HomeMy WebLinkAbout20250907 75 Clinton St Area Variance Draft Traffic AssessmentBROADWAY, VAN DAM STREET, AND
CHURCH STREET
CITY OF SARATOGA SPRINGS, SARATOGA COUNTY
DRAFT
TRAFFIC ASSESSMENT
February 27, 2025
M) Project #778.02
PREPARED FOR:
City of Saratoga Springs
474 Broadway
Saratoga Springs, NY
12866-2207
PREPARED BY:
Engineering
Architecture
1 Landscape Architecture
and Land Surveying, P.C.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1.0 INTRODUCTION............................................................................................ 1
2.0 EXISTING CONDITIONS................................................................................ 3
2.1
Roadway Characteristics.............................................................................................. 3
2.2
West Side Historic District..........................................................................................13
2.3
Zoning and Land Use.................................................................................................13
2.4
Traffic Analysis..........................................................................................................14
2.5
Existing Traffic Volumes.............................................................................................15
2.6
Vehicular Crash History..............................................................................................15
2.7
Vehicle Speeds..........................................................................................................19
3.0 CAPACITY ANALYSIS................................................................................... 20
3.1
2024 Existing Conditions............................................................................................21
3.2
2035 Future Conditions..............................................................................................23
4.0
CITY, STATE, AND FEDERAL ORDINANCES ..................................................
25
4.1
City Ordinances.........................................................................................................25
4.2
State Law.................................................................................................................25
4.3
Federal Law..............................................................................................................25
5.0
COORDINATION..........................................................................................
26
5.1
Public Coordination....................................................................................................26
5.2
Industry, School, and Agency Coordination...................................................................26
6.0
ISSUES IDENTIFIED....................................................................................
26
6.1
Roadway Geometry...................................................................................................26
6.2
Heavy Vehicle Traffic.................................................................................................26
6.3
Crash History............................................................................................................27
6.4
Capacity Analysis......................................................................................................28
6.5
City Ordinances.........................................................................................................28
7.0
CONCEPTUAL IMPROVEMENTS....................................................................
29
7.1
Draft Concept A - Restrict Portions of Van Dam Street to One -Way Traffic ........................29
7.2
Draft Concept B - Restrict all of Van Dam Street to One -Way Traffic - Eastbound or
Westbound...............................................................................................................29
7.3
Draft Concept C - Enhanced Pedestrian Safety and Traffic Calming..................................30
8.0
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS...................................................
31
8.1
Conclusions..............................................................................................................31
8.2
Long Term Recommendation.......................................................................................31
8.3
Short Term Recommendations....................................................................................32
N1J778.02
2.0 EXISTING CONDITIONS
The study area requires a thorough understanding of the existing transportation conditions including
roadway geometry, traffic control, daily and peak hour traffic flow, and multimodal accommodations.
Each of these elements are described in detail below.
The transportation network within the study area is comprised of three main corridors, Van Dam Street,
Church Street, and Broadway. These roadways provide direct access to residential and commercial land
uses and serve as travel corridors for commuter and commercial through traffic.
2.1 ROADWAY CHARACTERISTICS
Descriptions of the study area roadways and intersections are included below. Table 1 summarizes the
functional classification, roadway cross-section, posted speed limit, Average Annual Daily Traffic (AADT)
volume for the study area roadways and AADT for tractor trailers. The AADT data included in Table 1
is based on 24-hour traffic volume data obtained using Automatic Traffic Recorders (ATR's).
Table 1
ROADWAY CLASSIFICATION CHARACTERISTICS
Urban
Heavy
Heavy
Tractor
Tractor
Location
Functional
Cross-section
Posted
AADT
Vehicle
Vehicle
Trailer
Trailer
Class
Speed
AADT
oyo
AADT
oyo
Van Dam
Local
2, 11-12 ft lanes
30 mph
9,583
731
7.6%
187
2.0%
Street
Church
Minor
2, 11-12 ft lanes
30 mph
5,830
329
5.6%
65
1.1%
Street
Arterial
Principal
Broadway
4, 11-12 ft lanes
30 mph
9,908
372
3.8%
68
0.7%
Arterial
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) developed a standardized vehicle classification to
determine the different classifications of vehicles that are on the road. There are currently 13 different
classifications of vehicles defined by the FHWA. (See Figure 2).
NYSDOT considers classifications 4 through 13 as heavy vehicles. For the purposes of this report, we
will also include a tractor trailer designation, defined as classifications 8 through 13. Buses and single
unit trucks (classifications 4 through 7) are not part of the classification of tractor trailers but are
included in the heavy vehicle designation.
MJ778.02
Class I Class 7
Motorcycles } Four or more `r
Class
axle, single unit Passenger cars
Class 8
Four or less axle,
single trailer
Class 3
Four tire,
single unit Class 9
5-Axle tractor
semitrailer
Class 4 � Class 10
Buses _
_—_ Six
r more axle.
single trailer
Class I 1
Fire or less axle,
I
mulct trailer
Class 5 Class 12
Two axle, six Six axle, multi -
tire, single unit trailer
i
Class 13
Seven or
more
axle, multi -trailer
Class 6
Three axle,
single unit ww wow
Figure 2 — FHWA Vehicle Classification
MJ778.02 4