MEMORANDUM TO: FROM : Jeff Pickus Construction Realty Co. Luay R. Aboona, PE Principal 9575 West Higgins Road, Suite 400 Rosemont, Illinois 60018 p: 847-518-9990 f: 847-518-9987 DATE: May 22, 2014 SUBJECT: Traffic Evaluation Summary 200 Green Bay Road Highwood, Illinois This memorandum summarizes the results of a traffic evaluation summary conducted by Kenig, Lindgren, O Hara, Aboona, Inc. (KLOA, Inc.) for the proposed mixed-use development to be located at 200 Green Bay Road in Highwood, Illinois. The site, which is currently occupied by a vacant building, occupies the northwest corner of the intersection of Green Bay Road and Prairie Avenue (see Figure 1). The plans call for a mixed-use development with a 4,618 square-foot restaurant, a 3,620 square-foot office, and one apartment unit. Parking will be provided at a surface parking lot to be developed at a vacant lot at 222 Morgan Place. The purpose of this evaluation was to review existing conditions, determine trip generation estimates and assess the parking needs of the proposed development. Existing Conditions As indicated earlier, the site occupies the northwest quadrant of the intersection of Green Bay Road and Prairie Avenue. The intersection is unsignalized with the Prairie Avenue s west approach, which is provided with two exiting lanes, under stop sign control. The north approach of Green Bay Road is also under stop sign control. Both Green Bay Road and Prairie Avenue have one lane in each direction. On-street parking on Prairie Avenue along site frontage is not permitted while parking on Green Bay Road is permitted and restricted to two hours from 7:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. The site currently has multiple curb cuts with three on Prairie Avenue with the middle one approximately 60 feet wide and one curb cut on Green Bay Road. The site on the south side of Prairie Avenue which contains School of Rock Music is provided with two access drives. Other streets in the area include Morgan Place which is a narrow two-way street that is under stop sign control at its intersection with Prairie Avenue and terminates at its uncontrolled T intersection to the north at Mears Place. Mears Place is also a narrow east-west street that extends between Green Bay Road and Everts Place which is a one-way southbound street. Based on Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) data map, Green Bay Road carries an Average Daily Traffic (ADT) of 15,100 vehicles while Prairie Avenue carries an ADT of 7,000 vehicles. KLOA, Inc. Transportation and Parking Planning Consultants
HIGHWOOD AVE SITE PRAIRIE AVE Aerial View of Site Location Figure 1 2
Development Trip Generation Estimates As indicated earlier, for the site located at 200 Green Bay Road the plans call for a mixed-use development with a 4,618 square-foot restaurant, a 3,620 square-foot office, and one apartment unit. The restaurant will be primarily open during weekday evenings and on weekends while the office will generate the majority of its trips during the weekday morning and evening peak hours. The amount of traffic that will be generated by the one apartment unit will be negligible. It should be noted that, due to the proximity of the site to the train station, it is anticipated that the number of auto trips that the office uses will be reduced. In order to estimate the amount of traffic the proposed development would generate, trip rates published by the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) in its 9 th Edition of the Trip Generation Manual were utilized. Table 1 summarizes the amount of traffic that will be generated during the weekday morning and evening peak periods and during Saturday s evening peak period. Table 1 ESTIMATED SITE-GENERATED TRAFFIC VOLUMES A.M. ITE Land-Use Code Proposed Land Use Size (square feet) P.M. Saturday P.M. In Out In Out In Out Daily Two-Way Traffic 931 Restaurant 4,618 0 0 23 12 29 21 410 710 Office 3,620 5 1 1 5 0 0 34 5 1 21 17 29 21 444 As can be seen, the proposed development will not generate a significant amount of traffic and, as such, will not be detrimental to the traffic flow or operations in the area. When compared to the daily traffic on Green Bay Road with Prairie Avenue (combined total of 22,100), the additional traffic will result in an increase of less than two percent which is insignificant and will not be perceived by the drivers in the area. 3
Parking Requirements As part of the proposed development, a new parking lot with 28 compliant spaces and 2 handicapped spaces will be constructed at 222 Morgan Place. The parking lot will serve the development as self-parking during the day and by valet during the weekday evenings and weekends. The capacity of the parking lot can be increased if necessary with tandem parking. The parking lot will have two one-way access drives on Morgan Place to accommodate the oneway circulation. It is recommended that the circulation be reversed to a clockwise direction to allow cars to enter at the southern drive and exit at the northern drive. This will eliminate the conflicts of traffic, particularly for the valet service, which will bring the vehicles from the south on Morgan Place and return them by exiting north onto Morgan Place to Mears Place to Green Bay Road to Prairie Avenue. It is also recommended, due to the narrow pavement width of Morgan Place, that the street be restricted to one-way traffic in the northbound direction between Green Bay Road and Mears Place. A stop sign should also be provided on Morgan Place at its approach to Mears Place. Valet Service In order to address the additional parking needs of the proposed development particularly on weekends when the restaurant will experience its peak demand, a valet service is proposed on Prairie Avenue. The valet will utilize the existing 60-foot curb cut which will provide an area for approximately three vehicles to load and unload. The eastern curb cut on Prairie Avenue and the curb cut on Green Bay Road will be eliminated. The westerly curb cut will be maintained. The valet service will utilize the parking lot at 222 Morgan Place and will travel to and from the lot in a clockwise direction traveling on Prairie Avenue, Morgan Place, Mears Place, Green Bay Road and back to Prairie Avenue. The travel path will only require right-turning movements which will minimize the impact on area traffic and pedestrians. The valet service should have an adequate number of runners to ensure that cars are not parking in the loading zone for an extended period of time. For customer traffic approaching from the west on Prairie Avenue, they should not be permitted to make a U-turn to use the valet service. Instead, they should be directed to the lot directly or to turn around and approach the site from the east. 4
Conclusion In conclusion, the proposed mixed-use development will not have a detrimental impact on area roadways for the following reasons: - The amount of traffic that well be generated will be low and will not increase traffic on area roadways significantly. - The proposed restaurant will generate its highest traffic in the evenings on weekdays and on weekends when traffic on the area roadways is low. - The proposed development will eliminate three out of the four curb cuts thus reducing conflicts with traffic and pedestrian movements. - The provision of a remote parking lot will ensure that adequate parking is provided to serve the employees and customers of the proposed development. - The provision of a valet service and a loading zone will ensure that customer traffic is adequately served. An adequate number of runners should be provided to adequately accommodate the peak parking needs of the restaurant. - It is recommended that Morgan Place be converted to allow one-way northbound traffic only between Prairie Avenue and Mears Place. A stop sigh should be installed at Morgan Place s approach to Mears Place. - It is recommended that the one-way circulation of the remote parking lot be reversed to clockwise. 14-109 Pickus Traffic Evaluation Survey for a Mixed Use Development in Highwood May 22 2014 5