Keith Schnars - Traffic Engineering and Transportation

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• ' CFEY.OF SUNNY ISLES BEACH ' SECTIONAroltiR APPROACH/METHODOLOGY • the City's land development code, and the latest traffic economically depressed business area. But an accurate • engineering research and information. assessment of parking demand coupled with an appropriate parking supply in the right location can"hit the sweet spot" • Traffic Studies–While there are many different variations of where the local community appears vibrant and alive, yet • traffic studies that may be assigned under a municipal traffic residents and visitors can easily and safely arrive at their engineering contract,the foundation of a traffic study is the destination. • Field Review and the Data collected. With 20 registered • professional engineers on staff at Keith and Schnars and our The proper estimation of parking demand begins with an key staff having more than a decade of experience each,field accurate identification of the land use. High-rise residential ® reviews will be conducted by experienced professionals who condominium towers in Sunny Isles Beach have different • can readily identify transportation deficiencies. Particularly parking demand characteristics than low-rise multi-family when responding to a citizen request, the identification of apartment buildings in suburban South Florida. Next, • the actual problem,rather than the perceived or reported the use of nationally accepted parking demand rates and • one,is invaluable. Field reviews conducted by experienced equations from the Institute of Transportation Engineer's professional transportation engineers can save valuable (ITE) Parking Generation manual and the Urban Land • dollars for the City by minimizing unnecessary expenditures Institute's (ULI) Shared Parking document should be used • for studies. to prepare a parking demand estimate. Then,depending on the compatibility of surrounding land uses,an hourly peak ® By implementing a vetting process where a professional period parking demand can be estimated. Since residential • transportation engineer first verifies the problem and the projects have different parking characteristics than retail need for additional study, Sunny Isles Beach can focus its shopping centers and office buildings, it is important • financial resources on issues that require in-depth analysis. to analyze adjacent parking areas and the land uses that • Our suggested approach allows the City to stretch populate them. This land use compatibility assessment its dollars and do more with less. avoids the overestimate of parking demand in a localized • area,and consequently,the oversupply of parking spaces. • The other critical foundation item is Data Collection. Sound and accurate data is the lynchpin for a valuable traffic The provision of the proper number of parking spaces, • study that can be used to improve the local community aka parking supply, is based on the estimated peak period • condition. An investment in data ensures that the study's parking demand, plus a "cushion" that slightly exceeds the findings are grounded in the best available information and parking demand. This"cushion,or Effective Parking Supply, • not predicated on a series of assumptions that may or may represents the number of spaces that the system operates • not be realized. Further,because of the City's location along at optimum efficiency. It provides a few additional spaces Collins Avenue and proximity to the Atlantic Ocean and to reduce the need of drivers to endlessly circle the parking • other tourist and seasonal attractions,vehicular,pedestrian, garage or surface lot attempting to find the last remaining • and bicycle volume data should normally account for empty parking space. Pursuant to ULI's Shared Parking weekend spikes of activity. The traditional data collection manual, the Effective Parking Supply is between 85% and • plan of collecting data on a Tuesday, Wednesday, and 95% occupancy of the total parking supply. Thursday may need to be augmented with Friday, Saturday, ® or even Sunday counts depending on the study. With Keith a•g f r • and Schnars' experience providing these same services for + : b A° ° R Sunny Isles Beach and other coastal municipalities, we are -I s �cli .' e ai 7rV ` - ® fully aware of your unique transportation patterns and data i s r 4+6 r��a tg=" • ® collection needs. z `�,•-,a 71.14--z• : t: ?r Parking Studies –The assessment of the parking demand r xr y* 1Yp Yrt ?;} (not the supply required by the City's code) is essential in -4 � • properly sizing a surface parking lot or parking garage. By • 41- underestimating the demand,the number of parking spaces r ® provided will be too low,which will result in localized parking . '�"?-�� deficiencies, increased congestion, decreased mobility, ® increased emissions, and increased driver frustration. By .441-4-7.1± = to S overestimating the parking demand, too many parking — dent fir ' �% • spaces will be provided which can result in a waste of valuable land and money, and create a perception of an - A i /, j KEITH and SCIA ,P.A. ® RFQI2-04-02 PAGE 31 - : % IRSFDa°�t$igr°�A"FR