TRANSPORTATION FACT SHEET 125 Lowell Street Redevelopment
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TRANSPORTATION FACT SHEET 125 Lowell Street Redevelopment Project Description PEDESTRIANS The proposed Project consists of the redevelopment of Primary pedestrian access to the residences will be an existing seven-story building and adjacent surface accessed via the sidewalk on Lowell Street or through the parking lot, located at 125 Lowell Street in the Spring Hill surface parking lot, via Belmont Street. neighborhood of Somerville. The existing building was VEHICLES previously occupied by the Somerville Hospital School of Nursing. The Project will repurpose the existing building Vehicular access to the surface parking lot will be on to include 20 condominium units and improve the parking Belmont Street. Loading and service activity will occur lot and landscaping. on-site within the surface parking lot and will include trash, recycling, deliveries, and residential move-in/ The surface parking lot will provide approximately 24 move-out. parking spaces and will continue to be accessed from Belmont Street. A site location plan is provided in Figure 1. BICYCLES The proposed Project will provide approximately 12 covered bicycle spaces for residential use within the CROWN ST HIGHLAND AVE surface parking lot. BRASTOW AVE Transit Oriented Development LOWELL ST SUMMER ST Transit-oriented development (TOD) is characterized by BELMONT ST being close to transit and other non-auto travel modes. The increasing cost of auto ownership, the aggressive SITE PORTER ST implementation by the City of on-street bicycle facilities (bike lanes, cycle tracks), and the rise in ride sharing services (uber/lyft) help create an environment where BENTON RD CRAIGIE ST residents can reduce their reliance of single occupant vehicle travel. As shown in Figure 3, the Project site is close to multiple Figure 1. Site Location transportation modes including public transit, bicycle share (BLUEbikes) stations, and car share (Zipcar) Site Access locations. The availability of these choices supports TOD The ground floor site plan for the proposed Project is principles, which results in lower parking demands and provided in Figure 2. fewer vehicle trips. PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION LOWELL ST The Project is provided with excellent public transportation service and is located in close proximity to several MBTA bus routes. The closest MBTA bus stop is an approximate RESIDENTIAL ENTRANCE 3-minute walk on Highland Avenue, with connections to bus routes 88 and 90. The MBTA bus routes 83 and 87 run along Somerville Avenue (approximately 6-minute walk) PARKING LOT with connections to MBTA’s Red Line Porter Station and (24 SPACES) MBTA’s Green Line Lechmere Station, respectively. The MBTA bus route 85 is an approximate 7-minute walk and runs along Summer Street with destination to the MBTA’s Red Line Kendall/MIT Station. BICYCLE AND CAR SHARE BELMONT ST Multiple BLUEbikes and Zipcar locations are provided Figure 2. Proposed Ground Floor Plan within a ¼ mile walk from the Project site, as shown in Figure 3. July 2018 TRANSPORTATION FACT SHEET 125 Lowell Street Redevelopment July 2018 PARKING Vehicle Land Use Time Period/Direction Per Section 3.1. of the 2018 Somerville Zoning Code, the Trips Project adheres to the Neighborhood Residential (NR) District requirements. Per Section 3.1.16. of the Code, In 125 parking requirements in the NR district is based on the Daily Out 125 distance to public transit services. Based on the Transit Total 250 Area Map, the Project walkshed is within a half-mile to School of Nursing public transit, resulting in no parking requirements. In 19 based on 30,120 sf a.m. Peak Hour Out 5 However, the Project will provide 24 off-street parking spaces for the proposed 20 residential units. The resulting Total 24 parking ratio will be approximately 1.20 spaces per unit.. In 12 p.m. Peak Hour Out 12 Trip Generation Total 24 TRAVEL MODE SHARE Table 1. Recent Use – Vehicle Trip Generation A travel mode share is the percentage of travelers using a particular type of transportation. As previously noted, the Vehicle Project site is conveniently located in proximity to multiple Land Use Time Period/Direction modes of transportation including public transit, BLUEbikes Trips stations, and Zipcar locations. As is standard practice, In 22 specific neighborhood mode shares are used to estimate the number of new vehicle trips, transit trips, and walk/bicycle Daily Out 22 trips generated by the Project. According to the U.S. Census Total 44 Bureau, 2012-2016 American Community Survey, the In 0 travel mode shares for Spring Hill are 49 percent vehicle, 26 Residential a.m. Peak Hour Out 2 percent transit, and 25 percent walk/bike/other. This data based on 20 units indicates that 51 percent of the time, Spring Hill residents Total 2 travel to their destinations without the use of a car. In 2 p.m. Peak Hour Out 1 RECENT USE Total 3 When assessing a site such as 125 Lowell Street, with active or recently active uses, it is standard practice to Table 2. Proposed Project – Vehicle Trip Generation estimate the number of existing trips and compare to the projected trips. Trip generation based on the Institute of Summary Transportation Engineers (ITE) Trip Generation Manual, The proposed Project is not expected to generate a 10th Edition, was applied to the recent uses. The trips substantial number of new vehicle trips due to the relatively generated by the existing Somerville School of Nursing small size of the Project and the transit-oriented nature of property were estimated using Land Use Code (LUC): the development, which will exhibit high transit and walk/ • LUC 540 (Junior/Community College) – based on bike mode shares. Therefore, the Project will have little 30,120 sf impact on the surrounding transportation infrastructure. Table 1 shows the vehicle trip generation for the recent While the traffic impacts related with the new trips will be uses at the site. minimal, the Proponent will continue to work with the City of Somerville to create a Project that efficiently serves the PROPOSED PROJECT limited number of vehicle trips, improves the pedestrian The trips generated by the proposed Project were based environment, and encourages transit and bicycle use. To on the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) Trip encourage the use of non-vehicular modes of travel, the Generation Manual, 10th Edition, using the following LUC: Proponent will promote the site’s excellent access to transit and bicycle facilities through marketing materials. • LUC 221 (Multifamily Housing Mid-Rise (3-10 floors)) – based on 20 units, Table 2 shows the vehicle trip generation for the proposed Project. TRANSPORTATION FACT SHEET 125 Lowell Street Reedevelopment July 2018 Figure 3. Alternatives Modes of Transportation MAIN ST 101 89 DAVIS MEDFORD ST SQUARE 87 STATION 96 89 77 BROAD 101 83 WA 77 80 Y MASSACHUSETTS 7-MIN WALK 83 88 90 96 ELM ST BEECH ST AVE SUMMER ST HIGHLAND 90 SITE PEARL 77 AV ST Y E L ST PORTER 96 85 SQUARE STATION AVON ST ST L CENTRA 90 MCGRATH HW 80 MBTA Red Line 85 SCHOO 83 87 MBTA Bus Route SOMERVILLE MBTA Commuter Rail - Fitchburg Line AV E 80 Zipcar Location 85 88 Bluebikes Location Not to 85 scale. 83 87 HOWARD STEIN HUDSON.