The Enclosed Traf
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November 27, 2019 Ms. Betty Tustin The Traffic Group, Inc. 104 Kenwood Court Berlin, MD 21811 Dear Ms. Tustin: The enclosed Traffic Impact Study (TIS) review letter for the proposed Baywood Gardens (Tax Parcels 234-23.00-270.00 & 273.05) development has been completed under the responsible charge of a registered professional engineer whose firm is authorized to work in the State of Delaware. They have found the TIS to conform to DelDOT’s Development Coordination Manual and other accepted practices and procedures for such studies. DelDOT accepts this review letter and concurs with the recommendations. If you have any questions concerning this letter or the enclosed review letter, please contact me at (302) 760-2167. Sincerely, Troy Brestel Project Engineer TEB:km Enclosures cc with enclosures: Mr. Robert Tunnell, III, Tunnell Companies Ms. Constance C. Holland, Office of State Planning Coordination Ms. Janelle Cornwell, Sussex County Planning and Zoning Mr. Andrew Parker, McCormick Taylor, Inc. DelDOT Distribution DelDOT Distribution Brad Eaby, Deputy Attorney General Shanté Hastings, Director, Transportation Solutions (DOTS) Drew Boyce, Director, Planning Mark Luszcz, Deputy Director, DOTS Michael Simmons, Assistant Director, Project Development South, DOTS J. Marc Coté, Assistant Director, Development Coordination T. William Brockenbrough, Jr., County Coordinator, Development Coordination Peter Haag, Chief Traffic Engineer, Traffic, DOTS Alastair Probert, South District Engineer, South District Gemez Norwood, South District Public Works Manager, South District Susanne Laws, Sussex Subdivision Review Coordinator, Development Coordination David Dooley, Service Development Planner, Delaware Transit Corporation Mark Galipo, Traffic Engineer, Traffic, DOTS Anthony Aglio, Planning Supervisor, Statewide & Regional Planning John Andrescavage, Sussex County Subdivision Reviewer, Development Coordination Claudy Joinville, Project Engineer, Development Coordination November 25, 2019 Mr. Troy E. Brestel Project Engineer DelDOT Division of Planning P.O. Box 778 Dover, DE 19903 RE: Agreement No. 1773 Traffic Impact Study Services Task No. 1A Subtask 27A – Baywood Gardens Dear Mr. Brestel: McCormick Taylor has completed its review of the Traffic Impact Study (TIS) for Baywood Gardens residential development prepared by The Traffic Group, Inc dated June 20, 2019. The Traffic Group prepared the report in a manner generally consistent with DelDOT’s Development Coordination Manual. The TIS evaluates the impacts of the Baywood Gardens residential development, proposed to be located on the north side of Long Neck Road (Delaware Route 23 / Sussex Road 22), east of Delaware Route 24 in the Long Neck area of Sussex County, Delaware. The proposed development would consist of 353 low-rise multi-family homes. Two full-movement access points are proposed, one along Long Neck Road across from Bayshore Drive and the other on Greens Way. The development is planned be built in two phases, with construction anticpated to be complete in 2027. The subject land is located on an approximately 38-acre assemblage of parcels. The land is currently split zoned as C-1 (General Commercial) and B-1 (Neighborhood Business). The developer plans to rezone the property to HR‐RPC (High Density Residential, Residential Planned Community District). DelDOT currently has one capital project within the area of study. The SR 24 at SR 5 / SR 23 Intersection Improvements Project (State Contract No. T201200903) includes the intersections of Delaware Route 24 & Indian Mission Road / Long Neck Road and Delaware Route 24 & White Pine Drive and several commercial entrances along Delaware Route 24. The need for the project was identified, in part, through DelDOT’s Hazard Elimination Program (HEP). The proposed improvements associated with this project include various operational and safety improvements at and near these intersections, such as adding channelization islands at accesses, extending turn lanes, adding sidewalk, and adding bike lanes. Other proposed improvements include relocating the entrance of the Timber Acres community to align with Plaza Drive, and reconstructing both traffic signals. This project is currently in the design and right of way acquisition phase, with construction anticipated to begin in the spring of 2021. Following submission of the TIS, DelDOT further considered the impact of traffic from several other developments in the area that were not contemplated in the original scope of the TIS. Based on this, it was determined that an additional through lane in each direction is going to be needed along Delaware Route 24. As such, the developer should make an equitable share contribution towards the cost of the both the aforementioned SR 24 at SR 5 / SR 23 Intersection Improvements Project and the future widening of Delaware Route 24, as described below in Item No. 3. Based on our review, we have the following comments and recommendations: The following intersections exhibit level of service (LOS) deficiencies without the implementation of physical roadway and/or traffic control improvements: Existing Intersection Situations for which deficiencies occur Traffic Control Long Neck Rd and Unsignalized 2027 with development Saturday (Case 3) Bayshore Dr / Site Access Delaware Route 24 and Long Neck Rd / Indian Signalized 2027 with development Saturday (Case 3) Mission Rd Delaware Route 24 and 2027 without development weekday PM & Saturday (Case 2); Unsignalized White Pine Dr 2027 with development weekday PM & Saturday (Case 3) Delaware Route 24 and 2027 without development weekday PM & Saturday (Case 2); Unsignalized Greens Way 2027 with development weekday PM & Saturday (Case 3) Delaware Route 24 and 2027 without development weekday AM, PM & Saturday (Case 2); Unsignalized Banks Rd 2027 with development weekday AM, PM & Saturday (Case 3) 2018 Existing Saturday (Case 1); Delaware Route 24 and Unsignalized 2027 without development weekday PM & Saturday (Case 2); Holly Lake Rd 2027 with development weekday PM & Saturday (Case 3) Indian Mission Rd and E. Stonewater Creek Blvd / Unsignalized 2027 with development weekday AM & Saturday (Case 3) Surf Board Blvd Indian Mission Rd and 2027 without development weekday AM, PM & Saturday (Case 2); Unsignalized Cannon Rd 2027 with development weekday AM, PM & Saturday (Case 3) Indian Mission Rd and 2027 without development weekday AM, PM & Saturday (Case 2); Harmons Hill Rd / Phillips Unsignalized 2027 with development weekday AM, PM & Saturday (Case 3) Branch Rd Long Neck Road and Bayshore Drive / Site Access This unsignalized intersection experiences LOS deficiencies in the Saturday midday peak hour during 2027 with development (with the addition of the site driveway as the fourth leg of the intersection). The Saturday deficiencies are for the northbound Bayshore Drive (LOS F) and southbound site driveway (LOS E) approaches, with 95 th percentile queue lengths of approximately two vehicles (50 feet) southbound and four vehicles (100 feet) northbound. Because the deficiencies are only anticipated to occur during the summer Saturday peak hour, and the queue lengths are relatively short, no additional improvements are recommended at this intersection beyond those described below in Item No. 1. Baywood Gardens November 25, 2019 Page 2 Delaware Route 24 and Long Neck Road / Indian Mission Road This signalized intersection experiences LOS deficiencies in the Saturday midday peak hour during 2027 with development. To mitigate the delays and queues, the developer should contribute toward DelDOT’s SR 24 at SR 5 / SR 23 Intersection Improvements Project as described below in Item No. 3. Delaware Route 24 and White Pine Drive This unsignalized intersection experiences LOS deficiencies in the weekday PM and Saturday midday peak hours during the future scenarios without Baywood Gardens and with Baywood Gardens. The deficiencies are for the westbound White Pine Drive approach, which is anticipated to operate at LOS E during those peak hours, with 95 th percentile queue lengths of less than two vehicles (50 feet). This intersection is included in DelDOT’s SR 24 at SR 5 / SR 23 Intersection Improvements Project, with improvements to include a southbound left-turn lane on Delaware Route 24 at White Pine Drive and a two-way center-turn-lane on Delarware Route 24 south of White Pine Drive. The developer is recommended to contribute toward the DelDOT project as described below in Item No. 3, and will not be required to implement additional improvements beyond those which DelDOT has already evaluated and designed for this location. Delaware Route 24 and Greens Way This unsignalized intersection experiences LOS deficiencies in the weekday PM and Saturday midday peak hours during the future scenarios without Baywood Gardens and with Baywood Gardens. The deficiencies are for the westbound Greens Way approach, which is anticipated to operate at LOS E during the future PM peak hours and LOS F during the future Saturday peak hours, with 95 th percentile queue lengths of less than two vehicles (50 feet). The LOS F deficiencies are only anticipated to occur during the summer Saturday peak hour, the queue lengths are relatively short, and this intersection already has separate turn lanes on each approach. Therefore, no improvements are recommended at this intersection. Delaware Route 24 and Banks Road This unsignalized intersection experiences LOS deficiencies in the weekday AM, PM and Saturday midday peak hours during the future scenarios without