Planning & Zoning Commission (linked)

SLR International Corporation |
195 Church Street, 7th Floor, New Haven, Connecticut, 06510
November 8, 2024
Attention: Mr. Mark Wujtewicz
Town Planner
Town of Waterford
15 Rope Ferry Road
Waterford, CT 06385
SLR Project No.: 142.056632.00001
SLR Project Folder.: 13104.00018
RE: Proposed Affordable Housing Project Peer Review
Roberts Village Housing
430 Mohegan Ave Parkway (Route 32), Waterford, Connecticut 06405
Dear Mr. Wujtewicz:
As requested, SLR International Corporation (SLR) has reviewed the Traffic Impact Report (TIR)
prepared by F.A. Hesketh & Associates, Inc., dated February 20, 2024, and the site plan prepared
by Indigo Land Design, LLC for the proposed Roberts Village Housing, which is an affordable
housing project to be located at 430 Mohegan Ave Parkway (Route 32), Waterford, Connecticut.
The proposed residential development project has frontage on Route 32 to the east as well as
frontage to the cul-de-sac of Roberts Court.
REVIEW COMMENTS
Please find our comments below regarding the Traffic Impact Report for the proposed affordable
housing project which includes 24 residential units:
C1. Cul-de-sacs (Roberts Court) are traffic calming by design. Cul-de-sacs are intended to
slow down traffic, provide an ideal location for cyclists, and for children/residents to
play and congregate. The addition of 271 daily trips from the proposed project would
significantly increase traffic on Roberts Court. The daily percent increase in traffic on
Roberts Court and other nearby local streets (Senkow Drive) from Existing to Build
Conditions as result of the proposed residential development is not presented in the
TIR.
The TIR states a stop sign and stop bar will be located at the driveway to the proposed
development. These are traffic control devices and not traffic calming measures. The
applicant did not include any traffic calming measures in the TIR to ensure safe traffic
operating conditions due to the addition of 271 new daily trips through a former cul-de-
sac (Existing Conditions) to a through street (Build Conditions). Changing Roberts
Court from cul-de-sac to a through street will create unsafe pedestrian and vehicular
conditions. The applicant should develop a site plan that provides ingress/egress to the
proposed housing development that does not require changing Roberts Court from a
cul-de-sac to a through street,
Public Hearing
Roberts Court 8-30(g)
1 PL-24-14
Exhibit 28

Town of Waterford November 8, 2024
Proposed Affordable Housing Project Peer Review SLR Project No.: 142.056632.00001
C2.
C3.
C4.
C5.
C6.
The crash data presented in the TIS covers a time period from October 1, 2020, to October
1, 2023. More recent crash data should be included in the TIS. In addition, the impact of
the 271 new trips per day would have on the crash experience in the study area should
be presented the TIS.
A review of the site plan shows only one ingress/egress driveway to the proposed housing
development via Roberts Court. A secondary access driveway should be created to
significantly reduce traffic on Roberts Court. In addition, another driveway would provide
access to the proposed housing development in the event of an emergency and access
to Roberts Drive is blocked for some unforeseen event.
On November 5, 2024, SLR (Anthony Russo) had a discussion with Scott Hesketh, the
applicant's traffic engineer, and he stated that the applicant is considering a secondary
driveway via Route 32, and it may be a right-turn out only. The creation of a right-out only
driveway may not significantly reduce through traffic on Roberts Drive and depending on
the construction of this driveway it may not provide safe ingress/egress for emergency
services.
Gary Sojka at CTDOT Bureau of Policy Planning should be contacted to obtain the growth
rate and information regarding any other background developments within the proposed
development’s vicinity, whose site traffic shall be added at the study intersections to obtain
the background traffic volumes.
The site traffic distribution figure displays 140% coming out of the Roberts Court, Please
explain/revise the site traffic distribution and also update the site trips figure accordingly.
In addition to the safety comments from C1-C4, the comments C5 and C6 should also be
addressed to maintain the accuracy of the analysis performed in the TIR.
We look forward to your responses to our comments. Please let the undersigned know if you have
any questions or need additional information.
Regards,
SLR International Corporation
ata Peal p. Aanetd,
Anthony Russo Sai Sarath Chandra Pavuluri
Regional Manager — Highways & Transportation Planning Project Transportation Engineer
arusso @slrconsulting.cor spavuluri-venkate
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