ACHD Driveway Analysis
October 5, 2020
TLG Project No. 120085
Dawn Battles via email: building@gardencityidaho.org
Ada County Highway District
3775 Adams St.
Garden City, ID 83714
RE: MER20-0096 / A-2020-0165 | Hickory Warehouse | 1135 N. Hickory Ave., Meridian, ID
Driveway Justification Analysis
Dear Ms. Battles:
This letter provides a justification and analysis of proposed driveways for the proposed Hickory
Warehouse at 1135 N. Hickory Ave. in Meridian. This analysis has been prepared in response to the
various phone and email discussions between the project ownership, design team and ACHD. We are
also responding to ACHD’s project staff report of October 2, 2020, which requested this analysis in
section A.3.d.
The Hickory Warehouse project has proposed two full-access driveways to Hickory Avenue abutting the
site. We have proposed to construct two 30-ft wide curb return type driveways located as follows:
▪ 725-feet north of State Avenue and in alignment with an existing driveway on the east side of
Hickory Avenue across from the site
▪ 282-feet north of State Avenue and in alignment with an existing driveway on the east side of
Hickory Avenue across from the site
Staff has recommended approval of only one driveway, unless justification of the need for both is
provided.
Our analysis shows that several points justify ACHD’s approval of both proposed driveways.
1. The site is sufficiently large that the proposed driveways easily exceed the minimum separation
for successive driveways of 245-ft (ACHD Policy 7206.4.5, Table 1). The two proposed driveways
are separated by 443-ft, measured between centerlines. Further, both proposed driveways align
with existing driveways on the east side of Hickory Avenue.
2. The building proposed on the property is a multi-tenant building and therefore will have
multiple “front doors” or arrival points. Design of the project driveways provides intuitive
connectivity and driver wayfinding to the office-type areas of the building at the southerly
driveway, while the northerly driveway serves tenant spaces at that end of the building together
with larger trucks.
3. Two driveways reduce potential congestion or conflict points between truck traffic using the
north drive and passenger vehicles using the south drive.
4. Traffic on Hickory Ave. is moderate, indicating that neither inbound or outbound traffic at either
driveway would be expected to experience significant delay when turning. Based on traffic
counts available on ACHD’s website, on Hickory Ave south of Fairview the southbound AM and
Page 2 of 2
PM peak traffic on May 3, 2017 were 117 and 101 vehicles, respectively. This represents a peak-
hour traffic count of less than two vehicles per minute.
5. Meridian Fire Department’s review of the site plan concluded that they preferred both accesses
be built as proposed, saying “it enables us quicker access to the north and west sides of the
building for ladder truck placement.” (refer to attached email from Joe Bongiorno, Deputy Chief
– Fire Marshal to Jason Densmer on Sep. 23, 2020)
a. ACHD’s staff report provides that fire department requirements for “emergency access”
onto Hickory Ave. should be restricted with a gate or bollards. Meridian Fire’s stated
desire for the driveways was not limited only to “emergency access”, and was
specifically intended to be “quicker”, which would be defeated by the inclusion of gates
or bollards per ACHD’s recommendations.
Based on the provided analysis, we respectfully request ACHD approval to construct both driveways to
the site from Hickory Ave as proposed. Doing so improves the circulation of traffic, enhances safety,
provides improved fire access and does so without being expected to have any significant impact on use
of Hickory Ave.
Thank you for your attention to this application. Should you have questions, please don’t hesitate to
contact me via email (jason@thelandgroupinc.com) or phone at 208-803-1930.
Sincerely,
Jason Densmer, PE/Principal
The Land Group, Inc.
Enclosures:
1. Email correspondence from Joe Bongiorno, Meridian Fire dated Sep. 23, 2020.
1
Jason Densmer
From:Joe Bongiorno <jbongiorno@meridiancity.org>
Sent:Wednesday, September 23, 2020 2:50 PM
To:Jason Densmer
Subject:RE: Hickory Warehouse - CZC 200922 C100 Site Layout 120085.pdf
Sorry Jason – I have literally been in meetings since 9am. I just finished.
Looking at the site plan – the fire department would like to see the northerly access stay as is. It enables us quicker
access to the north and west sides of the building for ladder truck placement.
I recommend both accesses stay in place.
Joe Bongiorno CFI, CFEI
Deputy Chief – Fire Marshal
Meridian Fire
33 E. Broadway Ave., Ste. 210, Meridian, ID 83642
(Direct) 208-489-0458 (Cell) 208-936-9554
Dedication-Loyalty-Tradition
All e-mail messages sent to or received by City of Meridian e-mail accounts are subject to the Idaho law,
in regards to both release and retention, and may be released upon request, unless exempt from disclosure by law.
From: Jason Densmer <jason@thelandgroupinc.com>
Sent: Tuesday, September 22, 2020 12:23 PM
To: Joe Bongiorno <jbongiorno@meridiancity.org>
Subject: Hickory Warehouse - CZC 200922 C100 Site Layout 120085.pdf
External Sender - Please use caution with links or attachments.
Joe – the attached site plan is updated to reflect the wider 26-ft drives on the building south and east sides. The
team intends to formally resubmit this with other CZC materials in the near future.
Would you review and consider whether you can help us with ACHD and advocate for the emergency-response
benefits of retaining the northerly site driveway to Hickory?
Regards,
principal, civil engineer
jason densmer, pe
THE LAND GROUP | d. 208.803.1930 | o. 208.939.4041