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PZ23-02-05 2/28/2023 3/28/2023 4/18/2023 1 HITCHENS ASSOCIATES ARCHITECTS 3126 N. Los Alamos Mesa, Arizona 85213 (602) 615-0204 February 28, 2023 City of El Mirage 55 N. Center St. Mesa, Arizona Re: New Rally’s Restaurant 12239 W. Thunderbird Road Updated Project Narrative This project is located at the southeast corner of Thunderbird Road and El Mirage Road. The request is for a Site Plan Amendment to accommodate a new Rally’s quick service restaurant. This project was previously approved by the El Mirage City Council as Case No. PZ22-01-01 on April 19, 2022. Essentially the project is still the same as it was under the prior approval. Listed below are the changes that are being proposed to the project necessitating he need for the Site Plan Amendment process. • The building has been moved closer to the intersection. • The escape lane adjacent to the drive thru lane has been eliminated. • The trash enclosure has been relocated closer to the building. • The size of the outdoor patio has been reduced. • The building square footage has increased to accommodate a second restroom and a larger walk-in cooler. As a result of these changes, the following exhibits have been updated and are included as part of the submittal package for the Site Plan Amendment request. 1) Application Form 2) Site Plan 3) Preliminary Landscape Plan 4) Building Elevations 5) Drainage Report 6) Traffic Impact Statement 7) Preliminary Water Report 8) Preliminary Sewer Report 9) Color elevations 2 Upon further review of the project, the owner felt the need to give the building a better appearance to the neighborhood by orienting it closer to the intersection. This was accomplished by eliminating the angled parking and drive aisle in front of the building. By reducing the size of the outdoor patio, the building was also able to move to the west as well. The third drive lane to the rear of the building which served as an escape lane was determined to be no longer necessary at this location. As a result of interior floor plan changes, the access point to the building moved from the east side to the west side and thus the trash enclosure was relocated closer to this door so employees wouldn’t have as far to travel when taking out the trash. The building owner determined these revisions were necessary as they will improve overall Rally’s project. Through the reduction of unneeded paving and the introduction of additional landscaping more open space has been created. This vacant infill property will now be better utilized than previously envisioned. These new enhancements to the project will allow it to become an even better addition to the neighborhood. Sincerely, Gregory L. Hitchens 2-27-2023 DATE: 22210 PROJECT NO: GLH DRAWN BY: 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 R2 R3 R4 R1 MARK: RADIUS: R = 1'-6" R = 5'-0" R = 2'-0" R8 R5 R = 12'-0" R = 20'-0" R7 MARK: RADIUS: R = 3'-0" R = 18'-0" R9 R10 R = 36'-0" R11 R = 41'-0" R = 27'-0" R6 R = 15'-0" R1 R1 R2 R2 R2 R3 R3 R3 R4 R4 R4 R4 R4 R4 R5 R6 R6 R9 R6 R7 R8 R9 R9 R10 R10 R11 2-27-2023 DATE: 22210 PROJECT NO: GLH DRAWN BY: Rally’s Restaurant El Mirage Road and Thunderbird Road Traffic Impact Statement El Mirage, Arizona February 2023 PREPARED FOR: Chris Houser, P.E., Houser Engineering Group LLC PREPARED BY: Y2K Engineering, LLC. Project No. 23‐013 Contact: Rae Stephani PE, PTOE, RSP1; rstephani@y2keng.com 1921 S. Alma School Rd, Ste 204, Mesa, AZ 85210 info@y2keng.com 480.696.1701 Rally’s Restaurant – El Mirage, Arizona Traffic Impact Statement Page | i Table of Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ..................................................................................................................................... 1 LOCATION & DESCRIPTION .............................................................................................................................. 1 ROADWAY NETWORK & SITE ACCESS .............................................................................................................. 2 TRIP GENERATION ............................................................................................................................................ 3 TRIP DISTRIBUTION & ASSIGNMENT ................................................................................................................ 4 DRIVE‐THROUGH QUEUE ANALYSIS................................................................................................................. 5 EFFECT ON SURROUNDING AREA .................................................................................................................... 7 SUMMARY ........................................................................................................................................................ 7 List of Appendices APPENDIX A: ....................................................................................................................................... SITE PLAN List of Tables Table 1: Rally's Fast Food Restaurant Trip Generation ................................................................................... 4 List of Figures Figure 1: Vicinity Map ...................................................................................................................................... 1 Figure 2: Site Plan ............................................................................................................................................. 3 Figure 3: Trip Assignment ................................................................................................................................ 4 Figure 4: Trip Distribution ................................................................................................................................ 5 Figure 5: Summary of Michael Spack Data on Fast Food Restaurant Drive‐Through Data ............................ 6 Figure 6: On‐Site Space Available for Drive‐Through Queue .......................................................................... 7 Rally’s Restaurant – El Mirage, Arizona Traffic Impact Statement 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This traffic impact statement discusses traffic impacts to the surrounding street system for Rally’s Fast‐ Food Restaurant in El Mirage, Arizona that will allow safe operations along W Thunderbird Road and N El Mirage Road. The criteria for this study are based on the City of El Mirage Design & Development Standards Manual (DDSM). Based on the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) Trip Generation publication (11th Edition), the anticipated trip generation of the proposed development is less than 500 vehicle trips during the a.m. or p.m. peak hours. Based on the City of El Mirage DDSM, the site may require a Category I Traffic Impact Study based on the City Engineers discretion. LOCATION & DESCRIPTION Rally’s Fast‐Food Restaurant is a 1,254 square foot Fast‐Food Restaurant that will be located in El Mirage, Arizona on the southeast corner of N El Mirage Road and W Thunderbird Road. More specifically the parcel is located in the Northwest Quarter of Section 13, Township 3 North, Range 1 West of the Gila and Salt River Meridian, Maricopa County, Arizona (Figure 1). Figure 1: Vicinity Map Rally’s Restaurant – El Mirage, Arizona Traffic Impact Statement 2 ROADWAY NETWORK & SITE ACCESS The site is currently undeveloped and vacant, with multi‐family housing to the east and a fire department station to the south. The surrounding area generally consists of single‐family housing, multi‐family housing, and a K‐12 school. EXISTING ROADWAY NETWORK The existing roadway network and site access near the site includes N El Mirage Road to the west, and W Thunderbird Road to the north. N El Mirage Road located on the west side of the site is a north‐south Major Arterial roadway, per the City of El Mirage. The street is a 5‐lane roadway with 2 travel lanes and a bike lane in both directions, separated by a median/two‐way left turn lane. The posted speed limit is 35 MPH and 25 MPH during school hours. W Thunderbird Road located on the north side of the site is an east‐west Major Arterial roadway, per the City of El Mirage. The street is a 5‐lane roadway with 2 travel lanes and a bike lane in both directions and a two‐way left turn lane. The posted speed limit is 30 MPH. N El Mirage Road and W Thunderbird Road Intersection is a four‐legged intersection controlled by a traffic signal in all four directions. Northbound Approach— The northbound approach consists of a left‐turn lane, one (1) through lane, a bike lane, and a right‐turn deceleration lane. Eastbound Approach— The eastbound approach consists of a left‐turn lane, one (1) through lane, one (1) shared through/right turn lane, and a bike lane. Southbound Approach— The southbound approach consists of a left‐turn lane, one (1) through lane, and a right‐turn deceleration lane. Westbound Approach— The westbound approach consists of a dual left‐turn lane, one (1) through lane, one (1) shared through/right turn lane, and a bike lane. SITE ACCESS The site layout for Rally’s Fast‐Food Restaurant is shown in Figure 2. The development will utilize two existing access drives: one on N El Mirage Road and the other on W Thunderbird Road. The access to N El Mirage Road is located approximately 265‐feet edge‐of‐curb to edge‐of‐curb south of the intersection of El Mirage Road and Thunderbird Road, while the access to W Thunderbird Road is located approximately 325‐feet edge‐of‐curb to edge‐of‐curb east of the intersection of El Mirage Road and Thunderbird Road. Rally’s Restaurant – El Mirage, Arizona Traffic Impact Statement 3 Figure 2: Site Plan TRIP GENERATION The potential trip generation for the proposed development was estimated utilizing the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) Trip Generation Manual, 11th Edition. The ITE Trip Generation Manual contains data collected by various transportation professionals for a wide range of different land uses. The data are summarized in the report and average rates and equations have been established that correlate the relationship between an independent variable that describes the development size and generated trips for each categorized land use. This statement provides information for daily and peak hour trips. Table 1 summarizes the trip generation for the proposed site. PASS-BY TRAFFIC The proposed land use does not typically generate all new traffic on a roadway system. The ITE publication Trip Generation Handbook, 3rd Edition, 2017 defines pass by trips as intermediate stops on the way from an origin to a primary trip destination without a route diversion. Primary trips are trips where the primary purpose of the trip is to visit a specific location. Pass‐by trips are trips where the secondary purpose of the trip is to visit the store, in conjunction with some other primary trip purpose (such as driving home from Rally’s Restaurant – El Mirage, Arizona Traffic Impact Statement 4 work). Pass by trips originate from roadways directly fronting the generator. A 50% pass‐by allowance was applied for this development. Table 1: Rally's Fast Food Restaurant Trip Generation As summarized in Table 1, the project is anticipated to add a total of 29 new trips (entering and exiting) during the AM peak hour and 21 trips during the PM peak hour. TRIP DISTRIBUTION & ASSIGNMENT The generated trips for the proposed development were distributed and assigned to the surrounding street system based on existing traffic patterns and volumes. The distribution and assignment percentages used in the analysis are depicted in Figure 3. Using the trip generation estimates and the site distribution assumptions, the hourly volumes were assigned to the study network as shown in Figure 4. Figure 3: Trip Assignment Daily ID Land Use ITE LUC Total Enter Exit Total Enter Exit Total 1 Fast Food with a Drive Thru 934 1.254 KSF 586 29 27 56 21 20 41 Total Pass‐by Trips 294 14 13 27 10 10 20 292 15 14 29 11 10 21 "New" Trips Added to Street System DESCRIPTION OF LAND USE VEHICLE GENERATED TRIPS AM Peak Hour PM Peak Hour Size Rally’s Restaurant – El Mirage, Arizona Traffic Impact Statement 5 Figure 4: Trip Distribution DRIVE-THROUGH QUEUE ANALYSIS To determine the service rate for the fast‐food restaurant drive‐through, research was conducted within transportation professional journals in an attempt to identify information on typical fast‐food restaurant vehicle queues. The following report captured significant data from similar restaurants: “Drive‐Through Queue Generation”, Mike Spack, PE, PTOE, et al. 2018 The Spack Report included fourteen days of data collection at six fast‐food restaurant locations in Minnesota in 2018. Figure 5 presents a summary of historical data on fast‐food restaurant queue data available from Spack Consulting. Rally’s Restaurant – El Mirage, Arizona Traffic Impact Statement 6 Figure 5: Summary of Michael Spack Data on Fast Food Restaurant Drive‐Through Data The recommendation of the report shows that fast food restaurants with drive‐through lanes should be able to occasionally accommodate a peak queue of fourteen vehicles without spilling onto a public roadway. This is a ‘peak’ recommendation and typical queues frequently average between five (5) and twelve (12) vehicles. In order for fast food restaurants with drive‐through lanes to accommodate 12 vehicles the sites should provide approximately 300 feet of vehicle stacking space, which is calculated using twenty‐five‐foot spacing per vehicle. The vehicle stacking space begins at the food pickup window. The analysis from both reports is based on observed data and represents observations of the maximum queue at full‐service fast‐food locations. According to a study by SeeLevel HX, average wait times in restaurant drive throughs was approximately 6.5 minutes in 20211. If a maximum of 29 vehicles are expected to enter the site in a peak hour, assuming a peak hour factor of 0.8 a maximum of 9 vehicles would arrive in a 15‐minute window. With each vehicle waiting approximately 6.5 minutes (per the study), there would be an estimated five (5) cars in the drive through at the proposed site at once during the peak hour. Figure 6 shows the capacity of the drive‐through lanes. With both drive‐through lanes and the delivery pick‐ up lane open to the pickup windows, 12 vehicles could be accommodated in approximately 305 feet of space, and 8 vehicles in just the drive‐through lanes. Adequate queue storage is expected to be provided by the site. 1https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/food/2021/10/11/drive-thru-wait-times-increase-year-study- finds/6091395001/ Rally’s Restaurant – El Mirage, Arizona Traffic Impact Statement 7 Figure 6: On‐Site Space Available for Drive‐Through Queue (2 Lanes at Pickup Windows and a Delivery Pick Up Lane) EFFECT ON SURROUNDING AREA Considering the existing roadway infrastructure and surrounding land use, the proposed development is not expected to negatively impact the surrounding roadway network. SUMMARY Rally’s Fast‐Food Restaurant is a proposed 1,254 square foot Fast‐Food Restaurant that will be located in El Mirage, Arizona on the southeast corner of N El Mirage Road and W Thunderbird Road. The development is anticipated to generate 586 daily trips with 56 trips occurring during the AM peak hour and 41 trips occurring during the PM peak hour. The drive through lanes at the site are anticipated to accommodate the peak hour volumes anticipated in the drive through, with approximately 305 feet of storage space accommodating up to 12 vehicles. With the existing roadway infrastructure and surrounding land use, the proposed development is not expected to have a significant impact on the surrounding area. Rally’s Restaurant – El Mirage, Arizona Traffic Impact Statement 8 APPENDICES Rally’s Restaurant – El Mirage, Arizona Traffic Impact Statement 9 APPENDIX A: SITE PLAN 9-22-2022 DATE: 22210 PROJECT NO: GLH DRAWN BY: 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 2-27-2023 DATE: 22210 PROJECT NO: GLH DRAWN BY: