4- Cars Per Hour Is Not the Problem

RUPCO left a vital element out of its (Playhouse Lane & Route 212) intersection traffic analysis. It omitted the parking lot at Playhouse Plaza, (which is DIRECTLY across from Playhouse Lane in the intersection,) thereby completely misrepresenting the vehicular activity and safety concerns resulting from the proposed project.

In its Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS), RUPCO used standard vehicle trip generation numbers to project the number of vehicles entering and exiting Playhouse Lane, at Route 212. (Tables 15A and 15B.) Nobody seemed to have a problem with these figures. I don't have a problem with the figures used by RUPCO in the traffic diagram it chose; I have a problem with the diagram itself .

(Note that the numbers are for 63 units of housing, not the currently proposed 53 units. Also note that existing baseline traffic is not factored in to these numbers.)

RUPCO's morning peak hour, which I have to infer from the graph, is 8-9 AM, shows 7 cars entering and 28 cars exiting Playhouse Lane. The PM peak hour, which I must infer from the graph, is 5-6 PM, shows 34 cars entering and 18 cars leaving Playhouse Lane.

Here, in diagram form, are some other numbers for the evening peak hour, showing not 34 but 40 cars entering, and not 18 but 30 cars exiting Playhouse Lane. Perhaps these higher numbers reflect the addition of the existing traffic on these roads?

RUPCO has figured out that this increase in traffic will not cause more than an extra five seconds of waiting, on average, per trip, for cars entering or exiting Playhouse Lane. There appears to be no problem. But wait, there is a problem.

The problem is, the intersection of Route 212 and Playhouse Lane is not really a true "T" intersection. There is a very wide parking lot directly across from Playhouse Lane, the one serving Playhouse Plaza. By very wide, I mean 180 feet. Yes, that's right. There is a parking lot open for cars to pull in and out, front first or back first, that runs a full 180' along Route 212. If you know Woodstock, you know this place. Playhouse Plaza contains Lori's catering and coffee shop, the Woodstock Film Festival Office, a copy and printing store, and more. Except for less than 14' where a grassy island protects two poles and a hydrant from cars, a 180 foot stretch is open to cars, for parking. There are no lines delineating parking spaces. Many cars that pull into this parking lot either back out, across one or two lanes of traffic, or pull out front first. Note that this pulling in and often backing out of the parking lot happens on a State Highway. How many cars are we talking about here? Approximately three and a half times as many cars pull into and out of this parking lot as enter or exit Playhouse Lane.

RUPCO's traffic analysis error was an error of omission. The legal arguments used in the Final Environmental Impact Statement carry no weight because the cases cited did not involve a hazardous intersection that the proposed projects would make more hazardous. Instead, the cases dealt with increased traffic. The difference is that in Woodstock, at the intersection in question, the increased traffic is making a dangerous intersection not only more congested and slower moving, but a lot more dangerous. The case law is relevant only to the traffic volume and congestion that will increase as a result of the project.

Since RUPCO failed to characterize the intersection as a de facto four way intersection, their analysis holds little weight. The cases cited to prove that the intersection will be both fluid, in terms of traffic, and safe, cited cases that involved places where roads and access were not misrepresented or misdrawn on the map.

All you have to do is watch the videos below to see that there are three and a half times as many cars entering or exiting Playhouse Plaza parking log as there are cars entering or exiting Playhouse Lane.

For those of you willing to take my word for the numbers, or with something better to do than count cars in real time on my videos, the diagram below summarizes the number of cars making several different kinds of trips through this intersection, on October 22, from 8:42 AM to 9:42 AM.

Here are the highlights for the hour videotaped:

Number of cars entering or exiting Playhouse Lane: 19.
Number of cars entering or exiting Playhouse Plaza parking lot: 67.
Number of cars backing out of Playhouse Plaza parking lot into traffic: 24.

How can any analysis of this intersection that does not include car movement into and out of the parking lot be taken at all seriously? This is the question I put to the Planning Board.

In later posts, we will explore the seriousness of this unsafe parking lot, and also how we might solve this real safety problem.