parking Speed Table Shared alley-roadway SPEED TABLE SPEED TABLE Speed table Pedestrian scale wayfinding signs