70443.04_Trip_Gen_01-15-2021
January 15, 2021
Carolyn Misch, AICP
Assistant Director
City of Northampton Planning & Sustainability
210 Main Street
Northampton, MA 01060
Re: Big Y Express, North King Street
Trip Generation Comparison
Northampton, CT
Dear Ms Misch:
At the request of the Big Y Supermarkets we have reviewed the anticipated impact from the traffic
generated for the proposed Gasoline Fueling Station proposed on shopping center site located at 136
North King Street. Currently there is a 2,493 square foot building consisting of a four bay Jiffy Lube
located at the northerly portion of the Center. Big Y is proposing to raze the Jiffy Lube building and
construct a gasoline fueling station. The proposed fueling station will consist of 6 fuel dispensers for a
total of 12 fueling positions. This facility will not have a convenience store associated with it, rather a
kiosk will be provided to provide oversight of the station and allow motorists to pay cash if need be.
Normally a full traffic impact study is conducted for a project such as this, however, with the presence
of the COVID‐19 pandemic and associated business shutdown and recommendations at people limit
travel, traffic volumes on the surrounding roadway network have been significantly reduced. It is
unknown when traffic volumes on the roadway surrounding the site will return to “normal” levels so
that a full traffic impact study can be completed.
The traffic impact of the proposed development is determined by calculating the number of new trips
that are expected to be generated by the proposed development. The trip generation volumes represent
the number of trips expected to be added to the roadway during the peak hours of the proposed
development. The Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) Trip Generation, 10th Edition, 2017,
supplemented January 2020, contains trip generation rates for various land uses. The generation rates
for “Land Use 944 – Gasoline Service Station” is the most appropriate land use to determine the number
of trips that are anticipated for the proposed fueling station. The Trip generation Land Use 941 “Quick
Lubrication Vehicle Shop” is used to determine the number of trips currently generated by the existing
Ms. Carolyn Misch
Page | 2
Jiffy Lube store. The total number of new trips anticipated to be generated by the new fueling facility is
the difference between the existing and newly generated trips:
EXISTING PROPOSED
Land Use 941 945
Description
Quick
Lubrication
Vehicle Shop
Gasoline
Service
Station
Total New
Generated
Trips
Service Bays / Fueling Positions 4 12
ADT 160 2064 1904
AM Peak Adjacent Traffic 12 123 111
Entering 8 62 54
Exiting 4 61 57
PM Peak Adjacent Traffic 19 168 149
Entering 11 86 75
Exiting 8 86 78
Saturday Midday Peak Traffic 18 153 135
Entering 8 77 69
Exiting 10 76 66
The above figures indicate the expected new trips for the proposed Gas Station is 54 vehicles entering
and 57 vehicles exiting during the weekday morning peak hour, 75 vehicles entering and 78 vehicles
exiting the during the weekday afternoon peak hour, and 69 vehicles entering and 66 vehicles exiting
the during the Saturday midday peak hour. These generation numbers represent anticipated new site
trips. Published data suggests that a significant number of the motorists visiting a fueling station are
already on the roadways fronting the site therefore would not be new trips. These customer trips are
called “pass‐by” trips, with ITE data indicating that between 48 percent and 87 percent the traffic
generated by Gas Stations are these pass‐by trips. Since this facility will sell gasoline at a discount to Big
Y customers, we believe that with the incentives for Big Y customers to stop and buy gas that the majority
of people purchasing gasoline will already be at the shopping center. This means that the “pass‐by”
percentage for traffic access the station will tend towards the higher end of the observed rates, possibly
between 60% and 80%. Regardless of what percentage of trips for this development will be pass‐by trips
the gas station volumes will not change, however the number of new trips added to the surrounding
roadways and intersections will be significantly less that shown above.
Ms. Carolyn Misch
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We are unaware of any significant traffic issues in the area surrounding the Big Y Shopping Plaza at 136
North King Street and believe that the roadway network can accommodate the additional trips that
will be generated by the proposed Big Y Express gasoline fueling facility.
Very truly yours,
Alfred Benesch & Company
Stephen R. Ulman, P.E., PTOE
Sr. Project Engineer