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HomeMy WebLinkAbout25067 Velocity Carwash_TIS Scoping letter SENT VIA EMAIL September 15, 2025 Celine Saucier, PE Senior Civil Engineer, Morrison-Maierle, Inc. 2880 Technology Blvd. Bozeman, MT 59718 csaucier@m-m.net Transportation Impact Study (TIS) Scope for Velocity Carwash Site Plan (Application #25067) Dear Celine, This letter serves to identify the required scope of the Transportation Impact Study for Velocity Carwash Site Plan (25067). The proposed development is located at 3100 West Main Street and is a redevelopment of the former Montana Woolen Shop. The site is located directly southwest of the Gallatin Valley Mall (Mall). Currently, the site is accessible via an access directly onto West Main Street and a via a private access drive for the Mall. However, the applicant is planning to abandon the West Main Street approach which will require an encroachment permit from the Montana Department of Transportation (MDT) for any work associated with the abandonment located within MDT’s right-of-way. The applicant proposes one access to the Velocity Carwash via the Mall’s private access drive. The proposed Velocity Carwash is a single tunnel carwash with 23 parking spaces, of which 18 spaces are oversized spaces (including 1 ADA parking space) for vacuuming. A TIS was not previously prepared for the Velocity Car Wash Site Plan application. TIS have been prepared for adjacent developments including the Whole Foods in 2020 and the Gallatin Valley Mall expansion in 2022, but neither of these studies included the subject parcel or proposed development. Bozeman Municipal Code (BMC) 38.200.010.D.4 grants authority to the City Engineer to define the “requirement for a traffic impact analysis and determination of its contents” per subparagraph 38.220.060.A.11. The proposed location is immediately adjacent to Main Street and Huffine Lane, a Principal Arterial. The immediately adjacent intersections with College Street and Fowler Avenue are currently signalized. The intersection of Main Street and College Street is currently built out to the full extent identified in the City’s Transportation Master Plan. The intersection of Main Street and Fowler Avenue is included in a City capital improvement project that is currently in design. The majority of trips to a carwash can be classified as pass-by trips and therefore are not considered in the evaluation of capacity at intersections that do not provide primary ingress or egress to the carwash. The primary access to the proposed site is via an access drive to Gallatin Crossing. That access was recently modified to exclude south bound left turns on to Main Street. For these reasons, the City waives the requirements of BMC 38.220.060.A.11 subsections g & h except as identified in this letter. The specifically required TIS elements for the subject development are as follows. 1. Provide a trip generation estimate for the proposed development. Include a narrative summarizing the selected Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) Trip Generation Manual land use code, independent variables, peak AM and PM trips, as well as the estimated daily trips. Include all assumptions made to estimate site-generated trips. 2. Evaluation of the Mall’s private access road with the proposed carwash site access intersection is required. This intersection should be analyzed as a four-leg intersection and a determination should be made regarding the appropriate intersection control based on estimated vehicle volumes traveling through the intersection. 3. Provide an analysis of the proposed development’s on-site capacity for queuing vehicles. Queuing vehicles may not block the sidewalk nor overflow off-site. These TIS elements have been requested through the City of Bozeman review process via a series of review comments. Those comments are listed below. Resolution of these comments will meet the TIS requirements. The City will require that the letter or memo addressing these items be signed and stamped by a professional engineer. Ref. #12 Please provide clarification on the following items regarding the Queuing Analysis Report: The report narrative states that the Trip Generation, 9th Edition was used prior to Table 1 and then states below Table 1 that the average trip generation rate or equation are based on the 11th edition of the Trip Generation Manual. Please clarify that the current edition (11th Edition) was used or provide an explanation as to why the 9th Edition was used. Ref. #24 Please provide clarification on the following items regarding the Queuing Analysis Report: Table 1 provides site-generated peak AM and PM hour volumes for ITE land use code (LUC) 948. However, for the independent variable (IV) of "car wash tunnels" there is only trip generation data available for peak PM and Saturday. Please clarify how the 74 vehicle trips per tunnel for the peak AM hour was determined. Ref. #25 Please provide clarification on the following items regarding the Queuing Analysis Report: The tunnel queuing analysis states that the maximum queue length of 12 vehicles is anticipated during the "weekday midday peak period". There does not appear to be trip generation data available for midday peak period. Clarify whether the analysis was actually completed based on PM peak period. Ref. #26 Please provide clarification on the following items regarding the Queuing Analysis Report: Provide a more detailed explanation of the methodology used for the queuing analysis. For example, it is not clear from the reviewer perspective how it was determined that the volume for movement/adjusted flow rate is 6 vehicles per hour. How does this rate relate to the site-generated traffic provided in Table 1? Ref. #27 Please provide clarification on the following items regarding the Queuing Analysis Report: The analysis states that a traffic impact study (TIS) was already completed for the development. Please submit the previously prepared TIS for review. An analysis of the intersection of the proposed site access with the mall access route and access in front of Petco is of interest to assess the appropriate intersection control. Please contact Taylor Lonsdale at tlonsdale@BOZEMAN.NET if you have specific questions related to this letter. Taylor Lonsdale, P.E. Transportation Engineer City of Bozeman For: Emiliano Esparza, PE City Engineer Cc: Simon Lindley, City of Bozeman Development Review Engineer (for inclusion in the project file) Audrey Chorak, City of Bozeman Development Review Coordinator Emiliano Esparza, PE, City of Bozeman Engineer