Lane Avenue Corridor Traffic & Parking Study
Updates
Wellesley Drive Traffic Calming Public Meeting
A public meeting was held October 25 to review and discuss proposed traffic calming measures for Wellesley Drive. Pete Sechler from AECOM was in attendance to lead participants through the options and obtain feedback on the preferred measures, as well as to identify concerns relative to the Lane Avenue Mixed Use Project. Please see the Wellesley Drive Meeting Presentation link below.
Traffic Calming for Brandon & Chester roads
At the October 7 Council Conference Session, Staff brought forth the results of its efforts to secure construction services to complete traffic calming measures for Brandon and Chester roads by Thanksgiving 2011. Unfortunately, of the two bids received by contractors who have been performing work in UA this year (from a total of four companies), both were significantly higher than anticipated.
It was agreed the additional costs were too high to justify completing the work this year, and Staff was directed to include the scope of work required within an upcoming Request for Proposal for the Berkshire Road waterline replacement and roadway reconstruction project, scheduled to begin in the spring of 2012. Late fall / early winter is typically the optimum time for bidding out construction work, as contractors begin to look ahead to filling their work schedule for the following year's construction season. It is hoped the traffic calming bids will be more in line with the engineer's estimates, and Staff anticipates bringing forward the results of this Request for Proposal for Council approval in early December of this year.
August 15 Council Conference Session
Per direction from City Council in July, over summer recess Engineering Staff worked to identify and prepare next steps for designing and ultimately implementing traffic calming and other roadway enhancement recommendations emerging from the Lane Avenue Corridor Traffic and Parking Study. See the August 15 Staff Report on Traffic Calming link below for full details. Highlights included securing the services of E.P. Ferris & Associates for detailed engineering design work, and to authorize a waiver of the Procurement Code to allow the City to proceed with traffic calming measures on Brandon and Chester roads in the fall of this year. Additional traffic calming measures and conversion of Lane Avenue to a three-lane configuration with parking on the north side of the street is expected to occur in 2012.
Additionally, recommendations for amendments to the City's Urban Design Standards were approved by Council on August 22, in the form of amendments to the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO). This follows many months of review by the Master Plan Economic Development and Land Use Ad Hoc Committee, and subsequent review and approval by the Board of Zoning and Planning on July 8, 2011. These amendments address areas of Floor-Area-Ratios, Maximum Building Heights, Parking Ratios and Minimum Lot Sizes within the City's Planned Mixed Use Districts (PMUD). See the August 15 Staff Report on the UDO amendments below for details.
Monday, July 11 Report To City Council
Prior to the start of City Council's summer recess, a summary report from AECOM was presented by Staff at the July 11, 2011 City Council Meeting. Please see the July 11 Memo to City Council link below to view this report. City Council unanimously voted to accept the report and recommendations. Over summer recess, Staff began preparing the appropriate engineering work and request for proposals to bring forward to Council upon its return mid-August to address some of the immediate recommendations, such as traffic calming measures for Brandon and Chester.
Study Overview
The Lane Avenue Corridor Traffic and Parking Study was initiated
by City Council to explore existing and potential traffic and parking
challenges associated with recent and anticipated future redevelopment
within the section between Northwest Boulevard and North Star Road.
Recommendations emerging from this study have provided the City with
viable options for immediate and longer-term solutions to these issues
to help support successful redevelopment for the community's
benefit, while using best practices to help preserve the residential
nature of the surrounding neighborhoods.
The City contracted with the firm AECOM, to lead a review and
discussion intended to capture insight from stakeholders on current
issues, and to explore viable options for immediate and long-term
solutions that take the entire commercial corridor and surrounding
neighborhoods into consideration.
Project Description - Urban Design Plan for Lane Avenue Corridor from Northwest Blvd to North Star Road, including the Mixed Use Vision for the area, land use, transportation, design standards and parking - as well as the physical configuration of Lane Avenue and its associated intersections. The study used Stakeholder Input and other available data to define the issues and recommend policies and design solutions that would be mutually beneficial to all parties.
Workshop Session #1 - May 25-26
During AECOM's first visit to Upper Arlington, the team met with various Stakeholders (residents, commercial property owners, city leaders) to understand the current issues and opportunities in the corridor. Goals were to learn the following:
1. Stakeholder profile (resident, property owner, etc).
2. Understanding and Perspective on the original Lane Avenue Corridor Vision
3. Opportunities and Challenges associated with redevelopment
4. Specific issues with Land Development Code elements for the Mixed Use Corridor and relationship to the residential neighborhoods.
5. Ideas regarding the operational configuration of Lane Avenue and associated Intersections
A general public discussion meeting was held Wednesday, May 25 to discuss these same general issues.
Work Session #2 - Week of June 20, 2011
AECOM returned to Upper Arlington the week of June 20 to work on developing a set of recommendations for the community. A Public Workshop was held Tuesday, June 21, with participants guided through the Powerpoint listed below and beginning to discuss some traffic calming options for the surrounding neighborhoods. On the evening of Wednesday, June 22, AECOM's representatives conducted in-field workshops with residents for the following streets: Brandon, Chester, Wellesley and Beaumont. On Thursday, June 23, AECOM made a presentation that summarized its studies of the Lane Avenue Corridor and resulting issues that had arisen as redevelopment occurred, and highlighting its set of recommendations for the City to implement to solve both immediate issues and to prepare to properly address future issues that may arise as additional redevelopment projects are brought forward.
Our apologies, these Powerpoint presentations are large files and may take some time to download, but we felt it was appropriate to keep the entire presentations intact and in the correct order.
If you have questions about the study, please contact the City Manager's Office, at 583-5040.
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July 11 Memo to City Council (99 kb)
Summary of the recommendations from AECOM including traffic calming measures to be phased in as appropriate, on-street parking on Lane Avenue, and appropriate urban design standards for future redevelopment projects.
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June Public Meetings Notice (83 kb)
Details a Public Workshop scheduled for Tuesday, June 21, and a Public Meeting/Results Presentation scheduled for Thursday, June 23. |
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AECOM June 3, 2011 Memorandum to City Council (117 kb)
Technical memorandum summarizing the issues identified at the May stakeholder meetings. This memo will be discussed as part of the Monday, June 6 Special City Council Meeting. |
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AECOM May 25 Presentation (6472 kb)
pdf file of PowerPoint outlining AECOM background, scope of services, the vision for Lane Avenue, district redevelopment, and Arlington Commons as a case study. |
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Visual Zoning History (900 kb)
Part of the May 25 Public Meeting, this slideshow depicts the zoning history of the corridor, shows the Master Plan "vision" for a planned mixed use district, and provides some examples of recent redevelopment projects. |
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