This study has been conducted to assess the traffic impacts and evaluate the access and egress requirements for the proposed Village at the Park mixed-use development. The project site is to be located on the West Side of NC 55 and to the north of O’Kelly Chapel Road in Cary, North Carolina. This report identifies the impact of traffic generated by the proposed development and evaluates it with regard to capacity, safety, and roadway requirements. The following provides a brief summary of this study’s findings.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

The project proposal is a mixed-use development known as The Village at the Park. This project site is located to the north of the previously approved Cary Park PUD and proposes land-uses that will complement the live, shop, and work in the same neighborhood concept which land planners refer to as a "Multi-Use or Traditional Development." The proposed development would include approximately 1,021 residential units, 176,088 square-feet (S.F.) of retail space, 393,666 S.F. of office space, and a 150-room hotel.

Access for this future development will be provided via the existing roadways of Alston Avenue, NC 55, Wake Road, as well as by a proposed new roadway (Kit Creek Parkway) connector which will traverse the site and provide a connection from Alston Avenue to NC 55.

It should be noted that future regional access to the project will also be provided by the planned Western Wake Expressway, which is proposed to be constructed by the NCDOT in the immediate area of the site. It is planned to terminate at NC 55, but also provide a limited cross-section roadway through the nearby Panther Creek PUD. When constructed, and reasonable access obtained, this future Expressway would provide excellent regional access for traffic generated by the Village at the Park. For study purposes, the Western Wake Expressway has been assumed to be partially in place by the planning horizon of the project.

Existing conditions have been gathered for the following four intersections, which make up the project study area as directed by Town of Cary staff:

• Green Level to Durham Road at O’Kelly Chapel Road;
• O’Kelly Chapel Road at Alston Avenue;
• Alston Avenue at Wake Road; and
• NC 55 at Kitt Creek Parkway.

This study area is located within the Northwest Transportation Zone, which requires that peak-hour volumes utilize a 90-minute average peak in accordance with the Town’s APFR Ordinance 01-012. Traffic volume data within the study area has been obtained for the weekday AM (6:30 - 9:30 AM) and PM (3:30 - 6:30 PM) peak periods. From this data, peak-hour multipliers of .928 and .909 were developed for the AM and PM peaks, respectively, and have been utilized within this report as required by the ordinance.

To represent Future 2010 traffic volume conditions within the study area, the Existing traffic flow volumes were upwardly adjusted to account for normal traffic growth and any other currently approved projects within the study area.

Discussions with Town of Cary staff indicate that an annual growth rate of 5 percent per year is to be used for traffic on NC 55 and 10 percent per year for all other volumes. These growth rates were applied to the Existing peak-hour traffic volumes to estimate Future 2010 conditions without the proposed development. It should be noted that, in addition to the normal annual growth in traffic, traffic associated with the Cary Park development was included in the 2010 No-Build traffic volumes.

Within the defined study area, NC 55 is programmed to be widened from its current two-lane cross-section, to a four-lane divided facility by the NCDOT. This improvement is planned to be started by 2003/2004, and will extend from US 64 through the study area to I 40. Also included with this project is the re-alignment extension of O’Kelly Chapel Road between Green Level/Durham Road and NC 55. Additionally, the existing north approach of Alston Avenue at O’Kelly Chapel Road will be relocated opposite Green Level/Durham Road to form a four-legged intersection.

Another roadway planned project, is the Wake Expressway which is planned to end at NC 55 via a grade-separated interchange. South of NC 55, the Wake Expressway is expected to continue as a two-lane facility terminating at Panther Creek Parkway (proposed) via an at-grade intersection.

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

Based on this information, the proposed development can be expected to generate a total of 20,850 (two-way) vehicle trips on a weekday daily basis, of which a total of 1,349 trips (748 entering, 601 exiting) are expected during the weekday AM peak-hour. During the PM peak-hour, 2,082 trips (951 entering, 1,131 exiting) can be expected.

Traffic generated by the site will be primarily distributed to and from NC 55 and the Western Wake Expressway with lesser proportions to and from Alston Avenue/Green Level to Durham Road, and surrounding roadways.

In addition to this new roadway construction, the following roadways will be widened (along the project frontage) to provide a four-lane divided cross-section.

• Existing Kitt Creek Parkway;
• New/Re-aligned Wake Road; and
• Alston Avenue.

To provide access to the proposed development, a total of ten access driveways are proposed.

It should be noted that all above improvements/modifications are included under the 2010 Build condition.

The Northwest Transportation Zone requires a minimum Level-of-Service standard of a D based on the 90-minute average peak.

Under Existing conditions, traffic operations at all study area intersections are acceptable (LOS D or better) during both the weekday AM and PM peak hours.

Under 2010 No-Build conditions, all intersections are expected to continue to operate acceptably during the peak hours with the exception of the Green Level to Durham Road/Alston Avenue/O’Kelly Chapel Road intersection. These unacceptable traffic conditions arise from the anticipated annual growth in traffic in the area as well as the addition of the Cary Park traffic volumes.

With the addition of project related traffic, operations at all intersections will be degraded such that three of the study intersections will operate unacceptably. It should also be noted that two of the ten site driveway intersections also are projected to operate at LOS F during one or more peak hours due to the high volume of traffic anticipated on NC 55.

Recommended mitigation

The final phase of the analysis process is to identify mitigating measures, which may either minimize the impact of the project on the transportation system or tend to alleviate poor service levels not caused by the project. Measures considered necessary to mitigate roadway system deficiencies are discussed below as they relate to the impacts of the proposed project.

• Provides for "dual" northbound (NC 55) left-turn lanes;
• Provides for "dual" eastbound (Kitt Creek Parkway) right-turn lanes; and
• Re-phase/Re-time signal.

• Provides "dual" left-turn lanes on the eastbound (O’Kelly Chapel Road) approach; and
• Re-time signal.

• Place intersection under traffic signal control.

• No additional mitigation is recommended for this access point. Access is proposed as a right-in/right-out movement of drive. Poor service levels due to high volume of traffic on NC 55.

• Site Driveway #3 is expected to operate at LOS E during the AM peak-hour, and a LOS F during the PM peak. The proximity of this access to the Kitt Creek Parkway at NC 55 intersection, which is signalized, prohibits the potential of signalizing this site access. It is suggested that the possibility of restricting left-turns out of the site (eastbound left) be reviewed, which will significantly improve service levels.

As shown, with mitigation, the NC 55 at Kitt Creek Parkway and NC 55 at O’Kelly Chapel Road intersections are improved, but still operate unacceptably during one or more peak hours studied. In order to achieve acceptable levels, it is anticipated that NC 55 will need to be widened to provide three travel lanes in the each direction and O’Kelly Chapel Road will need to be widened to provide two travel lanes in each direction at some point in the future if planned development continues in the region.

Also, if this widening of NC 55 were to occur and/or the Western Wake Expressway were to be extended to US 64, the required number of separate turning lanes at specific intersections along NC 55 will most likely not be as drastic.

Site Driveway #10, which accesses Kitts Creek Parkway, is proposed as being signalized. This access is approximately 250-feet west of the signal at NC 55. This major access is anticipated to support dense office/commercial areas of the site. Because of this, the volume of site-generated traffic is anticipated to be significant, which if not signalized would result in poor service levels. It should be noted that if signalized, this access must be coordinated with the adjacent signal at NC 55.

An alternative to the signalization of this intersection would be to restrict movements at this site driveway and promote better internal circulation. With this, more traffic would most likely be directed toward the Alston Avenue/Kitt Creek Parkway intersection and may necessitate signalization.