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<br />Marian Meadows Rezone and Subdivision Final Environmental Impact Statement 3-93 <br />The cumulative effects on snow removal needs and costs are relatively low because snow removal is <br />determined by snowfall. Additional development might decrease the cost per residence if all residences <br />are required to contribute to the cost. <br />27 Would the cumulative effects change how roadways fit into the character of the local <br />community? <br />Development of the project and surrounding areas would increase traffic volumes in the study area <br />substantially. The multiple functions of the local roadway system, including general mobility, freight <br />transportation, direct property access, and recreational usage (i.e., ATVs and snowmobiles) would <br />generally be preserved, but would be heavily dominated by passenger traffic. Use of Sparks Road as play <br />areas would be substantially diminished as a result of the potential for vehicle-to-pedestrian collisions. <br />Although roadway capacity improvements (i.e., widening) would not be necessary, the substantial <br />increase in traffic volumes may warrant a change in the functional classification from a Rural Local <br />Access (class 9) to a collector. Additionally, some channelization improvements would be needed at four <br />of the study intersections to achieve acceptable operating conditions (see Question 10 below for a <br />discussion of the mitigation). Furthermore, the current perception of Sparks Road being a small <br />community access road would change and could be viewed as a “major” roadway in the study area. The <br />amount of traffic on Sparks Road would be inconsistent compared to the existing small community, but <br />consistent with the level of development in the future. <br />28 What mitigation is needed for the cumulative impacts? <br />Level of Service Mitigation <br />The level of mitigation needed for the cumulative effects depends primarily on the buildout assumption of <br />the surrounding areas. No mitigation is required for cumulative impacts with existing rural zoning. With <br />the PUD density of the surrounding areas, together with PUD development of the proposal at maximum <br />density, several intersections exceed LOS standards. This mitigation may or may not be needed in the <br />future, depending on the scope of future development in the area. <br />To mitigate the I-90 eastbound ramps/Railroad Street intersection, a simple change from one-way stop- <br />control to an all-way stop-control would improve the LOS from LOS F with > 200 seconds/vehicle of <br />delay to LOS C with 18.4 seconds/vehicle of delay. <br />At the I-90 westbound ramps/Railroad Street intersection, widening the off-ramp approach to include a <br />left-turn pocket would improve operations from LOS D with 26.8 seconds/vehicle to LOS C with 22.8 <br />seconds/vehicle. <br />Mitigation at the Sparks Road/Railroad Street intersection would be more complex. At this intersection, <br />approximately 96 percent of the total entering volume is non-conflicting; 781 vph for northbound right <br />from Railroad Street to Sparks Road and 478 vph for westbound left from Sparks Road to Railroad Street.