HomeMy WebLinkAboutTraffic Letter 2015-12-18 M1198 Vail Cascade.pdf December 18, 2015
Town of Vail
Attn. Mr.Tom Kassmel, PE,Town Engineer
1309 Elkhorn Drive
Vail, CO 81657
RE: Vail Cascade Resort &Spa
Trip Generation/Parking Letter
Vail, CO
Tom:
McDowell Engineering has prepared this letter summarizing the anticipated traffic impacts of Vail
Cascade Resort & Spa's proposed project. The applicant wants to convert their underutilized tennis
courts, located on top of the parking structure (Unit 4), to additional private garage parking. The fourth
floor of the Cascade's existing parking structure would be repurposed and modified to accommodate
approximately 81 new parking spaces.
Background
Vail Cascade Report & Spa is a ski-in/ski-out full service resort. The hotel contains approximately 292
guestrooms, conference and meeting room space, a restaurant/bar, and some hotel retail space that
serves the hotel guests. The resort is also home to the Aria Athletic Club & Spa. The athletic club has 3
indoor tennis courts, located on the fourth floor of their existing parking structure and 3 outdoor tennis
courts located on the west end of the resort. There are other ancillary uses within the facility. The
restaurant, bar, and retail facilities are open to the public but primarily used by hotel guests given the
resort nature of the property and it sequestered location. Primary trips to these retail and restaurant
facilities are quite rare. The athletic club is available to hotel guests and private members of the Aria
Athletic Club.
The existing parking structure is located on the north side of Westhaven Drive. Levels 1 and 2 of the
structure are for hotel and hotel related facilities and users. They are not open to the general
public. Level 3 is required to be open to the public during the ski season. It is generally operated as
public parking.
The existing number of parking spaces in the structure are:
• Level 1: 136 spaces (Resort&Spa)
• Level 2: 136 spaces (Resort&Spa)
• Level 3: 149 spaces (Public during ski season)
4TThe during conference events it is not uncommon for the existing structure to be parked to capacity.
CDOWELL 1
ENGINEERING ,
RANSPORTATEON ENGINEER,NG CONSULTANTS EAGLE • BROOMFIELD • GRAND JUNCTION 970.623.0788 • MCDOWELLENG.COM
Project Description
The applicant is proposing to convert the existing 3 indoor tennis courts on the fourth floor of the
parking structure and a exterior parking area to approximately 81 new parking spaces. The new level 4
parking would serve only the Vail Cascade Resort & Spa and related facilities as a private parking
facility.
The proposed site plan accommodates direct access from the proposed fourth floor parking to
Westhaven Drive. The proposed access is located at the southeast corner of the existing parking
structure, 140 feet south of the South Frontage Road intersection with Westhaven Drive.
Trip Generation/Parking Generation
The proposed additional parking spaces are anticipated to generate additional vehicle trips to and from
the parking structure. The Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) publishes national parking rates
and trip generation rates for specific land uses. These rates were used to compare the number of
parking spaces to the associated number of additional vehicle trips. Per their 2010 Parking Generation
Manual, 4th Edition; a resort hotel requires 1.59 parking spaces per room. Working backwards from the
85th percentile parking rate, the additional 81 parking spaces is anticipated to adequately park the resort
guests and staff associated with 51 occupied rooms. ITE's anticipated trip generation (per ITE's 2012
Trip Generation Manual, 9th Edition) for 51 occupied rooms is 19vph in the morning peak hour and 25
vph in the evening peak hour.
This would consist of 14vph entering the site and 5vph leaving the site during the morning peak hour.
The evening peak hour could anticipate 11vph inbound and 14vph outbound.
This is a relatively low volume of additional traffic on the adjacent street network. In reality, the
additional parking spaces at the parking structure will likely directly offset the amount of Cascade traffic
utilizing the roadway network to access other parking facilities.
It should be noted that the ITE parking generation rates were used to help identify a conservative
estimate of peak hour traffic. Given the complexities of this SDD, the mixed use aspects of the property,
transit van and hotel shuttle use, the regional and local bus system, and its location in Vail, these
assumptions tend to over estimate demand and trips.
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F ENGINEERING ,
8 TRANSPORTATECN ENGINEER,NG CONSULTANTS EAGLE • BROOMFIELD • GRAND JUNCTION 970.623.0788 . MCDOWELLENG.COM
Conclusion
The additional traffic associated with the proposed parking expansion will offset the amount of Cascade
traffic utilizing the roadway network to access other parking facilities. The new parking provided is
anticipated to also free up 81 parking spaces at other public parking facilities including capacity on Level
3.
Sincerely,
McDowell Engineering
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Kari McDowell Schroeder, PE, PTOE
Traffic/Transportation Engineer
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8 TRANSPORTATEON ENGINEER,NG CONSULTANTS EAGLE • BROOMFIELD . GRAND JUNCTION 970.623.0788 . MCDOWELLENG.COM