Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout04/08/2020 - Langan Response to TEC Traffic Peer Review #2 - - LAIVEiAN Memorandum 888 Boylston Street,Suite 510 Boston,MA02199 T.-617.824.9100 To: Samuel Gregorio, P.E., PT OE, RSP,/TEC Monica Gregoire/Town of North Andover From: Luke Mauro, PTOE John Plante, P.E. Copied: Jean Enright/Town of North Andover Mac Utsey/Hillwood John Smolak/Smolak&Vaughn Nathan Kirschner/Langan Date: April 8,2020 Re: Response to TEC Traffic Peer Review#2 Comments Amazon Fulfillment Center North Andover,MA Langan Project No.:140182701 Enclosed please find our responses to the TEC Traffic Peer Review#2 comments dated April 1, 2020. Below please find each original TEC comment in standard font, Langan's initial response UNDERLINED,TECs response in italics and our latest responses in bold. TRAFFIC IMPACT AND ACCESS STUDY ,Comment No. L Osgood Street in the vicinity of the project is under the jurisdiction of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT). The Applicant should further coordinate with MassDOT on the issuance of a Permit to Access State Highway. ,LANGAN RESPONSE: NOTED. COORDINATION WITH MASSDOT IS ONGOING. lies nse Comment Closed Comment No.2: The traffic study area includes ten (10) intersections in the vicinity of the site; including four(4) existing site driveways. Based upon the size and scope of the development,TEC finds that the study area as provided in the TIA is sufficient to capture the effects of the project on surrounding roadways based on Traffic Impact Assessment (TIA) guidelines set forth MassDOT. This includes an evaluation of intersection in which the site-generated trips increase the peak hour traffic volume by more than 5 percent and/or by more than 100 vehicles per hour per MassDOTs TIA Guidelines (Section 3.1.Q. TEC recognizes that the 'generator' peak hour traffic(not peak Response to TEC Traffic Peer Review Comments MEMO Amazon Fulfillment Center North Andover,MA April 8,2020- Pete 2 of 13 hour of roadway) will generate in excess of 100 vehicles per hour at additional Town intersections not included in the study area, namely along Sutton Street. Figures 7 and 11 as provided in the TIAS depict a 2026 Build scenario where traffic post-construction is generally equivalent during the 'generator' peak hour and the "roadway' peak hour along Sutton Street. The Applicant should evaluate the potential trip generation impact further to the west along Sutton Street at its intersection with High Street/Chadwick Street and with Main Street. Where an impact of greater of 100 trips persists, the Applicant should provide additional operational analysis and site related mitigation as warranted. LAN AN RESPONSE: ADDITIONAL OPERATIONAL ANALYSIS FOR THESE TW`0 INTERSECTIONS AND ADDITIONAL INTERSECTIONS THAT EXPERIENCE MORE THAN 100 NEW PEAK-HOUR TRIPS OUR INCLUDED IN THE REVISED TIAS. TEC Response The Applicant has expanded the study area to provide evaluation to those locations with more than 100 new peak-hour trips. Comment Closed. Comment No. Although Corn m ent#2 above indicates TE Cs concurrence with the study area as defined in the TIAS, TEC notes that the Applicant should coordinate with MassDOT on the potential project impacts at the intersection of Osgood Street / Barker Street which is currently under reconstruction as part of off-site mitigation for a separate project. As this intersection's new traffic signal is to be part of a larger coordination stream,it is important that the projected traffic volumes from the 1600 Osgood Street site are utilized in additional mitigation in coordination with MassDOT, LANGAN RESPONSE: NOTED. WE WILL BE SUBMITTING OUT TIAS TO MASSDOT AS PART OF THE HIGHWAY ACCESS PERMIT REVIEW AND WILL COORDINATE WITH MASSDOT ACCORDINGLY. TEC Response Comment Closed Comment No,4-, The Applicant has provided traffic data collection along Osgood Street and at the study area intersections during the weekday morning and weekday evening peak periods. TM Cs were conducted on Thursday,September 6,2018. This date represents a period while North Andover High School schools were in session;but during the week of Labor Day. Typically,counts during holiday weeks are potentially skewed; however, the days following Labor Day are generally seen as conservative as schools and colleges are back in regular session,and the workforce is generally back from typical vacations. It is expected that any fluctuations in traffic volumes would be negligible. LAN BAN RESPONSE: NO RESPONSE REQUIRED. TEC Restonse Comment Closed LA GAN Response to TEC Traffic Peer Review Comments MEMO Amazon Fulfillment Center North Andover,MA April 8,2020- Page 3 of 13 Comment No.5- No adjustment to the counts were made to reflect seasonal fluctuation as September represents a month greater than the average-month conditions. Note that the data provided in Appendix B utilizes seasonal adjustment data that does not reflect complete annual data. Therefore,the factors as noted maybe different than as reported. Upon further inspection,TEC anticipates that September would still project as a month that is greater than average month conditions,would full year data be provided.TEC confirmed the usage of MassDOT's seasonal adjustment data as published. LANGAN RESPONSE: NO RESPONSE REQUIRED. TEC'Re2ponse Comment Closed Comment No,6: TEC does not object to the 1.0% annual growth rate applied to existing traffic volumes; however,the TIA did not provide support materials related to the ambient growth rate of 1.0% per year. At a minimum, the Applicant should provide a listing of documents reviewed to confirm the utilization of this ambient growth factor. LANGAN RESPONSE: SEE ATTACHED AADT BY YEAR COMPARISON FOR 2014-2018 AT COUNT STATION 5004 ON 1-495 JUST SOUTH OF THE INDUSTRIAL AVENUE INTERCHANGE. BASED ON THE MASSDOT COUNT STATION DATA, THE AADT HAS DROPPED BETWEEN 2015 AND 2018, INDICATING A NEGATIVE GROWTH RATE.TO BE CONSERVATIVE AND CONSISTENT WITH THE TRAFFIC REPORTS PREPARED FOR THE 1210 OSGOOD STREET, 4 HIGH STREET AND 505 SUTTON STREET DEVELOPMENTS,A 1.0% ANNUAL GROWTH RATE WAS UTILIZED. PLEASE SEE ATTACHED DOCUMENTATION FOR THE MERRIMACK VALLEY PLANNING COMMISSION VERIFYING THE USE OF A 1% ANNUAL GROWTH RATE. TEC Resoonse Comment Closed Comment No.7: The TIA provides information related to other developments in the area;including#1210 Osgood Street. The study does not incorporate additional traffic volumes to be generated by the#4 High Street or the#505 Sutton Street developments. The Applicant shall coordinate with the North Andover Planning Department to determine if these developments should be included in traffic volume projections based on which development applications were'first-in'to the Town. LAN Response to TEC Traff 1c Peer Review Comments MEMO Amazon Fulfillment Center Forth Andover,MA April a,2020- Rage 4 of 1 LANGAN RESPONSE: WE HAVE REVIEWED THE TRAFFIC REPORTS PREPARED FOR BOTH THE 4 HIGH STREET AND 505 SUTT N STREET DEVELOPMENTS.THE COMBINED ANTICIPATED SITE GENERATED TRAFFIC FROM BOTH DEVELOPMENTS THAT WILL UTILIZE THE OSGOOD STREET CORRIDOR IS APPROXIMATELY 20 TO 25 TOTAL VEHICLES DURING THE PEAK-HOURS,WHICH ACCOUNTS FOR ABOUT I TO 2° OF THE BACKGROUND TRAFFIC ALONG C SGOOD STREET. SINCE THE BACKGROUND TRAFFIC ASSOCIATED WITH THESE DEVELOPMENTS IS NEGLIGIBLE ALONG THE OSGOOD STREET CORRIDOR lE DON'T RELIEVE ANY REVISED OPERATIONAL ANALYSIS IS WARRANTED FOR THE INTERSECTIONS ANALYZED AS PART OF OUR TRAFFIC IMPACT AND ACCESS STUDY DATED AUGUST 2019. THE TRAFFIC ASSOCIATED WITH THESE DEVELOPMENTS IS ACCOUNTED FOR IN THE 1% BACKGROUND GROWTH APPLIED TO THE EXISTING TRAFFIC. AS REQUESTED UNDER COMMENT NO. 2 ABOVE LANGAN HAS INCLUDED OPERATIONAL ANALYSES IN THE REVISED TIAS FOR ADDITIONAL INTERSECTIONS WHERE THE SITE-GENERATED TRAFFIC IS ANTICIPATED TO BE MORE THAN 100 VEHICLES DURING THE PEAK-HOUR PERIODS. AS PART OF THIS ADDITIONAL ANALYSIS W INCLUDED THE TRAFFIC VOLUMES ASSOCIATED WITH THESE TWO BACKGROUND DEVELOPMENTS. TEC f esoonse: TEC has not objection ectror to the description of specific developments by others above and the use of additional volumes for Micas 'new'intersections within the analysis. For pre io rsly evaluated intersections, the additional volumes as reported would have a negligible effect as compared to the overall background growth rate. Comment Closed. Comment No.S. TEC does not object to the conservative application of reoccupancytrip generation for the vacant office space within the existing site as part of the No-Build scenario. The Applicant has confirmed the methodology with MassDOT. LANGAN RESPONSE, NO RESPONSE REQUIRED.. TES'Response.Comment Closed Comment No.9. Site trip generation calculations for the proposed uses were generated based on empirical data provided directly by Amazon and takes into account both employee and true traffic. TEC concurs with this methodology. Although the Institute of Transportation Engineers ITE Trip Generation, 1 Oth Edition does provide similar data under Land Use Code LUC 155—High-Cube Fulfillment Center Warehouse,the data as presented under this LUC is a small sample size and does not reach the square footage level to compare to the subject project, The Applicant should provide supporting materials to confirm the employee and truck information as issued by Amazon, Response to TEC Traffic Peer Review Comments MEMO_ Amazon Fulfillment Center North Andover,MA April 8, 00- Page 5 of 1 LAN AIS RESPONSE: PLEASE FIND ATTACKED THE MASSD T APPROVAL OF THE DEVELOPMENT'SPROPOSED AVERAGE DAILY TRIPS, DATED JANUARY 31, 2020. PLEASE FIND THE ATTACHED SUPPORTING TRIP GENERATION INFORMATION SUBMITTED IN SEPTEMBER 2019 TO MASSD T WHICH INCLUDES COUNT DATA COLLECTED AT THE FALL RIVER AMAZON FACILITY. ALSO, ATTACHED IS PEAK HOUR TRIP GENERATION INFORMATION SUBMITTED TO MASSDOI ON FEBR ARY 3 2020. TEC Response TEC concurs with MassDOT on the trig generation methodology and new traffic totals as presented in the attached data. Comment Closed. Comment No. 10: The TIA Indicates that a 20% adjustment to site generated trips based on Amazon empirical data for carpooling and proximity to mass transit. Although TEC generally concurs that a reduction may be warranted, the level of reduction ( o is elevated over comparable sites. MVRTA service is provided along Osgood Street; however,the service is provided along only one bus line(Bus Route 14)with 0-minute headwa s,which connects the site to Downtown Haverhill. The number of buses and the strict rote to only a small segment of the workforce population does not project heaver public transit utilization. TEC asks that the Applicant provide additional data to support the 0% reduction based on specific Amazon fulfillment locations and their proximity to public transportation and the usage of carpooling and ether such TDM measures. TEC notes that the Applicant does highlight the potential for additional MVRTA service through future coordination as a Project TD ICI measure.. LANAI RESPONSE: PLEASE FIND THE ATTACKED SUPPORTING TRIP GENERATION INFORMATION SUBMITTEDTO MASSDOT I HI H INCLUDES COUNT DATA COLLECTED ATTIRE FALL RIVER AMAZON FACILITY IN AUGUST 2019. T C Resin use: The attached materials related to the Southeastern rtheastern Regional Transit Authority service in Fall River depicts only one bus services to the proposed Amazon facility, directly from Downtown Fall River which is the,primary source of travel to 1from the noted facility based on the population distribution in the southeastern MA region.At the proposed North Andover facility, travel is not specific to Haverhill, the point of origin for the MVRTA bias;but could also be from Lawrence, Lovell, Andover, Salem, etc. At 60- min headways and the sizing of gases with MVRTA,the likelihood of Grp to 20 public transportation and or carpool usage seems to be high. The Applicant should provide information related to discussion with MVRTA moot expanding service or current utilization to ensure that rip to 20 of employee traffic can be accommodated on the existing MVRTA services. In addition, the Applicant should,provide information and updates on discussion with other regional public transportation options;such as Merrimack Valley TI1 A and Middlesex 3 TMA. Upon review of the attached materials, TEC notes that the 20 credit for mass transit and carpooling combined may not be reasonable. Father analysis results may be affected when additional Applicant information is provided! LANGAN Response to TEC Traffic Peer Review Comments MEMO Amazon Fulfillment Center North Andover,MA April 8,2020- Page 6 of 13 Langan Response: As indicated in the memos attached to our initial response to comments and outlined in our revised TIAS,the 20%credit reflects mass transit along with carpooling and ridesharing service usage, and is based on and justified by ITE data for industrial uses,along with raw count data collected at the Fall River Amazon facility. It is not our assumption that all 20%of the trip generation credit will be accomplished through the use of MVRTA bus service,but that a good portion of the trip generation reduction will occur through employee carpooling and ridesharing.Coordination with MassDGT is ongoing for confirmation of the 20% mass transit/carpooling credit. The empirical data from the Fall River facility illustrates the conditions the Amazon has experience at facilities across the country. Based on these experiences, there are two proposed drop-off/pick-up locations with shelters located on-site directly in the front of the building on either side of the main entry doors. Members of the project team met with MVRTA Administrator Joseph Costanzo and Assistant General Manager Jesus Guillermo on May 23, 2019 to discuss the project and the potential to increase bus service to the site. It was mentioned during the meeting that there is currently very little bus usage at the site,so there is capacity to accommodate new employees with the existing bus service. It was also discussed that depending on demand at the proposed Amazon facility, bus service can be extended to additional hours of the day or increased during morning and evening shift-change periods.There was recognition that a portion of potential labor force would likely live in Lawrence and Lowell. The MVRTA services the Merrimack Valley,including North Andover,Andover,Lawrence,Haverhill,Methuen,and Lowell. Based on information in the ITE Trip Generation Manual 9th Edition and the Trip Generation Handbook,3rd Edition,ITE estimates that the average vehicle occupancy for industrial uses is around 1.3 persons per vehicle,with a range between 1.2 to 1.9 persons-per-vehicle for various industrial land uses. A vehicle occupancy of 1.3 persons per vehicle translates to a 23% reduction in trip generation when comparing person trips to vehicle trips. Amazon has also found that employee are utilizing ridesharing (Ober, Lyft) to car pool to their facilities. For the numerous reasons outlined above,we believe the 20%credit is reasonable for the North Andover facility. Comment No. 1 1: The Applicant has provided no back-up information or description of trip distribution for the site over the study area. At a minimum, the Applicant should provide a listing of documents reviewed to confirm the utilization of this trip distribution. In addition, as a workplace development with peak hour analysis,the Applicant should seek to evaluate the trip distribution based on the most recent US Census Journey-to-Work data that is publicly available. LANGAN Response to TEC Traffic Peer Review Comments F®R E M 0 Amazon Fulfillment Center North Andover,MA April 8,2020- Pate 7 of 13 LANAI RESPONSE: TRIP DISTRIBUTIONS WERE BASED ON 2017 JOURNEYTO WORK DATA FOR NORTH ANDOVER. SEE ATTACHED JOURNEY TO WORK DATA SPREADSHEET. TEC Response: TEC has reviewed the Journey-to-Dori data as presented by the Applicant. Although TEC does feel that certain distribution percentages could be slightly altered based on analysis conducted by TEC and include the potential for vehicles to utilize other side-streets not presented in the trip distribution model, the overall change in trip distribution percentages would not significantly change. Therefore, TEC finds the distribution presented by the Applicant reasonable. For future reference, use of Town City names is preferable to zip codes to denote locations in case of review by the general public. Comment Closed. Comment No. 12: The comments as noted above may result in modifications to the results of the capacity and queue analysis and therefore TEC has not provided direct comment on the analysis as presented at this time. TEC reserves the right to provide additional comments and improvement recommendations upon completion of the peer review comment responses. LANGAN RESPONSE: NOTED, TEC Response:No response required. Comment No. 13: The Applicant has provided two separate capacity and queue analyses that project traffic operation impacts during the adjacent street peak hour and the site peak generation peak hour. Both analyses were provided as the elevated trips experienced by the site occur slightly before both the typical weekday morning and weekday evening peak hours. LAN AN RESPONSE: NO RESPONSE REQUIRED. TEC Response:Comment Closed Comment No. 14: The TIAS indicates that traffic signal warrants are met for the existing signal in flash mode at the northern-most driveway. The Applicant should confirm this condition with MassDOT as MassDOT typically requires that Warrant 1 is met for signals within State Highway Layout (SHLO). The TIAS appears to indicate that only peak hour warrant(Warrant 3). LA GAN Response to TEc Traffic Peer Review Comments MEMOAmazon Fulfillment center North Andover,MA April 8,220- Page 8 of 1 LANGAN RESPONSE. THE FOUR-HOUR (WARRANT 2) ANI PEAK-HOUR (WARRANT S TRAFFIC SIGNAL WARRANTS ARE DIET AT THE NORTHERN-MIDST DRIVEWAY (SEE ATTACHED SIGNAL WARRANT SUMMARY SPREADSHEET). CONSIDERING THE VOLUME OF TRAFFIC EXPECTED AT THIS DRIVEWAY DURING THE PEAK-HOURS AND THE CONTINUOUS VOLUME OF TRUCK TRAFFIC EXITING THIS DRIVEWAY THROUGHOUT THE DAY WE RELIEVE A FULLY ACTUATED TRAFFIC SIGNAL IS WARRANTED AT THIS LOCATION. COORDINATION WITH MASSDOT IS ONGOING. TEC Res e: The Applicant should inform the Board regarding the outcome of these discussions. Langan Response. Noted, Coordination with MassDOT is ongoing and Langan will inform the Board of the latest discussions with MassDOT. Comment No. 15: The capacity and queue analysis analyze the signalized intersections using the Synchro Percentile Delay methodology Instead of the industry standard Highway Capacity Manual (HCM) 010 or 6th Edition methodology.Although TEG does not necessarily disagree with the usage of Synchro methodology, the Applicant should provide justification for its use over HCM. This becomes increasing noticeable for traffic signals in the mitigation condition which would be in coordination.. LANGAN RESPONSE: THERE ARE A NUMBER OF SIGNALIZED INTERSECTIONS WITHIN THE STUDY AREA THAT OPERATE UNDER NON-NEMA OR ATYPICAL PHASING, 11t1HICH INCLUDE THE TWO SITE DRIVEWAYS INDUSTRIAL AVENUE AT SHELLEY ROAD/WARD HILL AVE AND INDUSTRIAL AVENUE AT SOUTH MAIN STREET.THESE INTERSECTIONS CANNOT RE ANALYZED UTILIZING THE HCM 6TH EDITION CAR HCM 2010 EDITION METHODOLOGIES; THEREFORE, THE SYNCHRO PERCENTILE DELAY METHODOLOGY WAS UTILIZED. FOR CONSISTENCY THROUGHOUT THE CAPACITY ANALYSIS THE OTHER SIGNALIZED INTERSECTIONS WERE ALSO ANALYZED UTILIZING THE PERCENTILE DELAY METHODOLOGY AS WELL. TES' Response.- agrees with the Applicants methodology and reasoning. Comment Closed Comment No. 1 6: The 1600 Osgood Street North driveway eastbound approach is analyzed ender signalized conditions for the 2026 Rudd scenario. As the signalization of the intersection is called-out as mitigation for the project, this scenario should normally reflect an unsignalized condition. TEG notes that this change would have no effect on the mitigation for the location which operates at acceptable levels-of-service in the mitigated condition. LANGAN RESPONSE: NO RESPONSE REQUIRED. TEC Resgonse:Comment Closed LANGAN Response to TEC Traffic Peer Review Comments Amazon Fulfillment Center F®R E M 0 North Andover,MA April 8,2020- Page 9 of 13 Comment No. 17: The TIAS notes that the intersection of Osgood Street/Great Pond Road/Casa Blanca operates at degraded levels-of-service during the weekday morning peak hours. The Applicant should coordinate with MassDOT,who holds jurisdiction,as part of the Access Permit process to discuss other improvements that may be necessary at this intersection. LANGAN RESPONSE: PER THE REVISED TIASWE-ARE RECOMMENDING SIGNAL TIMING OPTIMIZATION AT THIS LOCATION FOR BOTH THE MORNING AND EVENING PEAK PERIODS. COORDINATION WITH MASSDOT IS ONGOING. TEC Res ponset Under optimized signal timings, the location is still expected to operate at elevated levels-of-service as compared to the No-Build condition (Weekday Evening condition). The Applicant should continue to work with MassDOTto determine what other mitigation options may be available at this location to bring Build with Mitigation operations closer to No-Build operations. Langan Response: Langan considered alternate signal timing optimization schemes for this location during the evening peak-hour.Adjusting green time between phases can improve delay and LOS for one movement but result in additional delay and degraded LOS for another movement. Further coordination with MassDOT is required to finalize the optimized signal timing scheme or discuss other p-6--fe—n-f-iall 'mitigation options. Comment No. 18: The TIAS notes that the site unsignalized driveways operate at a significant LOS during the peak hours.This delay and extended queues are contained within the site.The Applicant should seek addition modifications to the site's southerly unsignalized driveway which does not provide storage for more than four vehicles prior to blocking the first cross drive aisle; including a new drive aisle as part of the site's modifications. LANGAN RESPONSE- FOR ALL PERIODS ANALYZED THE TWO QNSIGNALIZED SITE DRIVEWAYS OPERATE AT THE SAME OR IMPROVED LEVELS OF SERVICE WHEN COMPARING THE 2026 NO-BUILD TO 2026 BUILD CONDITIONS.THE SITE DRIVEWAYSALSO GENERALLY OPERATE WITH EITHER SIMILAR OR REDUCED DELAYS EHICULAR QUEUES WHEN COMPARING NO-BUILD TO BUILD CONDITIONS, WE EXPECT THAT TRAFFIC CONDITIONS DURING THE MORNING AND EVENING ROADWAY PEAK-HOUR PERIODS WILL ACTUALLY IMPROVE BASED ON THE ANTICIPATED REDUCTION IN ROADWAY PEAK-HOUR TRIP GENERATION FOR THE BUILD CONDITION. THE TWO TRAFFIC SIGNALS AT THE NORTHERNMOST AND SOUTHERNMOST DRIVEWAYS SHOULD PROVIDE GAPS IN THE MAINLINE TRAFFIC THAT WILL ALLOW VEHICLES TO EXIT OUT OF THESE DRIVEWAYS. TEC Response: TEC recommends that the Applicant monitor these site driveways post- occupancy to ensure that degraded levels-of-service and or other safety issues,such as blockage of on site features. It is likely that many vehicles within the site will actually utilize the signalized LAAN Response to TEC Traffic Peer Review Comments MEMO Amazon Fulfillment Center North Andover,MA April 8,20206 Pa2e 10 of 13 driveway locations to exit the site as it guarantees green time to exiting traffic. This should be monitored post-occupancy to ensure that mitigation efforts met target.The Applicant should also consider modifications to the site plan,as necessary,to not preclude the relocation of drive aisles and parking that may be affected by queuing as noted above. The concern is that when queuing occurs on-site, vehicles attempting to exit the site may in-turn be blocked and potentially extend out into Route 125. Langan Response: Noted. If a post-opening traffic study is required as a condition of approval, Langan will evaluate the operations of the site driveways to verify that the anticipated traffic volumes and operating conditions outlined within the traffic study are in line with actual post-opening conditions.We would recommend that the time frame for conducting this evaluation at the site driveways be within six months from the time that Amazon opens for full facility operations. Comment No. 19: The TIAS notes that the Holt Street approach to Osgood Street will experience an extensive addition of vehicle delay and shiftthe approach to over capacity during the morning generator peak hour of the day which will directly impact other businesses along the Holt Street corridor.The Applicant should evaluate addition opportunities to address the impact to other businesses along Holt Road as a result of the extensive side-street impact. LANGAN RESPONSE: BASED ON OUR ANALYSIS, THIS APPROACH OPERATES AT LOS F DURING THE MORNING PEAK-HOUR PERIODS EVALUATED FOR THE EXISTING AND PROJECTED NO-BUILD CONDITIONS AS WELL. CONSIDERING THE FREE-FLOWING CHANNELIZED RIGHT-TURN AT THIS APPROACH AND THE VOLUME OF VEHICLES EXITING HOLT ROAD DURING THE PEAK-HOUR PERIODS, A TRAFFIC SIGNAL WOULD NOT BE WARRANTED AT THIS LOCATION,THE TRAFFIC SIGNAL AT THE 1600 OSGOOD STREET SOUTH DRIVEWAY SHOULD HELP TO PROVIDE SOME GAPS IN THE MAINLINE TRAFFIC THAT WILL ALLOW LEFT-TURNING VEHICLES TO EXIT FROM HOLT ROAD. LANGAN WILL COORDINATE WITH MASSDOT TO DETERMINE IF ANY IMPROVEMENTS SHOULD BE CONSIDERED AT THIS INTERSECTION. TECResponse: The Applicantshould continue to work with Mass DOTto determine what other mitigation options may be available at this location. Langan Response: Noted. Coordination with MassDOT is ongoing and Langan will inform the Board of the latest discussions with MassDOT. A AN Response to TEC Traffic Peer Review Comments MEMO Amazon Fulfillment Center North Andover,MA April 8,2020- Page 11 of 13 Comment No.20: TEC concurs that sight lines at the unsignalized driveway along the westerly side of Osgood Street meet minimum requirements as defined by AASHTO. LANGAN RESPONSE: NO RESPONSE REQUIRED. TEC Rey nonse:Comment Closed Comment No.21: The Applicant has indicated that a Road Safety Audit for the intersection of Industrial Avenue& Shelley Road/Ward Hill Ave in Haverhill is to be conducted in coordination with MassDOT based on its designation as a Highway Safety Improvement Program eligible intersection and a Top 200 crash location in the Commonwealth. Additional crash related materials, such as crash rate worksheets should be provided in the TIAS for review and to Masse as part of the Access Permit process. LANGAN RESPONSE: CRASH RATE WORKSHEETS FOR ALL THE INTERSECTIONS ANALYZED ARE INCLUDED IN THE REVISED TIAS AS PART OF OUR TRAFFIC STUDY ARE ATTACHED. A ROAD SAFETY AUDIT WAS CONDUCTED ON FEBRUARY S. 2020 AND IS APPENDED TO THE TIAS, TEC Rey go se:Comment Closed NEW COMMENTS: Comment No.22: Several unsignalized locations within the study area seem to show improved delay and levels- of-service with new traffic volumes added and no mitigation presented.This is generally not the case except with extremely low volume conditions. Please elaborate on these locations. Langan Response: Some unsignalized locations are expected to experience slightly improved levels-of-service and/or delays during the roadway peak-hours, because the existing trip generation of the on-site industrial uses during the roadway peak-hour is higher than the anticipated trip generation of the proposed Amazon facility for some of the movements during the existing roadway peak hour. This is the case for the enter volumes during the morning roadway peak-hour(net change of-37 trips)and for the exit volumes during the evening roadway peak-hour(net change of-59 trips). At the two unsignalized central site driveways for the existing office building, we anticipate that there will be less cross-traffic along the site frontage on Osgood Street as a result of the project. More specifically,we anticipate that the majority of the Amazon traffic coming from and going to the north will utilize the north driveway and traffic coming from the south will utilize the south driveway, resulting in less cross traffic LANGAN Response to TEC Traffic Peer Review Comments MEMO Amazon Fulfillment Center North Andover,MA April 8,2020- Page 12 of 13 between the driveways along Osgood Street. For this reason,the analyses indicate that traffic operating conditions at these two driveways will improve from the no-build to the build conditions for all periods evaluated. Comment No.23: The Applicant should discuss opportunities with the Town and MasSDOT to provide mitigation measures at several locations as added to the study area since the original review. Several locations as added show significant impact from the project's opening; including: Town of North Andover Jurisdiction: • Main Street/Waverly Road • Sutton Street/Chadwick Street/High Street MassDOT Jurisdiction(with Town side--street approaches): ■ Route 133/Osgood Street/Colgate Drive • Route 125/Bradford Street • Route 125/Farrwood Drive[Haverhill] • Route 125/Boston Road/Cross Road[Haverhilll Langan Response:As noted in the TIAS,while some degradation to level of service is anticipated to occur on the side street approaches at some of the un-signalized intersections,our analyses indicate that many of these side street approaches already operate at reduced LDS (E or F) and /or with extended queuing in the existing and no- build conditions. It should be noted that there are some limitations to the HCM analyses for unsignalized intersections and once volumes approach or exceed capacity the calculated delays start to increase almost exponentially,thus not providing a true analysis of the operations.It is unlikely that these side street approaches will operate at the values indicated for delay and queuing during the peak-hour periods. As noted in the revised TIAS,at some locations there are traffic signals located on the main line in proximity to these unsignalized intersections which will provide gaps in the mainline traffic and allow vehicles to exit from the side street approaches,which is not accounted for in the HCM analyses. Although 24-hour counts are not available for most of the unsignalized intersections included in this study,we believe that it is unlikely that the additional traffic volume associated with the proposed fulfillment center would cause the traffic volumes at these unsignalized intersections to exceed signal warrant thresholds outlined in the MUTCD.If signal warrants are met at any of the unsignalized intersections,it is likely that the warrants are already met in the existing and no-build conditions;therefore, no traffic signals are proposed to the unsignalized intersections at this time as a result of the proposed Amazon redevelopment. We will continue to work with MassDOT as they review our TIAS to determine the potential need to address the projects traffic impacts. LANGAN Response to TEC Traffic Peer Review Comments E M 0 Amazon Fulfillment Center North Andover,MA April 8,2020- Page 13 of 13 The former Lucent Technologies facility at the project site was estimated to employ approximately 12,000 to 13,000 people during its peak operation which is about six times more than the 2,142 employees used as the basis for the Amazon trip generation. while we are unable to quantify the exact traffic impacts of the former Lucent Technologies facility,it is likely that the traffic operating conditions at the time Lucent was open was more impactful than the anticipated traffic operations for the roadway network once Amazon opens for business. Comment No.24: s noted in Comment#18,the Town should consider conditioning the Applicant to conduct trafl:c monitoring of the site post-occupancy to prier comparison to the project site trip generation and site impact on the surrounding intersection.The Applicant and the Torn should discuss as part of this monitoring the threshold of increased impact which may rewire the Applicant to propose additional measures to mitigate the impacts of the development. Langan response. The applicant does not object to conducting traffic monitoring at the site driveways post-opening, to compare the anticipated trip generation and operating conditions of the proposed facility to actual post-opening trip generation and operating conditions at these four site driveways.We would recommend that the time frame for conducting this evaluation at the site driveways be within six months from the time that Amazon opens for full facility operations. We trust these responses adequately address your comments and concerns at this time. We would like to reiterate that coordination with MassDOT,who will ultimately accept the project's trip generation and proposed mitigation program, is ongoing. Tease feel free to contact us at 2 3 -57 1 with any questions or should you require additional information. \\Ianpan.com\data\ 1f\data7\3401 27 1\Project Data\correspondence\comment Response Letters\20 Q- C Follow w Up TrafficComments\TEC Traffic Freer Review#2 Response Memo-2 20- ,dec