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Politics & Government

Traffic Study: Congestion Varies Among City Avenue Intersections

Some 40 residents attended a workshop on the rezoning project.

Residents and some township officials voiced concerns about traffic and increasing the height of buildings on Tuesday night when Lower Merion Township held a public workshop on the City Avenue rezoning project.

The ordinance proposes changes in use along City Avenue in Bala Cynwyd in an effort to increase commercial development.

About 40 residents attended the three-hour workshop, but many of them left after listening to the results of a traffic study of City Avenue, which was presented by Ken O’Brien, a senior project manager for McMahon Transportation Engineers & Planners, the firm which conducted the study.

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City Avenue is a road which is shared by two communities, with Lower Merion Township’s Bala Cynwyd neighborhood on one side of the avenue and Philadelphia on the other.

McMahon Transportation studied existing conditions along City Avenue by going to intersections along the road at peak times, during which time, traffic engineers counted the cars and noted the direction of the vehicles, and then determined the single highest peak hour at each intersection, O’Brien said.

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The firm then determined the level of service at each intersection and gave each a grade.  The grading system is based on a range from A, which represents very low delays of less than 10 seconds, to F, which is a congested area with a wait of more than 80 seconds at an intersection. 

Level E is considered “at capacity,” or a car getting through a light with one signal change, O’Brien said.

The City Avenue traffic study found that most of the intersections operated at Level D or better, although there were a few intersections below that level of service, O’Brien said.  Level D is considered the “preferred level of service,” O’Brien said.

The study also found that with new development, most of the intersections on City Avenue “will operate acceptably,” with the exception of two roads, Presidential Boulevard and Monument Road, O’Brien said.

O’Brien said that his firm will continue to work with the township to development a traffic improvement program for Presidential Boulevard and Monument Road.

The final step in the study was to project roadway conditions in 2030 with development that was based on the Land Use Assumptions Report, O’Brien said.

The Land Use Assumptions Report makes assumptions about how much development will take place along City Avenue over a 20-year period, said Lower Merion Township Commissioner George Manos.

O’Brien recommended improvements that could be made at several intersections along City Avenue, such as making signal timing changes to stop lights, adding right turn lanes, and in some cases construction additional through lanes. O’Brien also suggested improvements that would be needed even without development, based on projected 2030 roadway conditions.

O’Brien said his firm is in the process of putting together a cost estimate analysis for the recommended traffic improvements that were based on the Land Use Assumptions Report.

Once the cost estimate analysis is complete, the township will be able to establish a traffic impact fee which it plans to charge to new developers along the City Avenue Transportation Service Area in order to pay for the proposed traffic improvements, O’Brien said.

City Avenue Transportation Service Area (TSA) is not a zoning designation; rather the goal is to establish an impact fee for the road in order to fund transportation improvements, said Bob Duncan, director of building and planning for Lower Merion Township.

The estimated cost of all of the proposed traffic improvements, divided by the number of traffic trips which are caused by the new development, will give the township a per-trip fee to charge to the developer, O’Brien said.

Typical impact fees on the Main Line range from $1,000 to $3,000 per car trip, O’Brien said.

The traffic improvements will be constructed over time, as development occurs, which means some of the money won’t come to the township until the development occurs and the impact fee has been paid, O’Brien said.

Some members of the Board of Commissioners, as well as residents, asked how the township would get enough funds over 20 years to pay for the improvements.

Duncan said that in addition to the impact fees, the township would seek state and federal funding.

Manos said the project was “on a higher rung” because redevelopment and traffic improvements along City Avenue involve more than one municipality.

“There’s real hope, I think,” Manos said.  “We can get Philadelphia to partner with Lower Merion township to go after the funding.”

Developers will also have the option of making traffic improvements independently in lieu of paying the township an impact fee, O’Brien said.

Residents and some Board of Commissioners members said they were concerned that with development, traffic along City Avenue would increase.

Roger Moog, a representative of the Neighborhood Club of Bala Cynwyd, said, “The (traffic) problem is going to get worse in 20 years, with or without development.”

“Unless everything goes perfectly (with the proposed development and the traffic improvements) … it will only make the problem worse.”

Some residents also said they were worried that with traffic improvements, drivers may travel faster and put pedestrians’ safety at risk.

After the traffic-study report, the discussion turned to the Regional Center Area of the City Avenue District.

Marty Piltch, head of the Merion Civic Association and a member of the City Avenue Transportation Services Area Advisory Committee, said he was opposed to increasing the height of buildings as part of the proposed development plan.

“Buildings of this height are changing the character of the township,” Piltch said.

Piltch said for a maximum building height, “120 feet is adequate. If someone wanted to go to 150 feet, I don’t think we’d scream. When we’re close to residential areas, 200-foot buildings don’t belong.”

Duncan said Piltch’s point was “well-noted.”

Manos said in an interview after the meeting that he did not think that there were any issues of contention but there traffic and building height “are points of concern.”

Asked to describe the height of new buildings and whether the rezoning proposals would change the look of the City Avenue business area, Manos said that there would probably be no two buildings alike in terms of height.

While Manos said he could not look into the future, “history tells you, economically not all the buildings will be big.”

Most of the buildings will probably be of medium size, about 10 to 12 stories (120-150 feet) high, Manos said.

Currently, the highest buildings along City Avenue are 120 to 150 feet tall, Manos said.

Asked what height the development proposal calls for, Manos said, “The plan doesn’t call for anything.  It’s an ordinance that permits people to do things.  The Land Use Assumptions Report makes assumptions about how much development will take place. It doesn’t say how tall building will be. But I can tell you this: the buildings won’t be taller than the market supports.”

The Land Use Assumptions Report is part of a 20-year plan, but development under the plan isn’t expected to start until five years from now, Manos said.

The workshop was the last one of several which focused on the City Avenue District ordinance.  It is now up to the Building Planning Commission on April 13 to decide whether to recommend that the Board of Commissioners authorize a public hearing.  From there, it could go to the Board of Commissioners for a vote on whether to hold a public hearing.

The public hearing is scheduled for April 25 at 6:30 p.m., in the second-floor board room of the township administration building. 

Depending on the length of the hearing, the Board of Commissioners could vote on the ordinance the same night, Manos said.  But if the hearing runs long, the hearing could extend into a second meeting, causing the vote to be delayed until the hearing ends, Manos said.

The issue of City Avenue District—Bala Village, which was originally part of the same ordinance, was separated out.  A series of public workshops concerning the rezoning project for Bala Village and Bala Avenue will be held on April 26 and May 16, either June 2 or June 27, on July 18 and a date in August which has not been announced.

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