AG 1993 05 17 - Laserfiche WebLink

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REZONING PETITION 93-02 April 15, 1993 Phil Cline, Petitioner Site access. The truck traffic safety question for this case hinges on the conditions of access to the site. Mr. Cline has addressed this concern by constructing the entrance/exit to his property in excess of Department of Transportation (DOT) minimum standards. DOT requires 50 feet; Mr. Cline has provided 75 feet. Additionally, outside of this 75' measurement is an even broader turning area, allowing for more than ample space for turning. This excess space permits a truck and trailer to remain out of the line of traffic while making turns into or out of the site. The orientation of the property is such that an individual leaving the site has good visibility traveling west and adequate visibility traveling east. A driver approaching the site traveling west may be forced to a complete stop on the road while a truck attempts to cross traffic to turn into the Cline facility. To promote traffic flow, it is recommended that a continuous center turning lane be provided from Windrose Lane, the entrance to Windrose subdivision, to the entrance of Phil Cline Trucking thereby allowing other vehicles to pass. Future land use. The rezoning request at issue would allow additional future land uses with the potential to generate more traffic. The highest traffic generator of these would be administrative and professional offices. The site has a maximum buildable area of 27 acres out of the total 45. This translates into 270,000 square feet. Using the Institute of Traffic Engineers (ITE) calculations of 4.4 employees per 1000 square feet, with a weekday trip rate of 3.01, the site has the potential of generating about 3,564 additional dally trips. The maximum build-out is believed to be highly unlikely due to the topography, floodplain and surrounding land uses to the site. However, it is still recognized that the allowable land uses under the requested rezoning are likely to generate enough additional traffic over time to warrant the following recommendations. Recommendations: 1) Center turn lane. The existing center turn lane should be extended from Windrose Subdivision to the entry of the Cline property. This will improve the traffic flow with the current traffic conditions and is recommended to be provided as soon as possible. 2) Deceleration lanes. A deceleration lane approaching from the west should be considered at a later point in time, in all probability, at the time of the proposed widening to four lanes. Traffic from the east will be served by the recommended center turn lane mentioned above which will function as a deceleration lane in addition to a center turn lane. 3) Site access. Access should be limited to one entrance/exit due to both the current and projected traffic flow on Highway 49 and because of its classification as a principle arterial road. However, it need not be necessary that the access remain in the same location. These recommendations will go immediately to the North Carolina Highway Department