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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1978-08-14 332 AF ORDER332 AF Intradueed by Counrilor sassy, August 14, 1978 CITY OF BANGOR (TITLE.) wl/rUrr Possible Reclassification of Burleigh Road BY W City CW a a 11 ofdw City of Bangor: ORDERED, THATWHEREAS, the Comprehensive Plan of the City of Bangor, as adopted in 1969, classifies Burleigh Road extending from Broadway to Essex Street as an Arterial Street, so as to even- tually provide a circumferential belt from Union Street, by way of Griffin Road, Strickland Road, and Burleigh Road, extended to Hogan Road, and WHEREAS, the 1978 Capital Street Reconstruction Program includes provisions for reconstructing Burleigh Road for a distance of 2,000 feet East from Broadway, and WHEREAS, Arterial Street designation would dictate the need for either (1) a 24 foot wide paved surface with 8 foot gravel shoulders and open ditches on both sides, or (2) a 40 foot paved width with a storm sewer system, end - WHEREAS, a Petition has been received from. varigj}s property owners on Burleigh Road, opposing any widening of the road beyond its present width, S copy of said Petition being attached, NOW, THEREFORE, be it ORDERED, that the Planning Board be and hereby is directed to reconsider the present classification of Burleigh Road between Broadway and Essex Street, and to submit a Report to the City Council for further action. STATEMENT OF FACT The existing street has a 24 foot wide paved width with approxi- mately 4 foot wide shoulders and open ditches, with no adjustments in the width having been made since 1958. The reconstruction as proposed by the City Engineer would bring the road in conformance with the classification as presently recommended by the Comprehensive Plan, whereas the reconstruction of the road to its present width, as recommended by the Petition, would barely meet the requirements for a Residential I Street. 332 AF IN CIW COUNCIL 0 R U E R August 14, 1978 Title, D CITY CLERK Possible... Aeclassificet ion of Bnxlel.. Read . .............. I........ I.............. Introduced d f d by ��_ 3.; I 333 AF I ad a Resident of Burleigh Mad. i oppo88 any widening of the road beyond its present width. It should be repaved and the stoma draimge should be added. - 333, p I ato a Resident of garletgh Road. I oppose any widening of the road beyond its peasant vidta. It Should be reposed and the Storm drainage, should be added. GU 63 3 4 Edi, ow Ra CCU)"Pl �Raagon the amts, of Mains—the Gaamay to Maiui Monk Woods and Seashore RLI RODNEY G. WKAY CITY HALL eNP"r LANNON, MAINE GLEN P.M" 0111.. 0% of �Iamgor, 'Main DATE: August 23, 1978 TO: The Honorable City Council FROM: The Planning Board SUBJECT: Possible Reclassification of Burleigh Road Council Order No. 332 AF Please be advised that the Planning Board at its meeting on August 21, 1978 reviewed the request for reconsideration of the classification of Burleigh Road initiated at the August 14, 1978 Council meeting. The Planning Board voted to table this item until their meeting of September 18, 1978 in order to have sufficient time to review the concerns expressed by area residents at the August 21st meeting and to have prepared and reviewed information from the Planning Staff on this issue. The Planning Board would like to submit a report to the City Council for its mee[i.� on September 25, 1978 if such a time table would meet the Council a needs. Bangor, the anter of Maim—the Gateway to Maine's North Woods and Senrhore Roasts RODNEY 0. MCKAY CITY HALL "GA.. SANGm. MAINE 04MG sIa.i.e office, Og of Cesar• DIPARTMENT of PLANNING nd COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT MEMORANDUM DATE: September 20, 1978 TO: The Honorable City Council FROM: The Planning Board RE: Possible Reclassification of Burleigh Road Council Order 332 AT At your request the Planning Board has reviewed the classification of Burleigh Road between Essex Street and Broadway. At its meeting on August 21, 1978, the Board heard from the residents of Burleigh Road and Essex Street area as to their feeling about the present classification and future function of Burleigh Road. The Board then requested that the Planning Office prepare a report (which is attached) on this question for their review by the next seting (This report was given to the Planning Board at their meeting on September 5, 1978.) and that the item be placed on the September 18, 1978 Agenda for action. At its meeting on September 18, 1978, the Planning Board voted to recommend to the City Council that Burleigh Road between Broadway and Essex Street continue to be designated as an arterial street. This action was based on the conclusion by the Board that the present use and traffic volume (19DO care per day average daily traffic in 1977) warranted such a designation. (The vote was four in favor, none opposed, and one abstention.) The Board also moved that the proposed connector from Essex Street/ Burleigh Road area and the Rogan Road/Stillwater Avenue area be main- tained in the City's Major Street Plan and that the City Council be requested to direct the City Engineer's Office to conduct a preliminary engineer"ng study to enable the City to decide if such a connector was economically feasible and what the probable location of such a facility might be. (The Board supported this motion unanimously.) The Board's request of the City Council was Based upon a concern to have the City decide definitely whether the proposed connector should be in the circulation plan or out. If it becomes necessary to eliminate this proposal from the plan the Planning Board feels that study of alternatives to the. City's circulation problems and proposed solutions should be started immediately. '6 r o n r Planning Officer DATE: September 5, 1978 TO: The Planning Board FROM: The Planning Staff SUBJECT: Burleigh Road Reclassification and its Relationship to the Major Street Plan. Background Burleigh Road is classified as an arterial street in the Major Street Plan in the Comprehensive Plan (Page 55). The City Council has requested that the Planning Board "reconsider the present classification of Burleigh Head between Broadway and Essex Street and to submit a report to the City Council for further action" (Council Order 332 AF). The proposal in the 1978 Capital Street Reconstruction Program included the reconstruction of Burleigh Road for approximately 2,000 feet east from Broadway and this proposal brought about concern on the part of residents of the area which in turn prompted the Council Order. The Council Order notes the fact that there is a proposal to provide a circumferential system of arterial streets from Hagan Road to Essex Street, Broadway and Union Street. There are, in fact, two separate but inter -related policy positions to evaluate: 1. Whether Burleigh Road is properly classified as an arterial street in its present use and function in the highway system as a connector between Essex Street and Broadway; and 2. Whether the proposed new arterial from Hogan Road to Burleigh Road has merit. Existing Conditions Burleigh Road connects Broadway to Essex Street, a distance of a little over one mile. This area is largely undeveloped with approximately a dozen homes spread out along the street. The Bomarc Industrial area is serviced by Burleigh Road approximately 1500 feet from its junction with Essex Street. A 1977 average annual daily traffic count at the intersection of Burleigh Road and Broadway was 1900 cars, - just under the projected figure of 2,000 cars anticipated in the middle 1980'0 in the Compre- hensive Plan. 1978 turning movement counts indicate that traffic at the Burleigh Road and Broadway intersection isabout equally distributed between in- town connection between Burleigh Road and Broadway and a through movement exchange between Burleigh Road and Strickland Road, while there is a heavy out-of-town movement from Burleigh Road to outer Broadway during the afternoon peak hours. This would indicate that the Stuart traffic is certainly influencing utilization of Burleigh Road at this time. Both the averagge daily traffic figure of 1900 cars in 1977 and the hourly volumes of over 200 cars per hour would indicate that therer a con- siderable amount of traffic which is using Burleigh Road as athrough street or as access to the Bomarc site. Comprehensive Plan Proposal The proposal in the present Comprehensive Plan is for a circumfer- ential arterial system which would actually tie in the Od11n Road, I-395 area, by way of Illinois Avenue to Griffin Road, Strickland Road, Burleigh Road and with the proposed connector to Hogan Road. This system was one of the major proposals of the major street plan at that time. The Plan called for immediate realignment and widening of the required right,-of- way in order to reduce costly acquisitions at a later date. Some of this right-of-way has been acquired and the improvements in the Griffin Road and Strickland Road rights-of-way are basically the first steps to implement this proposal. Burleigh Road Without the Hogan Road Tie-In The proposal to widen the pavement on Burleigh Road to 40 feet in the 1978 Street Reconstruction Program was made on the assumption that arterial street specifications were necessary for Burleigh Road in its present capacity (rather than on the assumption that the circumferential system was to be constructed).for safety as well as traffic capacity. The proposal would be to put storm drainage underground and provide for direct access from the pavement to the existing driveways along Burleigh Road. The question of whether low density residential development belongs along an arterial street is somewhat one of individual preference. How- ever, there are extensive, high-quality single -family residential areas in the City with much higher traffic flaw volumes than Burleigh Road which have been sustained as viable neighborhoods. The assumption that - the introduction of any arterial traffic volume automatically means that the land use on such a facility must change from low density residential to some other use is clearly erroneous. At the present time, Griffin Road and Strickland Road have traffic volumes between 5,000 and 8,000 cars average daily traffic and are residential areas. Outer Hammond Street has average daily traffic between 7,000 and 8,000 vehicles and it is an extensively developed single -family residential area. Center Street is another area which has in excess of 6,000 cars average daily traffic and it has both single family and multi-family residential use. The way in which the traffic on such a facility were handled will effect the development fronting on it and with proper protection from zoning, there is no reason to believe that residential use of such areas is not possible. The fact that Burleigh Road connects two major access streets to the center of the City and is over a mile in length means that it serves a through traffic function and will continue to do so in the future. It appears from the standpoint of present and anticipated use (without the introduction of a tie between Burleigh Road and Hogan Road) that Burleigh Road must be constructed to adequate specifications to handle the existing (and some increased) traffic volumes. The proposal for reconstruction addressee itself to these needs and as such should be considered a sound one. Proposed Circumferential Arterial System The proposed link between Burleigh Road and Hogan Road is part of the over-all circumferential arterial system concept developed in the 1967 Comprehensive Plan. There have already been commitments made in terns ofrealignment of Strickland Road and additional right-of-ways have been acquired to begin the implementation of this concept. Further- more, the 1978 Turning Movement Studies indicate that the cross traffic on Griffin Road and the Griffin Road and Ohio Street intersect—Ion aU__ on the Griffin -Strickland Road alignment at the intersection of those streets and Kenduskeag Avenue is the dominant movement through these intersections. That is, that the in and out-of-town traffic on Ohio Street and Kenduskeag Avenue is considerably leas than the cross-town traffic between Union Street and Broadway. This verifies, to a certain extent, the function of this link in the proposed circumferential system. The question has been raised as to alternatives to the existing proposal. There are several problems with such alternatives: (1) the existing bridge over the Kenduskeag Stream is a facility which cannot be duplicated without considerable expense; (2) the investment in Griffin Road and Strickland Road alignment and rights-of-way is one which is substantial in terms of implementing this proposal; (3) the Burleigh Road right-of-way itself from Broadway to Essex Street being available as a link in the system is also a atnificant economic factor; and (4) alternatives between Essex Street and Broadway are extremely limited and would be very high cost in nature. A suggestion has been made that a link between Hogan Road and Essex Street could cross to the north of the Bomarc site and join outer Broadway at some point in the neighborhood of Greeley Street. This proposal would be extremely limited in terms of feasibility because of the additional cost of the link between Essex Street and Broadway and because of the limited usefulness to the rest of the highway system of such a street at that junction with Broadway. Furthermore, there might well be a tendency for traffic to be diverted from the facility at the point at which it joins Essex Street in order to get back into the Strickland Road -Griffin Road alignment. The only other option would appear to be an inner route which would leave Stillwater Avenue somewhere in the neighborhood of Gilman Road, cross Essex Street behind the High School site, cross Broadway at the tope of the hill and then proceed down an extremely steep slope across 4 the corner of the Russon College Campus, This route would have a dis- ruptive affectuponthe already congested area at the top of Broadway hi11 and would encroach upon the Husson College Campus to an extreme degree, as well as requiring considerable longer new right-of-way and construction in order to tie back into Strickland Road and the bridge. It would appear, if there were to be a link between Hogan Road and the Strickland Road alignment, that one which utilized at least a sig- nificant portion of Burleigh Road is probably the most logical and least costly alternative. (This does not mean that such a circumferential system moat be constructed.) The benefits of the circumferential system would appear to be primarily for those developed and developing areas from the Interstate alignment outward and would primarily serve Bangor residents as a cross- town route. It is questionable whether large numbers of persons from outside the community would use such a route to gain access to the Hogan Road shopping complex. Only a few Route 15 inbound travelers would pro- bably use such ac,access. However, benefits of siphoning off a certain amount of traffic either to or from the Hogan Road -Stillwater Avenue area are tremendous in terms of the reduction in pressure on a number of strategic points in the highway system such as the Hogan Road interchange, the section of Stillwater Avenue inside the Interstate where it goes through the Broadway Park area to Broadway, and, to a lesser extent, a few high volume points such as the Broadway and I-95 junction. Conclusion The conclusion from examination of trends in traffic volumes and movement through this area of the City's major street system is that the present classification of Burleigh Road is probably a necessary and desirable one. The merits of a connection between Essex Street and Stillwater Avenue in the vicinity of the Bogan Road junction are also reasonably obvious from a traffic flow point of view. One consideration in the final decision in terms of what the City's policy should be with regard to the circumferential proposal is the,type of facility which would be built to service this function. It is anti- cipated that a facility should be designed in such a way that it could be a divided street with limited access for extensive sections of it (particularly between Essex Street and Stillwater Avenue.) The facility could have additional design elements included which would reduce highway noise by such techniques as some partial separation of grades between the facility and adjacent development and with the addition of planting and other sound reduction elements. If the facility were properly designed and built, and if the City's land use policies prevented any encroachment of commercial uses into what is programmed to be a predominantly residential area (that is Burleigh Road and Essex Street) then such a facility might be an asset not only to the City's circulation system, but to the adjacent properties which front upon it.