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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSDP202100030 Correspondence 2022-04-18 (2)Additional information for 4260 Ivy Road Design Waiver Request This proposed Design Waiver Request is for relief of a left turn lane requirement for the existing entrance into the site. Site Conditions: This project is an expansion of the existing service station building on a property owned by SR&DR LLC. The current use of the building is a service station and gas station. This existing gas/service station is located on Ivy Road in a small corridor where other businesses are located. This is a unique section along Ivy Road in that the posted speed limit drops from 45 mph to 35 mph in this corridor. Traveling in the eastward direction the speed limit increases to 45 mph about 300' after the site. The existing Scott's Ivy Exxon Auto Service station has (2) gas pumps and (3) service bays. The proposed expansion is for an increase in the service bays from the (3) existing bays to (7) bays. No changes or modifications are proposed to the number of gas pumps for the service station. The proposed increase in service bays is a modification to the auto service business to increase the efficiency of the auto service station, but it will not increase the number of gas pumps or increase the number of auto service mechanics and technicians. Currently, when a car is serviced at the station, the technician will run a diagnostic on a car to determine the issues with the car and the cost of the proposed services. In many circumstances, determining the issues with a car requires the technician to take apart certain aspects of the car or car engine. Once the technician figures out the problems, they will contact the owner to discuss the next steps and how to fix the car. Resolution or authorization to move forward on the services sometimes takes several hours from the owners of the vehicle. Under the current scenario, the technician has put the car back together and move it out of the service bay to work on another vehicle while they wait for approval or authorization to move forward with the service repairs. This creates a loss in productivity for the service station. The (4) additional bays will allow the technicians to perform the diagnostics on a car and then move on to another car in an adjacent service bay while they wait for approval or authorization to continue with the service repairs, without having to stop, put the car back together, and remove it from its service bay. The increase in efficiency will allow the Ivy Exxon station to provide better overall service for its customers. Also, it is projected that the increase in efficiency will allow the auto shop to increase the number of cars that it can work on in a day by approximately 70%. The average number of cars that the Ivy Exxon services each day is approximately 8 cars, and it is projected that this will increase to about 13 cars a day. As shown on the attached exhibits, a left turn lane is warranted for this site as is in the existing condition. The attached exhibits show how long a left turn lane would need to be and how the road would need to change to accommodate the turn lane and its components. Justification Against a Left Turn Lane: Sheet 1 in the attached exhibits shows several reasons why the left turn lane would not be feasible for this area. The storage length alone, at 150', requires the road pavement width to be 40'. There is only 38' of available width from top of bank to top of bank for a roadway expansion because of the bridge over Little Ivy Creek (not including any necessary rooms for shoulders and relocation of the guardrails.) This storage area also blocks access for the proposed one way exit out of the site and the existing full access entrance for the commercial property across the street. The turn lane taper blocks full access entrances for the existing commercial business across the street and on the adjacent parcel. The approach taper blocks the Ivy Depot Road intersection as well as runs into the portion of Ivy Road that goes underneath a railroad bridge. The road going under the railroad bridge cannot be widened. The 75' minimum width of the 3 lanes required after the intersection as well as the departure taper run along the portion of Ivy Road that crosses Little Ivy Creek make the installation of the left turn lane impractical. This bridge was redesigned recently by VDOT. The width between guardrails is 35'. The width required to install this left turn lane and taper back down to two lanes is 40'. There is simply not enough pavement width to accomplish installing the left turn lane. It should also be noted that this corridor along Ivy Road has a lower posted speed limit than the rest of Ivy Road to allow for slower traffic that is entering and exiting the few businesses along this stretch of road. As shown in the aerial exhibits dating back to 2002 and up to 2018, the existing gas/service station has never had a left turn lane and as the expansion does not increase the estimated daily trips to and from the gas/service station, and a turn lane still does not make sense. To widen the road and impact the business frontages along Ivy Road in order to install the turn lane as well as widen the bridge over Little Ivy Creek the cost would be well over $2.2 million, which is not feasible for the owner of the existing business. Crash data for past 3 years: Below is a summary of the crash data for the past 3 years along Ivy road from the Ivy Exxon gas station to Ivy Depot Road (next intersection west of the property). 2019 — 3 crashes total in 2019 (see attached 2019 crash data map) 1. Crash in front of the Ivy Exxon Gas station — included 1 injury, speed related 2. Crash just east of the intersection of Ivy Depot Road and Ivy Road —property damage only, no injuries 3. Crash west of the intersection of Ivy Depot Road and Ivy Road —property damage only, no injuries, speed related 2020 — 2 crashes total in 2020 (see attached 2020 crash data map) 1. Crash just west of the Exxon gas station — property damage only, no injuries. Speed related accident 2. Crash at the intersection of Ivy Depot Road and Ivy Road —included 1 injury. 2021— 3 crashes total in 2021 (see attached 2021 crash data map) 1. Crash at the intersection of Ivy Depot Road and Ivy Road —included 2 injuries 2. Crash just west of the intersection of Ivy Depot Road and Ivy Road —included 1 injury. 3. Crash west of the intersection of Ivy Depot Road and Ivy Road —property damage only, no injuries. 2022 — no crashes yet this year reported in this area Itemized cost estimate: Below is a summary of the itemized costs associated with installing left turn lane along Ivy Road to serve the Existing site: 1. Expansion of the existing Box Culvert east of the site — In 2018, VDOT replaced the existing bridge over Little Ivy Creek with a box culvert, as shown on the plan sheet 1. The cost of the replacement, including R/w acquisition and installation was $3 million dollars. Attached is the information on this replacement. The crossing, when installed, did not contemplate the inclusion of a left turn for the existing commercial properties and the length of the crossing did not provide enough room and pavement width for a left turn lane. The cost to expand this culvert for the left turn lane is approximately $2 million dollars. 2. Expansion of the existing railroad crossing west of the site & Ivy Depot Road — in order to meet design standards for a left turn lane for the Ivy Exxon Gas station, it would need to extend to the intersection of Ivy Depot Road (due to the proximity of the site to the intersection, and the transition of the turn lane would extend west of the intersection. There is a bridge abutment just west of the intersection preventing the widening of Ivy Road for a left turn lane, see plan sheet 1. The cost to replace this railroad crossing and expand the opening is over $10 million dollars, making the expansion of this portion of the road impractical. 3. Cost of the pavement widening and roadway expansion for the left turn lane in this area is approximately $200,000. Overall, the cost to improve Ivy road to add a left turn lane for the site is $2.2 million dollars, not including the cost of the bridge improvements, which is over $10m. The addition of a left turn lane to service the existing gas station is impractical. It is especially impractical since the gas station is not increasing the number of pumps but only increasing the average number of cars serviced at the station by 5 cars a day. Mitigation : The proposed design for the improvements to the Ivy Exxon gas station is already drastically improves the safe and convenient access to the site. The current conditions of the Ivy Exxon site allow traffic to enter and exit the site across the entire frontage of the property. With this free access of turning movements, it creates a number of potential conflict points across the frontage of the property and increases the chances for potential accidents. The proposed site plan improvements include a planting strip along the front of the property, limiting the access points to (1) entrance and (2) exit points on the property as shown on the attached site plan. This proposed improvement reduces the conflict points and limits the left turn access to (1) location, and mitigates the necessity of a left turn lane into the site. Figure 1: Existing conditions in front of the Ivy Exxon Gas Station k Figure 1: Existing VDOT installed box culvert Y� Conclusion: To summarize, the gas station expansion is only anticipated to increase the projected traffic to the site by 5 cars a day. The access to the site will be improved with the site improvements to limit the current free access across the frontage of the site to (1) entrance and (2) exit locations. Existing conditions (existing culvert east of the site and Ivy Depot intersection with Railroad bridge abutments west of the site) make the installation of a left turn lane impractical and infeasible for this site, due to costs. In addition, it is impractical for the business to take on the expense of a left turn lane for this stretch of roadway to increase productivity of the service station that will only increase traffic by 5 cars a day. Based on the existing traffic crash data and proposed mitigation, the site improvements will make the access to the gas station safer in this area, helping to increase the safety of this portion of the corridor. 2019 Albemarle County All Crashes Duner's Primary Street -- Fine Dining • $S$ Intersecting Street -- ® V Depot Rd Ivy Depot Rd Ne,J es L, Ivy Corner Garden \ Center Gift Shop �• Garden center qa United States® �a Postal Service o� xQ O Ck qp ;I A er Legend �j Less than 10 crashes 10 - 99 crashes <�J 100 - 999 crashes `•F 1000 and more crashes Crash Legend • Fatal O Injury O Property Damage r i L J ii The Wine & \\ Country Shop Exxon 25( Disclaimer: The crashes displayed on the map are only those which have validated GPS information. Google RMap data ©2022 2020 All Crashes IVY RD Corner Garden inter Gift Shop Q Garden center United States Postal Service Albemarle County Intersecting Street -- 1P C 1 A erLegend �j Less than 10 crashes 10 - 99 crashes <�J 100 - 999 crashes `•J 1000 and more crashes Crash Legend • Fatal O Injury O Property Damage The Wine & Couunntry Shop • r i ii Ex Disclaimer: The crashes displayed on the map are only those which have validated GPS information. Google RMap data ©2022 2021 l Albemarle County All Crashes IVY RD Intersecting Street -- �� �F] C '1 A er Legend j Less than 10 crashes 10 - 99 crashes <�J 100 - 999 crashes `•F 1000 and more crashes Crash Legend • Fatal O Injury O Property Damage r i L J er Garden Gift Shop Q • � arden center A n • `Qa•\ The Wine & Country Shop Wiled States ® yQ Exxon Istal Service O \ 8 AN 4% f _"-� T Disclaimer: The crashes displayed on the map are only those which have validated GPS information. Googlett34ee RMap data ©2022 Comments can be submitted orally or in writing at the public hearing; by mail to Howard Tomlinson, Project Manager, 1601 Orange Road, Culpeper, VA 22701; or by email to Howard.Tomlinson@VDOT.Virginia.gov. Comments must be postmarked, emailed or delivered to VDOT by January 20, 2017 in order to be included in the public hearing record. After the public comment period closes, VDOT will review and evaluate any information received as a result of this hearing. This information, for review at the VDOT Culpeper District office. After all comments have been addressed, the information received as a result of the hearing will be presented to VDOT's Chief Engineer or designee for consideration. If approval of the major design features is received for this project, it will move forward to the final design phase. Public hearing participants will be notified of this decision by letter. More information on this project can be found at http://vjww.virginiadot.org/projects/culpeper/ route2501 ittleivy.asp. including the hearing summary, will be available Contact Information Primary Contact: Culpeper District Howard Tomlinson Location and ulp Orange Road C Project Manager Design Culpeper, VA 22701 IIIIIIII Scott Strickland Culpeper District 9M 1601Regional Right of Way & Right of Way ulp Orange Road C Utilities Manager and Utilities Culpeper, VA 22701 540-829-7436 Howard.Tomlinson0 800-367-7623 VDOTVirginia.gov 3=92"06 91 Scott.Strickland0 800-367-7623 VDOTVirginia.gov Reginald Moseley Culpeper District 1601 Orange Road 540-829-7391 9 Y 9 Reginald.Moseley0 Civil Rights Manager Office of Culpeper, VA 22701 800-367-7623 9 g Civil Rights VDOTVirginia.gov Stacy Londrey Culpeper District 1601 Orange Road Communications Manager Office of Culpeper, VA 22701 Communications VOOTVirginia Department of Transportation 540-727-3201 Stacy.Londrey@ 800-367-7623 VDOT.Virginia.gov ® 2017 Commonwealth of Virginia XVDOTVirginia Department of Transportation Public Meeting Welcome to the Virginia Department of Transportation's (VDOT) design public hearing on the proposed project to replace the Route 250 (Ivy Road) bridge over Little Ivy Creek in Albemarle County. This public hearing is being held to provide an opportunity for any person, acting or his/her own behalf or representing a group or governing agency, to give the department comments and/or suggestions on the proposed project. Existing condition of the Little Ivy Creek bridge. DESIGN PUBLIC HEARING Route 250 (Ivy Road) Replacement of Bridge over Little Ivy Creek Tuesday, January 10, 2017, 5-7 p.m. Mount Calvary Baptist Church 3045 Morgantown Road Charlottesville, VA 22903 VDOT strives to ensure that all members of the community have the opportunity to participate in public decisions on transportation projects and programs affecting them. VDOT representatives are present to discuss the project and answer your questions. A comment sheet is included in the handouts for this meeting, and your input is encouraged. All oral and written comments received on this project will be included in a transcript for review by VDOT personnel, citizens and other interested parties. Anticipated Cost — $3 million Purpose — Replace the existing substandard bridge Location — 0.25 mile west of Route 637 (Dick Woods Road) Improvements — Remove structurally deficient bridge and replace with a four -cell box culvert State Project - 0250-002-838,P101,B647 Federal Project - BR-5104093) UPC -98804 Anticipated Schedule VDOT proposes to replace the existing substandard Route 250 (Ivy Road) bridge over Little Ivy Creek in Albemarle County. The bridge, which was built in 1936 and carries approximately 11,500 vehicles daily, will be replaced with a four -cell box culvert. The box culvert will be installed in four sections. This proposed culvert design will allow for a much shorter construction period than replacing the aged bridge in kind. VDOT is presenting two construction alternatives with respective schedules and traffic impacts for public input: Alternative A: The first alternative proposes to expedite construction by closing Route 250 at Little Ivy Creek in both directions for two weeks with a detour in place. Eastbound motorists would be directed to Interstate 64 and use exit 118 to Route 29 (Monacan Trail) north, which carries traffic back to Route 250. Westbound motorists would reverse the detour and use exit 107 to Route 250 to navigate around the closure. The detour from one end of the bridge to the other is about 24 miles. Local traffic may use alternative secondary routes to navigate around the closure. Alternative B: The second alternative involves a phased approach to construction. The bridge would be reduced to one 250 lane and two-way traffic would be controlled by temporary traffic signals for at least three months. A significant disruption to traffic flow, especially during rush hour, is expected with this alternative. Construction is scheduled to begin in summer 2018. The public will be notified about traffic impacts and changes through media reports, social media posts and 511, as well as coordination with Albemarle County and other stakeholder groups. The design of this project is in compliance with the Stormwater Management Act, stormwater regulations and the annual stormwater management standards and specifications approved by the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation. The construction of this project will conform to the nationwide best management practices, VDOT specifications and special provisions, and the Virginia Department of Soil and Water conservation regulations. Also, during construction, every reasonable effort will be made to protect the environment with respect to dust and erosion control. Access to all properties will be maintained during construction. Potential impacts to the flood plains will be evaluated and addressed on this project. Figure 1: Alternate routes for local traffic LEFT (Alternative A): The 24-mile detour route for the expedited construction alternative would direct traffic to Interstate 64 to navigate around the two -week closure of Route 250 (Ivy Road). BELOW (Alternative B): With a phased construction approach, two-way traffic would be controlled by traffic signals for a minimum of three months. Significant traffic delays are expectedespecially during rush hour. Traffic signal cycles would run for 2.5 to 3 minutes for each direction. Total Cost: $3 million Engineering of Roadway Plans: $600,000 Right of Way Acquisition, Relocation Assistance and Utility Relocation: $200,000 Construction: $2,118,303 Cost is subject to change as the design is developed. Environmental Review VDOT's Culpeper District Environmental office has performed environmental reviews and coordination to obtain information about environmental resources in the project vicinity; to provide natural and historic resource agencies an opportunity to review and comment on the project during its development; and to identify opportunities for avoidance, minimization and mitigation of potential environmental impacts. The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) is applicable to this project and a Programmatic Categorical Exclusion (PCE) has been developed in cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration and in accordance with federal guidelines. The PCE documents environmental resource impacts related to natural resources, water quality, threatened and endangered species, air quality, noise, etc. In addition and in compliance with the National Historic Preservation Act, Section 106 and 36 CFR Part 800, information concerning the potential effects of the proposed project on properties listed in or eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places is also provided in the NEPA document. The project will continue to be coordinated with the appropriate federal, state and local agencies as part of environmental review and approval processes required throughout project development and construction. All required environmental clearances and permits will be obtained prior to commencement of construction. Strict compliance with all environmental conditions and commitments resulting from regulatory approvals and implementation of VDOT's specifications and standard best management practices will protect the environment during construction. The NEPA document and the results of other environmental studies are available at the public hearing. Representatives are available to discuss this information and to answer questions. The following schedule has been proposed: Public hearing: January 10, 2017 Public comment period ends: January 20, 2017 Right of way acquisition and utility relocation: April 2017 Construction advertisement: Late 2017 Construction completion (depending on chosen construction alternative): Summer 2018 Project schedule is subject to change. VDOT ensures nondiscrimination and equal employment in all programs and activities in accordance with Title VI and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. If you need more information with regard to your civil rights on this project or special assistance for persons with disabilities or limited English proficiency, contact the project manager listed on the back of this brochure. Right of Way Replacement of the Route 250 (Ivy Road) bridge over Little Ivy Creek will not require the displacement of any families, businesses or non-profit organizations. As we further develop and finalize this project, additional easements for utility relocation may be required beyond the proposed right of way shown on the public hearing plans. The property owners will be informed of the exact location of the easements during the right of way acquisition process and prior to construction. Information about right of way purchase is discussed in VDOT's Right of Way and Utilities brochure, "A Guide for Property Owners and Tenants." Copies of this brochure are available at the public hearing and from any VDOT right of way agent. After the public hearing, information regarding right of way may be obtained from the Right of Way contact listed on the back of this brochure.