CC - Applicant's Response to TIS Study K I TT E LS O N 101 S CAPITOL BOULEVARD,SUITE 600
& ASSOCIATES P0ISE 208.3 82 6832 F 208.338.2685
MEMORANDUM
Date: March 22, 2022 Project#: 26745
To: Paige Bankhead, El
Ada County Highway District
3775 Adams Street
Garden City, ID 83714
From: John Ringert, PE
Project: Black Cat Industrial
Subject: Responses to ACHD Review Comments#1
This memorandum responds to the comments in the letter dated February 15,2022,from Ada County
Highway District (ACHD) for the Black Cat Industrial Transportation Impact Study (TIS). ACHD
comments are provided in italics followed by our response.
COMMENT #1
Staff recently had a meeting about the new industrial development proposed to the west of this site
in Nampa. The site plan for this area showed a north/south collector road extending from this site to
Franklin Road. Please include this road segment and the intersection of the new collector
road/Franklin Road in the study if this road will be constructed with this development.
Kittelson Response
A new section was added to the report which evaluates this additional access alternative that
provides access to Franklin Road and reduces the site traffic impact on Black Cat Road and Franklin
Road between Black Cat Road and McDermott Road. The new section begins on page 89 of the
updated report.
FILENAME. H.126126745-MERIDIAN BLACK CAT INDUSTRIAL PROJECTI REPORTIRESPONSE TO ACHD COMMENTS126745 BLACK
CAT INDUSTRIAL-RESPONSE TO ACHD COMMENTS-1.DOCX
Black Cat Industrial—Response to ACHD Comments#1 Project#:26745
March 25,2022 Page 2
COMMENT #2
Franklin Road is listed in the CIP and IFYWP to be widened to 5-lanes, however, a construction date
has not yet been set and there is not enough existing right-of-way to widen this segment to 5-lanes.
The study may list this in the mitigation section, but please also recommend alternative mitigation
for the interim for this segment and indicate if it is feasible.
Kittelson Response
Mitigation options were added to the discussion about Franklin Road (Black Cat to McDermott Road)
on page 66. A new"Access Alternatives" section was also added on page 89 evaluating the option of
extending the North-South Collector to Franklin Road which significantly reduces the site traffic
impacts to Franklin Road between Black Cat Road and the new north-south collector road. See
response to Comment 1 for more information.
COMMENT #3
Analyze the intersection of McDermott Road/Franklin Road under the 2030 background and total
conditions as a 3 X 3 signalized intersection. The study may list the widening of Franklin Road to 5-
lanes in the CIP in the mitigation section, but also needs to evaluate the interim mitigation scenario
where Franklin Road has not yet been widened to 5-lanes.
Kittelson Response
Analysis with an interim 3 X 3 signalized intersection was added as requested. A total of three options
were evaluated which include:
• An interim two-way-left-turn-lane (TWLTL) on Franklin Road at the intersection.
• Widening Franklin Road to five lanes in the vicinity of the intersection or the whole segment.
• A 3 X 3 signal assuming only left-turn lanes are added to the single east-west and north-south
through lanes.
The results of the analysis are shown in Table 8 (page 47) for background conditions and Table 13
(page 61) for total traffic conditions. A 3 X 3 signalized intersection was not found to operate
acceptably in 2030 weekday PM peak hour due to the high westbound through traffic volumes that
would be stopped while serving the McDermott Road traffic signal phase. Addition of a TWLTL could
be considered at the intersection to add more lifespan (approximately 2 years) in order to maintain
operations until the ACHD widening project is constructed.
Kittelson&Associates,Inc. Boise,Idaho
Black Cat Industrial—Response to ACHD Comments#1 Project#:26745
March 25,2022 Page 3
COMMENT #4
Staff supports a second access on Black Cat Road for the site based on the study. However, staff has
concerns about the actual use of the access by site traffic due to the site layout. Most site traffic
would have to navigate through internal parking drive aisles to reach areas further within the site
based on the proposed circulation. The site should be designed so that this access is a direct and
obvious private drive/road to access the northern portion of the site.
Kittelson Response
The site plan was updated (see Figure 2 on page 30) to disconnect the long east-west drive aisle on
the northern boundary of the site and remove the fire station/pad building where the access was
located. This change connects the access better into the northern part of the site such that it
shouldn't appear to just be a single building access.The disconnection of the long drive aisle reduces
the potential use of Site Access B (north driveway) such that it is projected to operate acceptably
unsignalized, with mitigations.These changes also reduce the potential for site traffic to use the long
east-west drive aisle as a higher-speed through route from the site that could create conflicts with
parking vehicles. The driveway volumes and LOS calculations were updated to reflect this change
which resulted in Site Access B operating acceptably as an unsignalized intersection. See Tables 11
and 12 (pages 58 and 59) for the updated Site Access operational results.
COMMENT #5
The study recommends widening Black Cat Road to 5-lanes, however, there isn't enough existing
right-of-way. Please recommend alternative mitigation and if it is feasible. Even though Black Cat
Road and Franklin Road are listed in the CIP, it is uncertain when these projects will be completed, so
alternative mitigation should be recommended.
Kittelson Response
Mitigation options were added to the discussion about Black Cat Road (Site Access A to Franklin Road)
on page 69. These include:
• Improving the intersections to operate acceptably since the intersections are constraint
locations in that section of Black Cat Road.
• Extending the North-South Collector to Franklin Road to reduce traffic volumes on Black Cat
Road.
• Limiting development based on the ACHD segment capacity threshold volume.
Kittelson&Associates,Inc. Boise,Idaho
Black Cat Industrial—Response to ACHD Comments#1 Project#:26745
March 25,2022 Page 4
A new"Access Alternatives" section was also added to the report(see page 89) evaluating the option
of extending the North-South Collector to Franklin Road which significantly reduces the site traffic
impacts to Black Cat Road between Site Access A and Franklin Road. See response to Comment 1 for
more information.
COMMENT #6
The Synchro reports for the intersection analysis of Black Cat Road/Franklin Road do not seem to
reflect the correct phasing for the intersection based on the attached signal timing and phasing
sheets in the appendix. Please verify and update the analysis as necessary.
Kittelson Response
The Synchro reports were reviewed to confirm the correct traffic signal phasing was used at the Black
Cat Road/ Franklin Road intersection.
There were some mitigations recommended under 2030 total traffic conditions for adding dual left-
turn lanes on the northbound and westbound approaches in which we evaluated the dual left-turn
movements assuming protected only left-turn phasing instead of the existing protected-permitted
phasing since ACHD does not use protected-permissive phasing for dual-left turn lanes. Also see
response to Comment#7.
COMMENT #7
The existing signal timing should be used for the intersection analysis under the future conditions
and should not be optimized in Synchro consistent with District Policy 7106.5.2. The signal timing
and phasing should follow the table in District Policy 7106.6.2. Please verify and update the analysis
as necessary.
Kittelson Response
The signal timing was reviewed with ACHD staff and it does match the existing signal timing. Figure 1
illustrates an example showing the timing used in Synchro and the controller timing sheet.
One thing we noticed is that phase numbering in Synchro had Phases 2/6 northbound and southbound as
the default while ACHD numbered the phases such that Phases 2/6 is eastbound and westbound. But the
correct timings were assigned to the correct movements so it is only a number issue that could be
confusing looking at the timer settings on the Synchro output sheets and comparing those to the signal
timing database sheets.
Kittelson&Associates,Inc. Boise,Idaho
Black Cat Industrial-Response to ACHD Comments#1 Project#:26745
March 25,2022 Page 5
Controller Database Timing Sheet
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Figure 1. Check of Synchro Signal Timing
Something that can also make it look like we might not be using the correct signal timing is the"actuated"
cycle lengths that Synchro calculates for use in the LOS analysis at signals that are operating
uncoordinated.This is because when a signal operates based on the"MAX"and"MIN"times,the effective
cycle length will vary cycle to cycle unless all the movements exceed capacity and utilize all the available
MAX time. Therefore, the LOS procedures estimate the effective average green times and an effective
actuated cycle length based on the signal timing parameters and the volumes. This can result in some
unique cycle lengths at a single intersection that wouldn't be typical for a master cycle in a coordinated
signal system.
As described in the response to Comment#6,there were also some mitigations recommended under
2030 total traffic conditions for adding dual left-turn lanes on the northbound and westbound
approaches in which we evaluated the dual left-turn movements assuming protected only left-turn
phasing that required the phasing to change, but the existing green times and clearance times were
Kittelson&Associates,Inc. Boise,Idaho
Black Cat Industrial—Response to ACHD Comments#1 Project#:26745
March 25,2022 Page 6
still utilized. The phasing change for the dual-left-turns was because ACHD does not use protected-
permissive phasing for dual-left turn lanes.
COMMENT #8
The sensitivity analysis for the thresholds for intersections should be based on v/c ratios. Please
verify and check that the thresholds are based on this. The Synchro report for the sensitivity analysis
for the intersection of McDermott Road/Franklin Road under the 2030 total conditions for the PM
peak hour show acceptable v/c ratios but a LOS(based on delay) of F.
Kittelson Response
The sensitivity analysis was reviewed and was updated for the McDermott Road/Franklin Road
intersections to better reflect using a V/C ratio of 1.0 as the upper limit. Because unsignalized
intersection capacity is very sensitive to small changes in volumes once the critical movement nears
capacity, there is often not much change in volume that can be accommodated between a V/C ratio
such as 0.80 and 0.99. As a result, in some cases there may be a V/C ratio that is well below 1.0, but
we used that as a threshold because the next step in volume growth causes the movement to exceed
capacity. Additionally, we found a Synchro lane-coding issue with some of the analysis scenarios for
McDermott Road/Franklin Road intersection that changed some of the results but didn't impact the
findings or recommendations.
Table 19 (page 73) and Table 20 (page 74) show the updated sensitivity analysis results for the 2030
background and 2030 total traffic conditions. Appendix K includes the updated Synchro worksheets.
COMMENT #9
Please clarify on page 26 and in the Executive Summary that the NB and SB approaches of Franklin
Road/McDermott Road operate within ACHD's acceptable thresholds for v/c ratios under the
existing conditions.
Kittelson Response
Text was added to page 2 of the Executive Summary and page 38 in the Existing Conditions section
as requested.
Kittelson&Associates,Inc. Boise,Idaho
Black Cat Industrial—Response to ACHD Comments#1 Project#:26745
March 25,2022 Page 7
COMMENT #10
Please provide the number of site trips in the peak hour that can be added before mitigation is
necessary in Table 20. The percentage of the development is beneficial, but the site trips in the peak
hour should also be reported.
Kittelson Response
The number of site trips were added to Tables 20 and 21 (pages 74 and 75) for the 2030 base access
condition and in Tables 31 and 32 (pages 106 and 107) for the new access condition with the North-
South Collector extended to Franklin Road.
CONCLUSION
We trust these responses adequately address the above ACHD comments. Please contact John
Ringert at jrinert@kittelson.com if you have any additional questions or comments. We have
included a revised TIS that has incorporated the additional information in the above responses.
Kittelson&Associates,Inc. Boise,Idaho