Glens Falls Chronicle Serving the Glens Falls/Lake George region; Warren, Washington and northern Saratoga counties since 1980
By Gordon Woodworth, Chronicle News Editor
An evaluation done for Cumberland Farms by VHB Engineering says a proposed convenience store at the intersection of Routes 9 and 149 north of the factory outlets in Queensbury “is expected to have a minor impact on local traffic operations.”
The 52-page report was filed with the Town of Queensbury in advance of the project’s being a discussion item before the Planning Board on Thursday, Dec. 21.
“The intersection capacity analysis shows that the project will have minimal impact on intersection operations…as overall average vehicle delays may increase by one second or less,” says the report.
“The site driveways will operate with good levels of service as unsignalized intersections with single lanes entering and exiting the site.”
Cumberland Farms proposes to tear down The Loft ice cream and hamburger restaurant and build a 5,275-square-foot store with five fueling stations, each with two gas pumps, and two additional diesel “fueling islands.”
Cumberland Farms declined comment when we reached them via email Monday.
“Access to the Cumberland Farms is proposed via one full access driveway intersecting US Route 9 approximately 350 feet north of the signalized intersection and one full access driveway intersecting NY Route 149 approximately 375 feet east of the signalized intersection,” the report says.
It says that on a “typical weekday,” approximately 8,700 vehicles per day travel Route 9, according to the traffic volume survey conducted on May 24, 2017….NY Route 149 carries approximately 9,810 vehicles per day on a typical weekday…Peak hour turning movement counts (TMCs) were conducted at the study intersection…from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m., and again from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.,” VHB says.
The study looked into “vehicle queues,” or traffic backups, on both Routes 9 and 149, and says “review of the queue data shows that [Route 9] southbound through traffic at the signalized intersection does not reach the site driveway during the morning peak hour and the queue reached the site driveway twice during the peak hour but cleared out with the green phase [light] of the traffic signal.
“The NY Route 149 site driveway was blocked three times during the morning peak hour and nine times during the evening peak hour. The vehicle queue cleared with every cycle of the traffic signal.”
The report said that traffic volume was also collected from July 25-27, 2017 “to continuously record traffic volume data during the higher volume season.”
That data showed traffic volume was “approximately 18% higher during the PM peak hour in July than in May,” but concluded “the signalized study area intersection and the two site driveways will still operate with acceptable levels of service when traffic volumes are increased by approximately 18%.”
“It is noted that vehicle queues on the southbound and westbound approaches to the signalized intersection will be longer during these higher volume seasonal conditions,” VHB continued.
“In addition, during holidays and on weekends it is typical for US Route 9 between NY Route 149 and the northbound and southbound I-87 ramps to experience periods of congestion with slow moving traffic resulting in longer vehicle queues for vehicles entering and exiting the retail/restaurants south of the site.
“These operating conditions on US Route 9 can cause additional back-ups on NY Route 149 creating longer queues and delays. The impacts to the Cumberland Farms during these more congested time periods would be similar to what is experienced by other businesses in the corridor.”
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