1. Traffic Certification

Transcription

1 June 15, 2017 Reference No Mr. Michael Turco Town of Milton 150 Mary Street Milton, Ontario L9T 6Z5 Dear Mr. Turco: Re: Main Sail Estates Draft Plan #24T-14006/M Proposed Major Node Concept Plan Corner of Bronte Street and Britannia Road Town of Milton 1. Traffic Certification GHD previously prepared a traffic impact study for the proposed Main Sail Estates Residential development dated April 1, 2016 which is located at the northeast corner of Britannia Road and Bronte Street in the Town of Milton. The study provided an assessment at full build-out of the proposed draft plan including the proposed high density residential major node block with access provided via a right-in/out driveway to Bronte Street South and access from Bronson Terrace. Trinison is currently finalizing a Zoning By-Law for the major node and has provided our office a concept plan for the major block that includes a total of 53 townhouse units and 219 mid-rise units for a total of 272 residential units. The concept plan does not propose an access directly from the major node to Bronte Street and therefore the access shown is limited to full movement driveway connections from both Bronson Terrace and Chretien Street. The previous April 2016 traffic study estimated the total number of units for the major node based on the amended Special Zone Provisions for Major Node Zones which resulted in a total estimated unit count of 424 residential units. Therefore, the proposed concept plan suggests a total unit count that is 152 units less than what was previously assumed in the traffic study. The proposed 272 residential units would generate a total of 120 two-way vehicle trips during the am peak hour consisting of 20 inbound and 99 outbound trips and a total of 141 two-way vehicle trips during the pm peak hour consisting of 95 inbound and 47 outbound trips. Overall, the proposed site is expected to generate 67 less trips during the am peak hour and 80 less trips during the pm peak hour. As a result of eliminating the right-in/out driveway directly to Bronte Street South, the previously assigned site traffic (peak of 54 outbound trips during the am peak hour and 52 inbound trips during the pm peak hour) to the right-in/out driveway must be redistributed to either the planned roundabout at Bronte Street South and Etheridge Avenue or to the right-in/out at Britannia Road and Chretien Street. GHD 6705 Millcreek Drive Unit 1 Mississauga Ontario L5N 5M4 Canada T F W

2 Based on the analysis that was previously completed in support of the Main Sails Draft Plan which included a higher number of residential units within the major node, it is our opinion that the proposed development of 272 residential units within the major node which will generate less overall traffic during both critical peak hours will not have a negative impact on the operation of the surrounding road intersections. The conclusions and recommendations of the April 2016 traffic study remain valid and there is expected to remain sufficient reserve capacity at the surrounding intersections to accommodate the expected future traffic conditions. As such, an update to the previous traffic impact study should not be necessary at this time. 2. Parking Appraisal A reduction in the total parking supply for the six mid-rise buildings is proposed to reflect Milton s status as a growing, transit-supportive and pedestrian-friendly city. The rationale for the reduction considers the site location fronting Bronte Street South and Britannia Road both with planned future transit service. The proposed reduction is also consistent with the Town of Milton s Official Plan which seeks to promote and support traffic movement by walking, cycling and public transit; and include the provision of a public transit system which targets a high level of public transit usage in the Urban Area of approximately 10 percent of all trips by 2021 and 20 percent by Proposed Site Parking Rates No parking reduction is being sought for the proposed 53 townhouse units which will provide the following parking: Resident parking for townhouse units provided at 2.0 spaces per unit: - Total of 106 parking spaces. Residential visitor parking at 0.25 spaces per unit: - Total of 14 parking spaces. This is a total provision of 120 on-site parking spaces for the townhouse portion of the development. The following parking supply is proposed for the 219 residential apartment units consisting of 98 onebedroom units, 112 two-bedroom units and 9 three-bedroom units: Resident parking for apartment units provided at 1.05 spaces per unit: - Total of 230 parking spaces. Residential visitor parking at 0.2 spaces per unit: - 44 parking spaces. This is a total provision of 274 on-site parking spaces for the residential apartment portion of the development. The total parking supply for the site is 394 parking spaces LTR-Turco-2-Traffic Certifiction Letter-June

3 4. Existing Town of Milton By-Law The existing Town of Milton Parking By-Law requires minimum parking rates as follows for townhouse units: Resident parking at 2.0 spaces per unit: 106 parking spaces required. Residential visitor parking at 0.25 spaces per unit: 14 parking spaces required. This is a total townhouse-parking requirement of 120 on-site parking spaces. There is no difference between the applicable by-law and the proposed parking supply. The existing Town of Milton Parking By-Law requires minimum parking rates for apartment units as follows: Resident parking at 1.50 spaces per unit: 329 parking spaces required. Residential visitor parking at 0.25 spaces per unit: 55 parking spaces required. This is a total apartment-parking requirement of 384 on-site parking spaces. The total site parking bylaw requirement is 504 parking spaces. The difference between the applicable bylaw and the proposed parking supply is therefore 110 parking spaces, or a shortfall of 22 percent. 5. Transit Service Future transit service is planned for both Bronte Street South and Britannia Road as per the Town of Milton s 2023 Strategic Service Plan. 6. Proxy Surveys To support the proposed reduction in both resident and visitor parking supply, GHD has over time undertaken proxy surveys at multiple existing multi-unit residential developments in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) for the purpose of collecting parking demand data for both residents and visitors. The completed parking surveys allows GHD to support a reduced parking supply for both residents and visitors depending on the type of development proposed and the supporting transportation demand management initiatives recommended for a site. In general, parking utilization guidelines require surveying on at least two days over two normal weeks, and within time periods that capture the peak parking demand of the site. GHD therefore generally adopted the following schedule when completing parking demand surveys at each of the proxy sites: Parking accumulation on two weekdays on two separate weeks, typically 5:30-5:45 a.m., 12:30-12:45 p.m. (noon) and 10:30-10:45 p.m. time intervals to identify the peak resident demand LTR-Turco-2-Traffic Certifiction Letter-June

4 Parking accumulation on two Fridays and two Saturdays, typically between 8:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. at 15-minute intervals to capture the peak visitor demand and verify the peak resident demand. The following list provides a sample of the surveyed resident and visitor parking demand from parking studies and surveys for sites with similar development content proposed for this site: The Courtyards on Main Phase 1, Milton (260 residential units) - Residents: Access not provided - Visitors: 0.14 spaces per unit 3045 Queen Frederica Drive, Mississauga (113 residential units) - Residents: 0.97 spaces per unit - Visitors: 0.16 spaces per unit 1315 Silver Spear Road, Mississauga (87 residential units) - Residents: 0.95 spaces per unit - Visitors: 0.12 spaces per unit 41 Antrim Crescent, Scarborough (192 residential units) - Residents: 0.90 spaces per unit - Visitors: 0.10 spaces per unit 297 Queens Avenue, Oakville (78 residential units) - Residents: 0.86 spaces per unit - Visitors: 0.13 spaces per unit Prospect Street, Burlington (120 residential units) - Residents: 0.80 spaces per unit - Visitors: 0.11 spaces per unit 70 Dixfield Drive, Toronto (229 residential units) - Residents: 0.95 spaces per unit - Visitors: 0.13 spaces per unit The results of the parking surveys indicate that apartment resident parking rates generally fall below 1.00 space per unit, with the highest rate being 0.97 spaces per unit and the average rate being 0.91 spaces per unit. This indicates that a proposed average resident parking rate of 1.05 spaces per unit can be justified based on the results of the proxy surveys. Likewise, the highest visitor parking rate was recorded at 0.16 spaces per unit and the average rate is 0.13 spaces per unit, this includes the Courtyards on Main which is specifically located in Milton. The proxy survey results indicate that a proposed apartment visitor parking rate of 0.2 spaces per unit can be supported to sufficiently accommodate the expected visitor parking demand LTR-Turco-2-Traffic Certifiction Letter-June

5 7. Other Municipal By-Laws GHD reviewed more recent parking study information including City of Toronto, Town of Oakville and City of Vaughan zoning by-laws. The supporting studies clearly show that the parking demand for resident and visitor parking has decreased in the GTA, and that the actual requirement for parking spaces should be reduced to reflect transit services and land use density. The most conservative minimum parking rate in the City of Toronto for dwelling units in a multiple dwelling unit building is: Resident parking spaces at 1.00 space per unit Visitor parking at 0.20 spaces per unit The Town of Oakville By-Law provides the following minimum visitor parking rate for apartment dwelling units in growth areas where the minimum number of parking spaces are reduced to support the Town s strategic and policy objective related to transit, growth management and design (Oakville Zoning By-law Part 5): 1.25 spaces per unit Of the total number of parking spaces required, 0.20 of the parking spaces required per dwelling unit shall be designated as visitor s parking spaces Lastly, the draft by-law for the City of Vaughan which while not approved by Council also provides undisputable proof that visitor parking demand has decreased in the GTA, particularly in urban areas with supporting transit service. The draft City of Vaughan By-Law proposes the following minimum base parking rates: Resident parking at 0.90 spaces per 1 bedroom unit Resident parking at 1.10 spaces per 2 bedroom unit Resident parking at 1.20 spaces per 3 bedroom unit Visitor parking at 0.20 spaces per unit Applying the based parking rates to the proposed 219 apartment units results in a total requirement of 223 resident parking spaces consisting of 89 spaces for the one-bedroom units, 123 spaces for the twobedroom units, and 11 spaces for the three-bedroom units and 44 visitor parking spaces. The resident parking supply averages to 1.02 spaces per residential unit, which is less than then 1.05 spaces per unit proposed for the site LTR-Turco-2-Traffic Certifiction Letter-June

6 8. Transportation Tomorrow Survey The findings of the 2011 TTS indicate that the average number of vehicles per apartment household in the Town of Milton is 0.63, see Table 1 below. Table 1 Traffic Condition Auto Ownership Vehicles per Apartment Household Town of Milton Auto Ownership 2011 TTS Data No. of Vehicles per Apartment Household Total No. of Apartment Households % of Apartment Households 44.1% 49.4% 6.3% 0.2% 100% No. of Vehicles Average No. of Vehicles per Apartment Household 0.63 Based on the TTS data, 44.1 percent of apartment households within Milton do not own a vehicle, 49.4 percent own one vehicle, 6.3 percent own two vehicles and 0.2 percent own three vehicles; as a result, the average number of vehicles per apartment household is Application of this parking rate to the subject site, plus a minimum rate of 0.20 visitor spaces per unit would result in a total parking requirement for condominium residents of 138 parking spaces and 44 visitor spaces for a total of 182 spaces. This is approximately 47 percent of the existing by-law requirement. It should be noted that the TTS data was evaluated based on all apartment households in the Town of Milton (3,566 total units) and does not reflect specific areas within the Town with higher density land uses and better access to transit such as surrounding the subject site. It is therefore in our opinion a conservative estimate of the expected auto ownership for development along the Britannia Road corridor with future HOV/Transit lanes. 9. Summary In consideration of the policies within the Town of Milton Official Plan, the Town s goal to increase Transit Modal split, site specific data collected at a proxy site within Milton as well as multiple other sites in the GTA, and the growing trend within the GTA to reduce auto dependency, it is our opinion that a site-specific parking by-law variance to reduce the required resident and visitor parking rate for the apartment portion of the subject site is appropriate. We therefore recommend that parking be provided at the following minimum rates: Resident parking for townhouse units provided at 2.0 spaces per unit: Total of 106 parking spaces required. Visitor parking for townhouse units provided at 0.25 spaces per unit for apartments and townhouses: 14 parking spaces required LTR-Turco-2-Traffic Certifiction Letter-June

7 Resident parking for apartment units provided at 1.05 spaces per unit: Total of 230 parking spaces. Visitor parking for apartment units provided at 0.2 spaces per unit: 44 parking spaces required. This is a total on-site parking supply of 394 parking spaces (a 22 percent reduction from the applicable parking by-law). We trust that this satisfies any concerns the Town may have with the proposed concept plan for the Major Node, but please do not hesitate to contact the undersigned if you have any questions. Sincerely, GHD William Maria, P. Eng. Senior Project Manager WM/bz/ LTR-Turco-2-Traffic Certifiction Letter-June