Meeting 051895 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Dan Teichman asked for further clarification of water quality. Specifically, is the water to be used as drinking water or is it expected that it would not meet that standard. He requested that for the next meeting, a watershed map be created for overlay on the Stoney Creek Map so that this Work Group could be clear about how the watershed standards affect this community. TRANSPORTATIONJAIR QUALITY IMPACTS: Jennifer Clinger reviewed this portion of the developmental impacts. Transportation: She mentioned that Stoney Creek Basin is currently served by a network of rural two lane roads. All of the intersections in the area are unsignalized, most are served by stop signs, and a few are enhanced with flashing warning signals. Existing traffic volumes are very low on most roads, and there is considerable excess capacity. New residential and commercial development in the Stoney Creek Basin will generate additional vehicular traffic, which has serious impacts on the road network in the surrounding area. Residential development will generate trips for work, shopping, etc. Retail and office development attract people from other parts of the community, bringing even more cars into the area. If enough new trips are generated, traffic volumes will exceed available capacity, causing congestion, and possible delays at nearby intersections. Congestion problems will possibly necessitate widening of existing roads, installation of traffic signals, and construction of new highway facilities. She noted that the transportation impact analysis for the Stoney Creek Basin was problematic for a number of reasons. Most transportation impact studies are for smaller, single -site developments. The Stoney Creek Basin, on the other hand, has multiple development sites spread out over 4,5000 acres. As the Planning Group decides more specifically which types of development should occur in the basin, Orange County will conduct more in -depth transportation analysis. Nevertheless, a first -cut analysis of transportation impacts for each of the three development scenarios was completed. Increased traffic volumes impact the flow of traffic at intersections long before service levels decline on the open roadway. In light of this, traffic impact analyses has been performed for three heavily traveled intersection in the basin. The impact of development on the capacity of these intersections was assessed using a three step process. The components were then discussed. Those components are trip generation, trip assignment, and capacity analysis. Air Quality: Ms. Clinger reported that air quality is an important component of overall environmental quality. Currently, air quality in this area is well within acceptable ranges. However, air quality is of regional concern in the Raleigh- Durham area. The Triangle is currently in a state of moderate non - attainment for Carbon Monoxide, which means that air - quality violates federal standards by no more than 82 percent. This is not an uncommon state for an urban area of this size and its implications are that the region must use re- formulated gasoline during the winter months and must coordinate its transportation improvements with its air quality goals. If air quality in the entire region were to deteriorate significantly, the area would be re- classified as a serious non - attainment zone. That would require the enactment of strict transportation control measures to bring air quality down within EPA s standards. Increasing vehicular