HomeMy WebLinkAbout20190187 Allen Drive Apartments Plans (2) Mr. Mark Torpey May 16, 2019
Chair
City of Saratoga Springs
Planning Board
I have had the opportunity to review the responses from Creighton Manning and The Chazen Companies
to my comments on the proposed Allen Drive Workforce Housing Project. I am convinced that further
study is required and a long term solution for the whole Church St. corridor be implemented. I would
like to offer the following few points of interest.
During the public comment period at the last Planning Board meeting, Mr.Tim Tim Grande spoke briefly
about his traffic concerns as well. He addressed his concerns about mixing the commercial truck traffic
at his facility on Washington St. with the proposed Housing Project and thought it was not a good mix. I
also have this same concern regarding the Allen Dr./Sunnyside Gardens entrance. Sunnyside is a
working farm and such, generates a considerable amount of truck traffic as well. I had my book keeper
pull last years bill of ladings from shipments to see just how many we are receiving. Close to 300 trucks
made deliveries to Sunnyside during the year. All sizes, tractor trailers, straight jobs, UPS, Fedex, and
general support.There is quite a bit of commercial truck traffic utilizing this intersection already. But, no
mention of this in any of the studies provided. I believe this is a significant oversight and needs to be
addressed. As the Stewart's Main Plant and Pallette Stone continue to expand, I am seeing considerably
more heavy truck traffic passing through this intersection. There is absolutely no mention of this in any
of the studies provided.
I am providing a table that shows trip generation from data pulled from our POS system. We do not
have walk in customers, consequently, a transaction is someone driving in. As you can see, we do have
quite a few customers on a daily basis. An easy way to define away a problem is to shorten up the time
frame.That seems to be what is occurring with these traffic studies. The engineers are focusing on very
narrow time frames where there will be a minimal impact on the intersection.That may be the accepted
methodology for this type of analysis but I believe it falls short for this project. I believe you need a more
comprehensive analysis that deals with events during the whole day. It will be a completely different
scenario.
I reference Creighton Mannings letter dated May, 9, 2019. Mr. Mark Pyskadlo, NYSDOT, speaks briefly
about accidents at the current intersection. He acknowledges that accidents are occurring but they
have no bearing on design criteria. He blames the accidents on driver inattention. Common sense tells
you that as you add more and more cars to this intersection,you are probably going to have more
accidents. Mr. Pryskadlo also recommends further investigation. I believe the Planning Board has an
opportunity here to address this issue for the safety of all.
I reference Mr. Thomas Johnson of the Chazen Companies, letter dated April 30, 2019. His point 3 is
critical to understanding the issues regarding the intersection. He states very clearly that level of service
is an overriding concept in traffic analysis and design. Something that Creighton Manning seems to have
forgotten.
I would also like to draw your attention to a comparison of Church Street and Washington Street,just
one block over.There is a signalized intersection at Washington and Kirby Road. What parameters were
used to justify this signal? I also note that the in and out bound traffic on Washington Street are limited
to 30mph between West Ave. and Kirby Road. Once again, what parameters used to support this much
lower speed limit? My question is what is the difference between Church Street and Washington street.
I suspect that the Allen Drive complex is going to generate considerably more traffic that exists at Kirby
and Washington.
Finally, I would like to reference the letter dated April 18, 2019 from Creighton Manning. On page 3.
Their recommendation to mitigate all that is going on in the intersection is to place a STOP sign at the
end of the Sunnyside Gardens Driveway.That is insulting! The Planning Board has a real opportunity to
address the long term needs of Church Street.The City has designated this whole area for growth so
change is coming and it is imperative that we all work together to arrive at a safe and workable solution.
Thank you,
Ned Chapman
Sunnyside Gardens
y., s m Ol LIDI", LIDn N M M O 00 M O Ol Ul Ol ul Ol N N N
0 mr_i LID LID ul ul VD M M M N LIDN M N ,-1 ,-1N rl I.A
r-I
O LSD N rl N rl �..n N M Ln Cr00 N I� 0 0 O 00 M I_n LID 00 0
Z Ol Cr) N 00 O
+, m O r1 al 00 lD d' Cr r-1 m r1 LA N N NN
up
V Ol 00 ul O Ol IAr-1 0 O N Ol N N IIILIDO N N lD M M 00 00 00 N N N N up al
O N 1-n rl rl cr M M rl rl `-' rl M to N r1 N Ol N IA cr Ol N Ol 00 N N N up Ln
0- Ln N O LID Ln Ln LID m Ol O ir M Ln LID Ol N up 11- mLL) M ul O O 00 rl
N N Ni N T-1N N �n Ln T-1N N Ol NNM M %-1N %-1 M N
0 0
0.0W Wcn
z m m m lD rl m - O N O N O oo L l O O m m lD v) v) L l oo - Ol 00 lD 00 M
Q Md- Md- M m I_n M M N M M N d- M N N r1 O O N N r1 r1 N N -
J J
U U
%-1 d' %-1 d' d' M 0 Ll) u
l N 00 ll N O d- Lf) 1-f) l
l O N Ol D (31lm l
l D O d- 00 D Ol M 11
Li) d- I-f) N lD h Ol N lD lD 00 LC) Ol N ul d- N 00 Ln Lf) ul N M M Li) l0 Li) M M 00
C Ol LA - m N N N Ol 00 rl -1 N m m lD rl 00 lD 00 -1 0 0 LCD 00 0 00 00
O-1 M M O oNJ No No lD l-D Ov-i O lD Ol N up co Ol O
fu N rl O Ln N M O N M N O O Ol r-1 N oo I.A lD O M cr I.A cr M M N
N O M rl oo Ln Ol lD rl 00 M 00 O Ol O Ol I\ N O M lip rl l0 00 IA Cr Ol O kr) M `�
a Ln co 00 rl N rl rl rl N N LO IA O M r1 m N M (-NJ cr M r1 m M cr LA M N M N (-NJ
cn
M I_f') Ol NM 0 Lf) N N lD N 00 m 00 Lr) I.!')
Ol LnN M % lD lD 00 %-i %-i %-i00 %-iO N Ln LD LID %-Im Ol N 0
M rl %-1m lD N M ul M Ol cn
0 N 00 Ncn 00 `� ON1 al
N
J
,-I N M I..n LCD I', 00 Ol
0 N m Ln lD N 00 Ol 0 -1 N M I.11 up N 00 Ol 0 -i 1-
0 ,-I ,-I ,-I ,-I ,-I ,-I ,-I ,-I ,-I ,-IN N N N N N N N N N M M O
I—