Traffic requirements can be an extremely effective tool in protecting your community. Oftentimes, these requirements take the form of “conditions” included in a permit issued for a Wal-Mart development. In addition, traffic requirements can be in the form of municipal or county ordinances aimed at lessening the impact of traffic in a community; these ordinances may very well be triggered when a Wal-Mart project is proposed. It is important to remember that in the Wal-Mart context, “traffic” includes both consumer and employee car traffic to and from a Wal-Mart store and the truck traffic streaming in and out of stores to deliver products and supplies, as well as the removal of trash and waste.
Completing a traffic study is a common and useful way to studay the impact a Wal-Mart project will have on traffic in your community. The Wal-Mart developer usually retains a traffic engineering firm to do the traffic study. These studies are usually done at the expense of the applicant (the Wal-Mart developer) and purport to assess the traffic impacts from the proposed development. For example, the traffic study will assess the increase in car trips to a particular site once a Wal-Mart project is complete and compare it to the same area without the proposed project. The traffic study also attempts, among other things, to assess the appropriateness and safety of existing and proposed infrastructure and traffic controls (adequacy of travel lanes, traffic signals, stop signs, turn lanes. etc.) as well as the impacts any increases in traffic will have on surrounding residents and businesses.
Truck traffic impacts are also assessed in a traffic study. Obviously, the impacts associated with truck traffic are different than those of car traffic. Trucks are larger, noisier and necessitate their own roadway and parking considerations. The traffic study will try to determine the number of trucks that will be going in and out of the proposed Wal-Mart site, the safety and appropriateness of truck traffic controls for the site (truck turn lanes, truck turnarounds, truck traffic circulation within the site, etc.) as well as the appropriate loading and unloading zones for deliveries.
Rationale
The goal of traffic requirements in the permitting process or in the form of an ordinance is to assess and, in turn, control the impact of increased traffic from a Wal-Mart project. Is there already too much traffic in the area around the site? Are there a lot of accidents at the intersections surrounding the site? Is there a school or other facility nearby that generates bus traffic and kids walking? Is it appropriate to have truck traffic on the residential street abutting the site? These are the types of issues, among a myriad of others, that traffic requirements are intended to explore and address.
Sample Strategies, Conditions, Legislation
Attack the Traffic Study – The public hearing for a Wal-Mart project is the perfect opportunity to question the adequacy and/or veracity of the traffic study provided by the applicant. Although traffic studies are supposed to be done with hard data (that is, actual traffic counts done near the site), there are also many assumptions that creep into traffic calculations that need to be questioned. And, of course, the traffic and truck numbers are based on the applicant’s self-serving assumptions, a dubious prospect indeed. Remember that it is the applicant (the Wal-Mart developer) who has hired the engineer and who is paying for the study -- so it is safe to assume that the traffic numbers will bolster the developer’s case for the project. The best strategy is to retain a traffic expert of your own to critique the study and prepare comments for the public hearing. It is also appropriate to prepare written comments regarding the traffic study and submit them to the appropriate oversight body.
Add Conditions – Conditions can be added to a special permit to control car and truck traffic impacts by the appropriate oversight board, a local Planning Board (PB) for example. The PB usually has a fair amount of flexibility in terms of adding conditions to a particular project and are usually willing to utilize this power. Suggestions for conditions can come from the public and, again, the public hearing process offers ordinary citizens the opportunity to provide their input to the appropriate authorities. Conditions do not need to be complicated; for example:
“No truck deliveries shall be made before 7 a.m. nor after 5 p.m. on weekdays, and no truck deliveries shall be made before 9 a.m. or after 4 p.m. on weekend days.”
“No street cleaning/parking lot cleaning equipment in operation before 8 a.m. or after 6 p.m.”
“No truck traffic on Elm Street. All trucks are to use State Route 7 to the store.”
“Applicant shall add two new street lights at intersections A and B, as well as right turn lanes on C Drive and D Road.”
Except for the last of these, however, the store will be up and running before anyone can complain about violating the conditions. And if the store violates these conditions, so what? A hearing? Maybe a fine?
It’s important to assess the impact of conditions you may draft, and make sure they correspond with your goals. If the store is a done deal and you just want to help the neighbors avoid truck noise, then restrictions on delivery hours are appropriate. But if you are trying to impact whether or not the developer will still want to do this project despite public outcry, you need much stronger conditions. Here are three examples:
“Applicant shall at its own expense widen Main Street in accordance with current highway construction standards, so that there are three travel lanes and one turning lane in each direction, and shall provide all customary betterments, including sidewalks, granite curbing, fire hydrants, and automatic traffic control signals, including left-turn arrow sequences, automatic and manual pedestrian sequences, and both timed and demand-sensitive activation.”
“Prior to receiving an occupancy permit, develop shall bring all intersections within one mile of the project site to current functional and safety standards.”
“Prior to receiving an occupancy permit, developer shall build a retaining wall not less than 10 inches thick along the entire lot line with the playground.”
Traffic Ordinances, Guidelines – There are a variety of ordinances that can be fashioned to control traffic impacts from Wal-Mart projects. For example, among others:
Actual Examples
Examples from Maricopa County, AZ, San Jose, CA, and the state of Connecticut View PDF
