RE: P ROPOSED SENIORS ASSISTED LIVING PROJECT RANVILLE ... · significant and stretch up to two city blocks east and west of Granville. The eastbound 49th Avenue traffic flow is the

September 23, 2008 Project No. 4697-01 Mr. Jerry Doll, MAIBC Principal Neale Staniszkis Doll Adams Architects (NSDA) 201-134 Abbott Street Vancouver, BC V6B 2K4 RE: PROPOSED SENIORS ASSISTED LIVING PROJECT

6511 GRANVILLE STREET, VANCOUVER TRANSPORTATION ASSESSMENT

Dear Jerry: As requested, Bunt & Associates Engineering Ltd. has undertaken a Transportation Impact Assessment of a proposed seniors’ assisting living housing development at 6511 Granville Street in Vancouver, including a review of the proposed parking and site access strategy. The findings of our analysis are provided in the following report. 1. Background The proposed seniors’ assisted living housing project is located at the SW quadrant of the intersection of Granville Street and 49th Avenue in Vancouver (Exhibit 1). Exhibits 2 & 3 provide additional site context information. On the west, the development site borders a rear lane connecting 49th Avenue and 52nd Avenue. A second lane connecting Churchill Street intersects the north-south lane right at the location of the proposed loading bay for the seniors’ project. The proposed three storey building consists of 62 living units on three levels with a total floor space of 2,251sqm (24,230sf). The proposed site plan is shown in Exhibit 4. As indicated, a passenger loading area is provided in front of the building. A total of 24 parking stalls are planned for the project located beneath the building. Both the passenger loading area and the underground parking are accessed from a proposed new right-in/out driveway connection to 49th Avenue. In addition, one truck/service loading bay (Class B) is provided at the intersection of the two rear lanes. 2. Existing Traffic Conditions at 49th and Granville The most recent City of Vancouver traffic count data for the intersection of Granville and 49th Avenue was collected in April 2006 and is included as appendix material. This information was used to establish a base traffic condition on the area street system for the weekday AM and weekday PM (afternoon) peak hour traffic periods as summarized in Exhibit 5.

Assisted Living Home on 6511 Granville Street, Vancouver Transportation Assessment September 23, 2008

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For the weekday AM peak period, the highest volume traffic flow is on northbound Granville Street. For the weekday PM peak period, the highest volume traffic flow is on southbound Granville Street. Traffic volumes on 49th Avenue are similar during the AM and PM peaks, and roughly one third of the volume on Granville Street Overall approach volumes to the intersection are highest during the weekday PM peak period, approximately 7% greater than during the weekday AM peak period. Although Granville Street is the main traffic arterial route, vehicle delay on the Granville Street approaches is not significant. However, 49th Avenue does operate at or near capacity during peak traffic periods, with considerable delays on both the east and west approaches. Neither Granville Street nor 49th Avenue have any dedicated left/right turn lanes or traffic signal turn phases. Right and left-turning vehicles therefore occupy a through lane at all 4 approaches. Since Granville Street has more storage capacity, such delays do not cause any significant issues. Moreover, left-turns from Granville Street onto 49th Avenue are prohibited during the weekday morning and afternoon peak traffic periods. The delays on 49th Avenue, however, can be significant and stretch up to two city blocks east and west of Granville. The eastbound 49th Avenue traffic flow is the most critical for our analysis in relation to the operation of the proposed right-in/out access on 49th Avenue, west of Granville Street. The intersection of 49th and Granville is a major passenger transfer point for Langara College. Students arrive at the intersection with a local, express, or suburban service and switch to the #49 bus route eastbound. The movement of pedestrians through the intersection between bus stops during the school months is a major cause for vehicle queuing on 49th Avenue. During the summer months where Langara College is on a summer semester with much fewer students, the flow through this intersection is markedly better. Dedicated right and left turning lanes at the intersection would improve capacity for vehicle traffic, however this is not possible with the current width of 49th Avenue. As well, any widening of 49th Avenue will add to the pedestrian crossing distance at the intersection and proportionally more green time requirement for the north-south Granville Street traffic and less for the east-west 49th Avenue traffic. There are three bus stops within the study area: Stop #51960 just east of Granville; Stop #52041 just west of Granville; and, stop #51959 between Granville and Churchill streets, on the south side. The #49 bus operates with a 10 minute headway during most of the day, and at 8 minute headway during peak times. 3. Existing Lane Condition and Usage There are presently 23 single family homes along the north-south lane, yielding 35-45 vehicles that may have reason to use the lane for parking access. The lane can also potentially provide a shortcut for vehicles traveling east on 49th Avenue


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then south on Granville, and wishing to avoid queuing on the eastbound 49th Avenue approach to the Granville intersection. The lane can also be used as a turn-around for vehicles traveling south on Granville and wishing to turn east on 49th Avenue, but not able to do so during peak times due to the “no left turn restrictions” on Granville at 49th. The east-west lane from Churchill is adjacent to 3 single family homes, however only one of the homes needs this lane for access. The pavement condition for both lanes is good. 4. Observations and Data Collection To assist with our transportation assessment of the proposed seniors’ development, Bunt and associates has conducted a number of site visits to document existing traffic and pedestrian conditions, and have collected additional data from the following sources:

• Intersection traffic counts from the City of Vancouver; • Additional traffic survey counts conducted by Bunt & Associates of the

north-south lane and at the intersection of Granville and 49th Avenue; • Traffic count at a comparable seniors’ assisted living residence in

Burnaby, the Nikkei Home assisted living seniors’ housing development in Burnaby; and

• A site visit to the Louis Brier Seniors’ Housing project in Vancouver at 41st Avenue and Oak Street.

4.1 Site Visit

49th Avenue in this area operates primarily as a two lane roadway (one lane in both the eastbound and westbound directions), widening to two lanes in both directions on the approaches to the Granville Street intersection. On the far side of the intersection in both the eastbound and westbound directions, the two lanes merge back to a single “wide” lane, approaching 6 metres wide. Vehicles traveling on 49th Avenue that wish to continue straight have to merge into one lane as soon as they cross the intersection. When buses are stopped at the “far side” bus stop locations on both the east and west sides of the Granville intersection, vehicles must merge within the intersection in order to pass the stopped bus. On the eastbound approach of 49th Avenue to Granville, 49th Avenue transitions to the 2-lane configuration approximately 60 metres west of Granville. However during long queues, vehicles are lined up in 2 lanes from Churchill Street. The eastbound curb lane is only 2.8 metres wide and buses using this lane can interfere with traffic flow in the adjacent eastbound lane approaching the Granville intersection.

4.2 City of Vancouver’s Intersection Counts


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The City of Vancouver has conducted 4 intersection counts at 49th and Granville, one of which was done during the school year (April 2006). While the number of vehicles on 49th Avenue was generally similar between months with schools in session and times when schools (in particular UBC and Langara College) are not in full session, the number of pedestrians during school months was up to 5 times higher than during the summer period. As indicated earlier, the intersection of 49th and Granville is a major bus transit passenger transfer point for Langara College. Although the #49 bus is also serving UBC, UBC students have little reason to use this intersection as a transfer point to Granville buses, as 41st Avenue provides much more frequent service via 3 bus routes.

4.3 Lane Traffic Counts

At the beginning of the project it was brought to our attention that some neighbours were concerned about the north-south lane traffic; particularly vehicles that use the lane as a shortcut. Bunt and Associated conducted counts of the number of vehicles traveling through the north-south and east-west lanes, a count of shortcutting traffic using the lane, and the direction of of vehicles turning in/out of the lane at 49th Avenue at . The volume count in the lane was conducted on Monday, July 14/08 between 7:00 and 19:00 at 2 locations along the lane: 49th Avenue and 52nd Avenue. At each count location in the lane, the time, license plate, and direction of travel were recorded. In addition, vehicles on the east-west lane were also counted. Over the 12-hour count period for lane traffic, only 15 vehicles appear to have used the lane as a shortcut route. The routings for this shortcutting traffic are listed below:

• Seven (7) vehicles over the 12 hours came from Granville and 52nd Avenue, drove north through the lane and back east to Granville;

• One vehicle in 12 hours travelled east on 49tht, turned right into the lane travelling southbound, then left (east) onto 52nd Avenue;

• Two vehicles travelled eastbound on 49th, turned right into the lane travelling southbound, then right onto westbound 52nd Avenue;

• Three vehicles travelled westbound on 49th, turned left into the lane travelling southbound, then turned left onto eastbound 52nd Avenue back towards Granville;

• Two vehicles travelled eastbound on 52nd, turned left into the lane travelling northbound, then turned right onto 49th Avenue eastbound toward Granville;


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• One vehicle travelled westbound on 52nd, turned right into the lane travelling northbound, then turned left onto westbound 49th Avenue.

A total of 91 vehicle movements were recorded at the north end of the lane at 49th Avenue (on average one vehicle every 8 minutes) and 24 vehicle movements were recorded through the east-west lane (on average, one vehicle every half hour). A count at the north end of the lane at 49th Avenue was also conducted on July 21/08 over the same 12 hour period from 7:00 to 19:00. In addition to the direction of travel to and from the lane, the direction of travel at the intersection of Granville and 49th Avenue was also noted. For example, we now know how many vehicles exited the lane turning east to Granville and then turned left to Granville northbound. The purpose of this information was to assess the potential effect of a possible raised median on 49th Avenue on the eastbound approach to Granville Street, where the median would now limit access to the lane to/from 49th Avenue to right-turns only. This measure would reduce potential for left-turn conflicts through the eastbound vehicle queue on 49th Avenue extending back from Granville, both for lane traffic and for future traffic using the proposed driveway access to the seniors’ project. A total of 83 vehicle movements were recorded during the 12-hour period either turning in/out of the lane, the majority of which (54) would not be affected by a right-in right-out configuration (i.e., traffic entering the lane from the west and exiting to the east).

4.4 Bus and Pedestrians Counts

Based on our observations during the site visits, traffic operations at the intersection was generally very satisfactory during the summer. However, we recognize that the intersection operation becomes more pressured during the school year, largely on account of the pedestrian/vehicle interaction associated with the bus passenger transfers. Granville Street today is served by a local bus service (#10), suburban buses (such as #351), and the 98 B-Line which contributes the highest number of passengers, including passengers travelling/transferring to Langara College. Next year when the new Canada Line rapid transit service commences operation, the 98 B-Line service will be terminated and the major transfer point will become Cambie Street. For the purpose of our study, this information is valuable as it indicates that there will be a significant reduction of pedestrians at the Granville and 49th Avenue intersection which will improve traffic operations at the Granville/49th intersection during the school months. In order to determine the split of passengers using the 98 B-Line at the intersection of Granville and 49th Avenue, Bunt conducted pedestrian and passenger counts at the intersection. The count was conducted on


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Wednesday, September 10/08 between 7:00 and 10:30, and between 15:30-18:30. During the count, passenger movements on the Granville buses were recorded and sorted to 3 categories: 98 B-Line, #10 bus, and other buses. In addition, pedestrian movements at all 4 legs of the intersection were also recorded. The count revealed that the 98 B-Line route contributes approximately 55% of the number of pedestrians to the intersection, on average. The suburban routes contribute 25%, and the local route contributes the other 20%. As such, when the 98 B-Line service is ended next year, there is expected to be a reduction of at least 55% of the pedestrian movements through the intersection during peak traffic periods, and as a result, improved traffic operation on 49th Avenue. Another issue linked to the transit passenger transfer/high pedestrian volumes at this location was noted during the September 10th count. Bus stop #51959 between the lane and Churchill Street is very popular among students travelling to Langara College. The stop provides a better opportunity to board the bus (and obtain a seat) than the stop at Granville Street. Passenger boardings at this stop required over one minute to complete during peak traffic periods, and resulted in a queue of vehicles behind the bus that required four complete traffic signal cycles to clear. The requirement for a bus stop at this location so close to the next closest stop on the east side of Granville should be reviewed. The removal of this stop, perhaps once the 98 B-Line service is ended next year, would further improve traffic operations on the eastbound 49th Avenue approach to Granville.

4.5 Comparable Facility Site Traffic Count - Nikkei Home, Burnaby

For comparison purposes, Bunt & Associates conducted a count of driveway traffic at a comparable seniors’ assisted living housing project, the Nikkei Home development at 6680 Southoaks Crescent in Burnaby. The Nikkei count was conducted from 7:00 to 19:00 on Wednesday, July 16/08. All vehicles entering and exiting the site were recorded, both at the parking access and the passenger drop off location. It is noted that the parking area is shared with a nearby community centre, and therefore the observed traffic volumes overstate the traffic associated with the seniors’ housing project. For the 12 hour count period, a total of 98 automobile trips (49 entering and 49 exiting were observed), plus one garbage truck accessing the seniors’ project. It is worth mentioning that prior to the count at around 6:45AM, there were only few cars (~5) in the resident parking lot, out of about 25 available spaces.

4.6 Site Visit to Louis Brier Assisted Living Home


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A short visit to Louis Brier Assisted Living Home was conducted to observe peak period traffic and parking activity at this facility. Similar to Nikkei, Louis Brier also has the passenger pick-up/drop-off area and the underground parking area accessed by a single driveway connecting to the area street system (in the case of Louis Brier, a right-turn in/out access to 41st Avenue).

5. Site Traffic Analysis As evident from the day-long survey of traffic at the Nikkei Home seniors’ housing project in Burnaby, the site traffic volume generated by a seniors’ assisted living development are generally quite moderate. Based on Bunt & Associates database information for seniors’ assisted living developments, including the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) Trip Generation Handbook (v7), for the 62 living unit development proposed at Granville and 49th, the weekday AM peak hour site traffic is predicted to be 9 vehicles (6 inbound and 3 outbound), and the weekday PM peak hour site traffic at 14 vehicle trips (6 inbound and 8 outbound). This information is summarized in Table 1 below. These figures include staff and visitor traffic as well as service vehicle/loading activity. Even for the more active weekday PM peak period, the predicted site traffic represents, on average, one vehicle every 4 minutes added to the area road system. Table 1: Site Traffic Analysis – Vehicle Trip Generation

Split Trips Time Rate In Out In Out Total

Weekday AM Peak 0.14/Bed 65% 35% 6 3 9 Weekday PM Peak 0.22/Bed 44% 56% 6 8 14 Weekday All Day 2.66/Bed 50% 50% 82 82 164 Saturday All Day 2.20/Bed 50% 50% 68 68 136 Sunday All Day 2.44/Bed 50% 50% 76 76 152

Daily traffic volumes over 24 hour period are estimated in the range of 160-170 vehicles, i.e., 80-85 inbound trips and 80-85 outbound trips. Saturday and Sunday traffic volumes, with typically more visitor activity and less staff (administrative) activity, are typically slightly less than weekday volumes. Vehicle access to the passenger pick-up/drop-off area at the facility’s front door and to the underground parking beneath the building is proposed at a new driveway located approximately 47 metres west of the 49th Avenue intersection with Granville Street, and 8 metres east of the rear lane access with 49th Avenue. As mentioned previously, right-turn in/out access is recommended for this proposed driveway and for the adjacent rear lane on account of potential left-turn conflicts with existing eastbound vehicle queues on 49th extending back from the Granville intersection.


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To control the right-turn in/out access at both the site driveway and the lane access intersection, a raised median along 49th from Granville Street west past the lane intersection is recommended. Some minor widening (approximately 3 feet required) along the south side of 49th Avenue between the rear lane and Granville may be required to facilitate the raised median traffic control device. With the minor addition of between 9 to 14 vehicle trips during the weekday AM and PM peak hour traffic periods respectively, the impact of the proposed development to area street traffic operations will be minimal.

6. Parking and Loading The City of Vancouver Parking Bylaw Section 4.2.1.12 requires 1 parking space per 100 square meters of floor area used for residential units (for units less than 50 Square metres). For the proposed development this translates to a minimum on-site parking supply requirement of 23 stalls. BC Housing guidelines for seniors’ housing developments (Section 1.4.1) requires a minimum of one parking space for every four living units or as required by municipal bylaws, whichever is greater. In our case, for the 62 planned residential units the BC Housing guidelines would require 16 parking spaces which is less than the CoV Parking Bylaw requirement of 23 stalls. The proposed 24 parking spaces for the projects satisfies both the CoV Parking Bylaw and BC Housing guidelines. Bunt & Associates’ parking database information for seniors’ assisted living projects indicates a requirement of 0.35 parking spaces per care bed / living unit. For the planned 62 unit development, this translates to a peak parking demand of 22 vehicles which can be fully accommodated on the site with no reliance on street parking. The City of Vancouver Parking Bylaw further requires that a single Class B loading space be provided for the project. This loading space is planned for the rear lane at the location where the existing north-south lane intersects the east-west lane extending to Churchill Street. This configuration allows for convenient access for delivery and garbage/recycling trucks and any other service vehicles that attend to the facility. 6. Conclusions and Recommendations A 62 unit seniors’ assisted living housing development is proposed at 6511 Granville Street in Vancouver, at the SW corner of the intersection of Granville Street and 49th Avenue. Driveway access is proposed on 49th Avenue connecting to an on-site passenger pick-up/drop-off area and to 24 parking spaces located


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beneath the new building. A separate “Class B” loading bay for deliveries and garbage/recycling pick-up is planned for the rear lane running adjacent the west side of the property. Existing traffic operations on the area street system range from very satisfactory much of the day to more congested conditions during the weekday morning and afternoon peak traffic periods, particularly on the eastbound and westbound 49th Avenue approaches to Granville Street. The existing peak period congestion on 49th Avenue can be attrributed in large measure to pedestrian/vehicle intersection at the intersection cross-walks, with much of the pedestrian traffic associated with bus transit passengers transferring between Granville Street routes and the #49 bus service on 49th Avenue. With the new Canada Line rapid transit service in 2009, the existing 98 B-Line rapid bus service on Granville Street will be terminated and the existing transfer volumes at this locations will be largely removed. With this, a significant improvement in vehicle traffic operation is expected to result without need to implement traffic capacity improvements at the intersection. The proposed seniors’ housing development is expected to generate up to an additional 9 vehicle trips during the weekday AM peak hour period (6 inbound and 3 outbound trips), and an additional 14 vehicle trips (6 inbound and 8 outbound) during the weekday PM peak hour. Saturday and Sunday traffic volumes are expected to be comparable to weekday activity, with more visitor but fewer staff trips. This minor amount of added traffic will have no significant impact to traffic operations on the area street system. To better manage traffic operation on the eastbound approach of 49th Avenue to Granville Street, it is recommended that a raised median be constructed on 49th Avenue from Granville to beyond the rear lane intersection to limit access to the lane and the new driveway to right-turn movements only. Existing left-turn traffic turning into or out from the lane onto 49th Avenue was observed to be minor, with only 29 vehicles recorded turning left in/out over a 12 hour period from 7:00 to 19:00. A minor widening (up to 3’) to the south side of 49th Avenue fronting the site between Granville and the lane may be required to facilitate construction of the raised median. The proposed 24 stall parking supply on the development site surpasses the 16 spaces suggested by BC Housing guidelines for seniors’ housing, the 23 spaces required by the City of Vancouver Parking Bylaw for this type of land use, and the 22 stall peak parking demand anticipated (staff and visitor parking included) based on Bunt & Associates’ parking database information for assisted living seniors’ housing.

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I trust that this information will be of assistance to you. Please do not hesitate to call should you have any questions. Yours truly, BUNT & ASSOCIATES

Alon Weinberger, EIT, Transportation Analyst cc. Peter Joyce

Site Location1

Site LangaraCollege

GranvilleStreet

49th Ave

UBC

Assisted Living Home on 6511 Granville

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Assisted Living Home on 6511 GranvilleSite Views

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Intersection Movements5

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101 (77)593 (533)43 (55)

29 (57)478 (452)

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52

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Documents

RE: P ROPOSED SENIORS ASSISTED LIVING PROJECT RANVILLE ... · significant and stretch up to two city blocks east and west of Granville. The eastbound 49th Avenue traffic flow is the