TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT PLAN (TMP) FRENCH-AMERICAN SCHOOL OF NEW YORK

Transcription

1 Environmental and Planning Consultants 34 South Broadway Suite 401 White Plains, NY tel: fax: TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT PLAN (TMP) ************************************************************* FRENCH-AMERICAN SCHOOL OF NEW YORK AUGUST 6, 2012 REVISED: FEBRUARY 22, 2013 REVISED: JULY 15, 2013 AKRF, Inc. New York City Hudson Valley Region Long Island Baltimore / Washington Area New Jersey Connecticut

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3 A. TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT PLAN FASNY has prepared a Traffic Management Plan (TMP). 1 This TMP would be reviewed and approved by the City of White Plains to accommodate traffic during school peak hours and special events. The TMP includes the following: 1. Bus Transportation FASNY would implement a mandatory busing policy (75 percent utilization) to reduce automobile trips to the Project Site. As part of the Enrollment Agreement, parents (except those of students in Grades N-K) would be required to sign an agreement that states that students would use the school bus if school bus service is available. FASNY would allow for certain limited exceptions to this mandatory busing program based upon a case-by-case assessment of factors affecting the student s transportation (e.g., unique personal, curricular, or extra-curricular circumstances). See the attached document from the German School that contains a similar requirement relating to use of public school buses. In the event that any host community terminates their existing busing of private school students, FASNY would conduct a bus utilization survey and survey trips into and out of the FASNY campus. These surveys would be provided to the City of White Plains and would be used to ensure that the mitigation identified in the FEIS is adequate for the actual traffic volumes generated by FASNY at that time. FASNY has determined that the mitigation identified in this FEIS would accommodate up to 530 trips (in and out) (approximately a 28 percent increase over the estimated 417 trips). Based on this analysis, this would reflect a decrease in bus utilization from 75 percent to 55 percent. If such reporting of bus utilization indicates that less than 75 percent of FASNY students are using buses, but FASNY s total trips (in and out) do not exceed 530 vehicles, no additional mitigation or investigations would be required. If, however, utilization drops below 75 percent and trips exceed 530 vehicles, the City would require FASNY to conduct additional traffic analysis to determine what additional mitigation might be required. 2. On-Site Circulation FASNY s revised Site circulation plan no longer requires monitors to enforce potential conflicts between school buses, automobiles, and pedestrians. While not needed based on the new Site Plan design, FASNY monitors would be used to facilitate drop-off and pick-up operations (e.g., matching children with their parents car, etc.) in the designated drop-off/pick-up zones on Parcel A for the High School and Middle School and on Parcel D for the Lower School. FASNY at the beginning of each school year would determine the number of monitors needed. There would be alternates available in the event of illness, vacation, etc. All FASNY monitors would be trained by FASNY prior to the start of each school year and periodically as needed throughout the year. 3. Access To prevent FASNY vehicles from cutting through the local neighborhoods, FASNY would ensure that vehicles arriving to and departing the Project Site would follow prescribed paths. All FASNY vehicles using Hathaway Lane to arrive and depart from the new campus would be directed to arrive and depart to the south via Ridgeway, preventing FASNY vehicles from cutting-through Hathaway Lane from and to the north. No left and right turns out of the FASNY driveways onto Hathaway Lane northbound would be permitted (this restriction would also be posted with a No 1 This draft Traffic Management Plan (TMP) was prepared for the Modified Proposed Project with Ridgeway access. A revised TMP would be developed should another access option be selected. The revised TMP would be subject to review and approval by the City of White Plains as part of the Special Permit/Site Plan approval process. 1

4 Left Turn and No Right Turn signs). FASNY would communicate this restriction to all parents and to the private bus companies serving the school. For the North Street access option, Hathaway Lane would be demapped south of 57 Hathaway Lane and only emergency vehicles and delivery vehicles would utilize Ridgeway. 4. Student Drop-Off/Pick-Up FASNY staff would monitor traffic at the student pickup/drop-off areas within the Project Site to ensure the safety of all students, staff, and visitors. FASNY staff would direct on-site traffic along the main driveway and within the Grades 1 to 5 drop-off/pick-up area. FASNY staff would ensure that vehicular traffic and pedestrian traffic operates in a safe manner. 5. Monitoring As part of its Traffic Management Plan FASNY would commit to third party license plate monitoring at locations specified by the City of White Plains to ensure that FASNY vehicles are not utilizing the surrounding residential streets to travel to and from the Project Site. FASNY is committed to this third party inspection on a semi-annual basis. In addition, during these semiannual inspections, Gedney Esplanade, Gedney Park Drive and Hathaway Lane (north of the Project Site) would be monitored to ensure that FASNY vehicles are not dropping off and picking up students on these streets. FASNY vehicles (parents and students) would be required to display a windshield sticker or plaque as an additional way to distinguish FASNY vehicles from other vehicles in the area. FASNY would take appropriate disciplinary action against families not following this restriction. There would be a FASNY school official assigned to work with the City of White Plains and the community on the monitoring program and this person would be available throughout the year to ensure that there is on-going communication as needed. As described, FASNY would identify a school official (liaison) for the local community and City of White Plains to contact regarding the proper management of the TMP or to address specific traffic and parking problems as they occur. The school official would be available during school hours and after-school special events. The school official s name and phone number will be provided to the community representative and the Deputy Commissioner of Parking for Transportation Engineering. FASNY would provide advance notice of any special events to appropriate officials in the City of White Plains, including the Department of Public Safety. FASNY would commit to annual review of traffic operations near the Project Site with the City of White Plains to determine if the Traffic Management Plan needs to be revised. FASNY would commit to conducting new traffic analyses at appropriate locations prior to FASNY ever proposing to shift regular school starting or dismissal times. 6. Student Parking Student parking by high school students would be by permit only. 7. Snow Removal As part of the Traffic Management Plan there would be provisions for snow removal (storage areas) and Project Site maintenance to ensure safe operating conditions. 8. Miscellaneous Crossing guards would not be required as part of the TMP. FASNY monitors would direct all operations on-site. As needed, the TMP would be in-place during summer camp and for athletic and special events. 2

5 FASNY would conduct periodic inspections of vehicles to ensure that stickers are present and properly displayed. FASNY would send out reminders to parents that displaying stickers on their cars is mandatory. The directions to the school on the website and on all FASNY promotional materials for events would instruct all traffic to utilize either Ridgeway or North Street to access the school. The FASNY coordinator would be available to meet with the City of White Plains as needed to discuss any issues that may arise regarding the TMP. B. SPECIAL EVENT TRAFFIC CONDITIONS Special events at the FASNY campus could include student performances, sporting events, and parent/teacher meetings and would likely occur after the PM commuter hour (7:00 PM to 9:00 PM) when adjacent street traffic is low. The implementation of the adaptive signal control, or an equivalent system approved by the City, mitigation measures identified for peak hour operations would be available during special events to accommodate traffic generated by the special events. The Traffic Management Plan would be implemented during special events to direct traffic onto the Project Site and to the appropriate parking areas. It is anticipated that all parking for special events would be accommodated on-site. The Modified Proposed Project provides 378 parking spaces on the Campus. In the instance that additional parking is needed, FASNY would be able to use the main driveway on Parcel A to accommodate an additional 80 parked cars while still maintaining access for emergency service vehicles. The driveways in front of and circling the Lower School on Parcel D could accommodate an additional 70 parked cars while still maintaining access for emergency service vehicles. Thus, the Project Site can accommodate a total of 534 parked vehicles. People attending the special events that generate the largest typical attendance (300 people for the High School musical and 500 people for the Spring fair) would typically car-pool to the Project Site and would require only 150 to 250 parking spaces. Parking on public streets surrounding the Project Site is not permitted. One of the elements of the Traffic Management Plan is notification to the City of White Plains in advance of any special events to alert the Department of Public Safety. Throughout the school year, FASNY conducts special events for its students and parents. Events occur both during the regular school hours and in the evenings. All events are held indoors, except for the Spring Fair and the Halloween Parade. Any of the evening events held for Upper School (Grades 6 to 12) students are fully chaperoned. The following presents a list of special events to be held at the FASNY campus: Parent/Teacher meetings are held once per trimester (3 times per year) for parents to meet with teachers to discuss student performance. Short appointments are scheduled and are held over a three day period. Lower School appointments are held in the morning. Middle School and High School appointments are held in the evening until 9:00 PM. Approximately 100 to 200 parents attend on each day the meetings are held. High School musical, which typically attracts 200 to 300 people, is held in the evening. Accounting for carpooling, this would be equivalent to 100 to 150 vehicles. The FASNY Spring Fair is held on a Saturday in June and attracts 500 or more people throughout the day, and would generate 200 to 300 vehicles over the course of the day. Therefore, it is anticipated that the peak hour of this event would generate less vehicles than the peak hour of a typical school day. A Halloween Parade is held at 2:00 PM on Halloween for Grades N to 5. Approximately 200 parents attend. 3

6 The Lower School and Middle/High School hold separate Winter and Spring concerts that attract 100 to 300 people. The Lower School concerts are typically held at 9:00 AM. The Upper School concerts are held in the evening. Student dances are held twice each trimester (6 times per year). The dances occur within the cafeteria and run from 7 PM to 11 PM. Typical attendance is 80 to 100 students. Two art shows are held in the Spring on separate evenings (one for Lower School, one for Middle/High School) from 7:30 PM to 9:00 PM. Typical attendance is 250 people. Graduation ceremonies for the Kindergarten, 5th, 8th, and 12th grades are held in the spring. The Kindergarten, 5th, and 8th grade ceremonies are held at 9:00 AM and attract 100 to 200 people. The 12th grade ceremony is held on a Sunday afternoon and attracts approximately 350 people. 4

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