06-21-2004 Planning Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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Woodhill Avenue Resident hUy4. 1999 INSUFFICIENT STUDY REGARDING ADEQUACY OF ACCESS ON COUNTY HIGHWAY IS In niy earlier review letter to you dated May 26. 199K. we raised a serious issue tlut the Country Club had not submitted to the City prior to that date any report justifying their proposed access to Woodhill Avenue For land uses like the Couiury Club that generate significant traffic volumes, wc indicated that when an access change is proposed, it is sundard practice to complete a traflic study to address the needs and implications of such an access change. Five key questions which need to be addressed and which I stated in my May 26. 1998. letter arc • What arc the principal issues and needs influencing the potential change in access? • What arc the possible solutions to fulfill the needs? • In evaluating the candidate solutions, what factors are particularly important to address in terms of potcnUal impacts on users of the development, on nearby property owners, and on the public roadway system‘s • What arc the advantages and disadvantages of the candidate solutions in terms of the previously identified factors? • Can any of the candidate solutions be implemented in a nunner to benefit users of the development and to avoid significant negative impacts on nearby property owners and/or the public roadway syst’m*^ If so. what is the preferred solution? Materials included with the Country Club’s cunent application, including the trallic study report by the Parsons firm, provide a partial response to the above questions. These items, however, fall far short of a complete response to the questions listed above Three serious weaknesses of the traffic comments provided by the Country Club arc 1 . The Country Club’s application does not acknowledge the benefits that will be accomplished to their access on County Highway IS through the improvnnents presently being constructed on County Highway 15. These improvements include an eastbound left turn lane and a westbound right turn lane so thit all motorists turning into the Country Club from County Highway IS will have a protected turn lane 2. Neither the Country Club’s application nor the Parsons report provide any actual data or technical analyses regarding the level of service for their users to gain access to County Highway IS at Woodhill Road In other words, they have not documented whether serious delays actually arc encountered in gaining access to County Highway 15 during any particular hours or days 3 . The Parsons report refers to traffic counts conducted on Woodhill Road at the end of September and beginning of October 1998. It b important to lecognizc that this is an off-peak period for the Country Club. As such, wc believe that it is invalid to rely upon such off-peak data for the purpose of evaluating the impacts of the proposed access to Woodhill Avenue