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HomeMy WebLinkAboutM_Response Memo_Amazon SWA2_211105_v4.pdf       “On Hold” Notice #3 PR21-000051 SWA2 Amazon / LUA21-000233, SA-A, SME, ECF Page 1 of 3 MEMORANDUM To: Alex Morganroth, Senior Planner From: Naveed Jaffar, PE, PTOE, NV5 Date: October 28, 2021 Re: Response to “On Hold” Notice #3 PR21-000051 SWA2 Amazon / LUA21-000233, SA-A, SME, ECF    NV5 Engineers and Consultants has reviewed comments from the City of Renton, Washington regarding the Traffic Impact Analysis (TIA) furnished on September 7, 2021. NV5’s response to the comments are as follows: General Comments The document is complete per the City’s Traffic Impact Analysis Guidelines for New Development (Tip Sheet 2000). Comment: To improve readability and understanding, add street names to Figures 5, 6, 8, and 9. This is acknowledged. However, to prevent crowding of letters and numerals in the turning traffic boxes, Figure 3 was simply replicated immediately prior to each of these four figures. Existing Conditions (Page 4) Table 1 describes the study area roadways including the posted speed limits and the number of travel lanes. Comments:  Add description that the segment of SW 19th Street between Raymond Avenue SW and the adjacent driveway to the east is approximately 15 feet wide and is not sufficient width for two full travel lanes.  Revise Table 1 to reflect RMC 10-11-1 that designates all street without a posted speed limit to be 25 MPH. This is acknowledged and will be revised. Safety Analysis (Page 7) The study provided a safety analysis for four nearby intersections – SW 19th Street/Raymond Avenue SW, SW 19th Street/Lind Avenue SW, SW 16th Street/Raymond Avenue SW, and SW 16th Street/Lind Avenue SW. Table 2 summarizes the crash data by year for injuries, fatalities, and property damage, but does not provide data by intersection or by crash type. Comments:  Revise Table 2 to provide crash data for the four individual intersections rather than by year and summarize the crashes by type (e.g. rear end, sideswipe, fixed object, pedestrian/bicycle, etc.) rather than severity. Data can be requested from the WSDOT (https://www.wsdot.wa.gov/mapsdata/crash/crashdatarequest/htm) or by contacting the City. “On Hold” Notice #3 PR21-000051 SWA2 Amazon / LUA21-000233, SA-A, SME, ECF Page 2 of 3 This is acknowledged and will be performed pending City data availability. The WSDOT data does not provide the depth of information that the City is seeking. Trip Generation (Page 17) Table 7 shows the trip generation for the project (Parcel Distribution Center) as compared to the ITE Warehouse land use. The applicant supplied the trip generation data used in the analysis in a summary table (Appendix E). The data shows that most trips occur during off-peak hours. Comments:  Remove the ITE Warehouse comparison from Table 7 because it is not a similar land use.  If available, please provide the source of the data, size of facility, or data collection dates for the applicant-supplied trip generation data. The user-specific data utilizes operations from a variety of sites and locations, dates, facility sizes, etc. are not always available. The trip generation provided by the tenant is based on their planned employee head count, delivery operations, and line-haul movements. This has been added to the TIA body. Trip Distribution/Assignment (Pages 18-19) Of the 60% outbound site trips destined for I-5, the analysis assumes a split of 25% of site trips will use the Rainier Avenue S/SR 167 interchange and 35% of the site trips will use the SR 181/I-405 interchange via Grady Avenue. For inbound trips from I-5, all 60% of site trips are expected to use the SR 181/I-405 interchange and travel to the site via Grady Avenue. For I-405 trips to and from the north, all (10% of site trips) will use the Rainier Avenue S/SR 167 interchange. In the trip assignment, Figure 8 shows the PM peak hour trip assignment for 82 entering trips. The trip generation table (Table 7) and Appendix E show 102 entering trips during the PM peak hour. Comments:  Revise Figure 7 to provide a more detailed trip distribution that shows how trips are traveling to and from the site. In particular, show more clearly the trip distribution for trips traveling I-405 versus city streets.  Correct Figure 8 Trip Assignment to show 102 PM peak hour entering trips and revise the analysis. Revise with project PM peak hour LOS analysis using correct volumes. This is acknowledged and will be revised. Signal Warrants (Page 25) The analysis included a signal warrants analysis at the Lind Avenue SW and SW 19th Street intersection. The analysis in Appendix F provides analysis with or without right turn movements excluded from the warrants evaluation. Table 10 shows the warrant analysis without right turn data. Comments:  Correct text reference Table 10 (incorrectly references Table 9).  Change Table 10 and the corresponding text to report the signal warrant analysis with the right turn volumes, because right turns are in a shared through-right turn lane and through traffic will block right turning vehicles. Report that intersection meets both Traffic Signal Warrants 2 and 3A and 3B and that a signal is warranted at the intersection. “On Hold” Notice #3 PR21-000051 SWA2 Amazon / LUA21-000233, SA-A, SME, ECF Page 3 of 3 This is acknowledged and will be revised. As a result, the mitigation recommendation for Lind Avenue SW and SW 19th Street has been changed from roundabout to traffic signal with no further geometric improvements. Proposed Mitigation (Pages 25-27) The TIA states the following as proposed project mitigation for the impacts from the development. 1. Construct a roundabout at Lind Avenue SW and SW 19th Street. 2. Construct a roundabout at Raymond Avenue SW and SW 16th Street. 3. Construct an eastbound right turn lane Oakesdale Avenue SW and SW Grady Way. 4. Modify the Oakesdale Avenue SW and SW 16th Street intersection as follow: a. Change the lane channelization from EB L & EB T+R to EB L+T & EB R b. Change the lane channelization from WB L& WB T+R to WB L+T & WB R c. Change eastbound and westbound left turn phasing to permissive only d. Add westbound right turn overlap phase with southbound left turn phase Comments:  Indicate project commitment to improve the narrow segment of SW 19th Street to City standards.  For the addition of an eastbound right turn lane at Oakesdale Avenue SW and SW Grady Way (Mitigation Item 3), indicate that the improvement will impact the Black River and the Springbrook Non-Motorized Trail.  The mitigation for the Oakesdale Avenue SW and SW 16th Street intersection (Mitigation Item 4) is not recommended because it would directly align the opposing eastbound and westbound through movements, creating an undesirable offset with the receiving lanes. In addition, the mitigation would remove the protected left turn phase and allow permissive left turns from the through lane, increasing the potential for crashes at the intersection. This is acknowledged and will be revised.