In Town Limits [X] Cary Planning Jurisdiction (ETJ) Only [ ] Annexation Pending [ ]

Staff Remarks:  The current Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance for Traffic Impacts requires traffic studies for rezoning requests that are not consistent with the Town’s Land Use Plan regardless if the development resulting from the rezoning would generate less traffic than it’s current zoning. The staff is recommending that the Town Council modify these criteria to alleviate the need for a traffic study for rezoning requests where the traffic generation is less than is anticipated under existing zoning. The Council will take action on this recommendation at the January 14, 2001 meeting. Should the Council accept the staff recommendation, the traffic impacts resulting from the rezoning would be evaluated at the site plan stage. Should the Council not accept the recommendation, the staff will need to work with the applicant to ensure the rezoning request complies with the Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance for Traffic Impacts, which will result in a delay of the rezoning.

For the Board’s general information, below are the results of the traffic study conducted for Gateway Centre.

This study has been conducted to assess the traffic impacts and evaluate the access and egress requirements for the proposed expansion of the Gateway Centre office complex, which is located on the north/west side of Aviation Parkway in Cary, North Carolina. The property subject to the rezoning request was included in the traffic study.

At the applicant’s request, the traffic study was conducted for the buildout of the Gateway Centre complex. The project is to finalize the Master Plan for the Gateway Centre office complex by constructing an additional 367,200 square foot (SF) of general office space and a 150-room hotel. As proposed, this expansion is anticipated to be constructed and fully operational in 2003. It should be noted that, upon direction from the applicant, the study assumed full buildout of the complex and did not break out the property subject to this rezoning for analysis or identification of impacts.

Existing conditions have been gathered for the following four intersections, which make up the project study:

• Aviation Parkway at I-40 Ramps (eastbound and westbound);
• Aviation Parkway at Gateway Centre Boulevard north; and
• Aviation Parkway at Gateway Centre Boulevard south.

At this time, one planned roadway improvement is approved within the study area. This improvement is part of the prior phase of development of the Gateway Centre development and requires that the Aviation Parkway at Gateway Centre Boulevard south intersection be placed under signal control and that the Gateway Centre Boulevard north drive be limited to right-in/right-out movements only.

For this project, the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) Trip Generation manual was used to estimate project trips generated by the proposed facility.

Based on this information, the proposed expansion can be expected to generate a total of 4,950 (two-way) vehicle trips on a weekday daily basis (2,475 entering, 2,475 exiting), of which a total of 626 trips (521 entering, 105 exiting) would occur during the weekday AM peak-hour. During the PM peak-hour, 592 trips (134 entering, 458 exiting) can be expected.

Traffic generated by the site will be primarily distributed to and from Aviation Parkway, and I-40.

Intersection analyses indicate that, under 2000 Existing Conditions, all study area intersections operate at acceptable service levels during both the weekday AM and PM peak hours with the exception of the two site access drives which operate poorly during the PM peak-hour (left-turns exiting the site). Under Build conditions, only the Aviation at I-40 westbound ramp intersection will operate acceptably, and all other study area intersections will operate poorly (LOS E or F).

Access to/from the office development will be provided via the two existing access driveways at Gateway Centre Boulevard north and south. These accesses are currently full movement unsignalized intersections; however, the prior approved expansion of the Gateway Centre complex was conditioned to limit the northerly access to right-in/right-out movements and to signalize the southerly access. These improvements will "in concept" provide applicable access to the development with some additional minor modifications. These access drives are proposed as follows:

Based on the volume of traffic entering the site from the north (I-40), a separate southbound right-turn lane entering the site is recommended. The storage length of this separate turn lane should be 200-feet or as long as can be practically developed without impacting the adjacent I-40 eastbound ramps.

With the traffic signal control at this intersection, and the limitation of left-turn movements at the northerly drive, all left-turn movements entering and exiting the site will occur at this intersection.

During the PM peak-hour, a heavy eastbound left-turn volume is expected (exiting the site heading back towards I-40). Because of this, dual left-turn lanes exiting the site are recommended. The storage length for each of these lanes should be 200 feet.

The dual left-turn lanes proposed at the southerly access will require two receiving lanes in the northbound direction of Aviation Parkway. In addition, the volume of through traffic on Aviation Parkway necessitates that this roadway be widened to provide two through-lanes in each direction between Gateway Centre Boulevard south and the 40 westbound ramps. Additionally, because of the heavy southbound left-turn volume at the Aviation Parkway at I 40 eastbound ramps intersection, two left-turn lanes entering I-40 should be provided. This would require that the I-40 ramps be widened to accommodate this traffic.

It should be noted that the widening of Aviation Parkway is planned in the Town’s Capital Improvement Program (CIP), and is proposed to be completed in 2005, two years after the proposed development schedule of the Gateway Centre Master Plan expansion.

With the recommended additional left-turn lane exiting the site, the provision of two operating lanes in each direction along Aviation Parkway, and the second southbound left-turn lane at the I-40 eastbound ramps, all study area intersections are expected to operate acceptably.

The property is located within a protected water supply watershed. [ ] YES [x] NO

The property is located within the Crabtree Lake watershed, which is not a protected watershed. Along the western and southern boundary of the property, there are 100 foot and 50 foot buffers, respectively.