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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday, October 26, 2015 7:00 o’clock p.m. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Page 11 of 23 10. #15-3774 MICHAEL STEADMAN ON BEHALF OF IRWIN JACOBS, 1700 SHORELINE DRIVE, PRELIMINARY PLAT – REVIEW CUL-DE-SAC ALTERNATIVES (continued) Steadman stated they are proposing construction hours from 8:30 to 4:30, daily street sweeping at the end of the day, providing phone numbers to the residents in case there is an issue, attempting to be proactive ahead of time for when contractors will be showing up, and asking contractors who do not follow the rules not to come back. Steadman noted they also provided a tree inventory and the impact to the woods. Steadman stated in their view the arborist did a very thorough job documenting the condition of the Big Woods and the trees. At this point 150 trees would be disturbed and approximately 62 percent of the woods is in good condition. Vernon Swing, Traffic Engineer with Westwood, stated he has been doing traffic studies for approximately 29 years and that he was asked to take a look at the construction traffic impacts associated with bringing construction traffic along Heritage Lane as well as to consider an alternative access route that would come in through the Irwin Jacobs’ property. Swing noted his report is in front of the Council but that he will summarize the report. Swing stated to begin with, Heritage Lane is currently 24 feet wide. It begins at its intersection with Shoreline Drive and then traverses back to the cul-de-sac. The 24-foot wide street is typical for residential type roadways in that the narrower road provides for slower speeds and a safer environment for those who live in the neighborhood. As it exists today, there are occasional lawn service and other service vehicles that will park on the sides of the road further adding traffic calming measures to the traffic traveling through the neighborhood. Swing stated the construction traffic as it is for purposes of building a single-family home is actually quite low. The number of construction related trips that will occur on a daily basis would be approximately 20. The neighborhood currently generates 162 trips, which are extraordinarily low numbers. Swing stated from a traffic operations and a traffic safety perspective, those numbers are negligible and difficult to measure in terms of impact. Swing stated one of the things that was brought to the Council’s attention on the video was that school buses will turn right and swing wide into the opposing lane of traffic. Swing indicated he reviewed this using the software that is typically used to design a street and design corners for truck and bus turning maneuvers referred to as Auto-Turns. Swing stated on the overhead is a replica of an Auto-Turn with a school bus and a passenger car coming out of the neighborhood. Swing stated what is key to remember is, when the school bus was turning on the video, there was nobody coming from the opposite direction. As with most people that drive, if there is nobody coming from the opposite direction, the vehicle making the turn does not turn as tightly as they might otherwise. Swing stated a school bus can safely make it around the corner and is bigger than a dump truck or a cement truck. It is approximately the same size of most delivery vehicles of construction materials. At the time houses are to be constructed, it is estimated there will be one truck delivery one week, which will vary sometimes but generally it is estimated at one truck per week. That, along with the 20 trips associated with the construction workers, is a negligible number as far as being able to measure it.