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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrd 317 Adopting an amended Thoroughfare Plan ORDINANCE NO. 317 AN ORDINANCE OF THE BOARD OF ALDERMEN OF THE TOWN OF WESTLAKE, TEXAS, ADOPTING AN AMENDED THOROUGHFARE PLAN FOR THE TOWN OF WESTLAKE; PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE; AND PROVIDING A SEVERAILITY CLAUSE. WHEREAS, the Town of Westlake rezoned a substantial portion of the Town into nine (9) "PD" Planned Development Districts, one "PD" Planned Development District for Maverick Commercial Investments, Inc., and eight "PD" Planned Development Districts for AIL Investment,L.P.; and WHEREAS, the Board of Aldermen adopted a Thoroughfare Plan for the Town of Westlake on November 25, 1996, and such proposed thoroughfares in the nine (9) "PD" Planned Development Districts as well as an approved alignment and width of FM 1938 would be in conflict with the adopted 1996 Thoroughfare Plan; and WHEREAS, proper notice has been given, public hearings have been held before the Planning and Zoning Commission and Board of Aldermen, and the Planning and Zoning Commission has forwarded a recommendation to the Board; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE TOWN OF WESTLAKE, TEXAS:. SECTION 1: That the Thoroughfare Plan for the Town of Westlake adopted by the Board of Aldermen on November 25, 1996 is hereby amended by replacing the Thoroughfare Plan in its entirety with the Thoroughfare Plan attached hereto as Exhibit "1" and Exhibit "1" is hereby adopted as the Thoroughfare Plan for the Town of Westlake, Texas. SECTION 2: That this Ordinance shall become effective upon its passage and approval. SECTION 3: If any portion of this Ordinance shall, for any reason, be declared invalid by any court of competent jurisdiction, such invalidity shall not affect the remaining provisions hereof and the Board hereby determines that it would have adopted this Ordinance without the invalid provision. PASSED AND APPROVED BY THE BOARD OF ALDERMEN ON THIS 23RD DAY OF NOVEMBER, 1998. Ordinance No. 317 Page 2 Scott Bradl y, Mayor ATTEST: Ginger rosswy, Town Sec y APPROVED AS TO FORM: vwt/,, Paul C. Isham, Town Attorney 9,T L A,K E Town of Westlake Thoroughfare Plan A Component of The Comprehensive Plan Submitted To The Town of Westlake, Texas Submitted By PARSONS TRANSPORTATION GROUP, INC. November 2, 1998 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1.0 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 1.1 Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 1.2 Plan Purpose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 2.0 Inventory and Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 2.1 function of Thoroughfare Planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 2.2 Thoroughfare Planning Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 2.3 Existing Conditions in Westlake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 2.4 Thoroughfare Plans of Adjacent Cities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 3.0 Transportation System Policies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 4.0 Thoroughfare System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 4.1 Roadway Functional Classification System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Westlake Thoroughfare Plan Page i LIST OF TABLES Table 1 Roadway Functional Classifications and General Planning Guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . 9 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1 Thoroughfares in Cities Adjacent to Westlake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Figure 2 Roadway Function by Classification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Figure 3 Thoroughfare Plan - Town of Westlake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Westlake Thoroughfare Plan Page ii Town of Westlake Thoroughfare Plan 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background In 1992, the Town of Westlake adopted a Thoroughfare Plan as a component of a Comprehensive Plan. This Thoroughfare Plan was composed of a set of Policies, a Conceptual Thoroughfare Map, and a set of Conceptual Roadway Sections. Since that time, an ordinance concerning driveway access and design has been approved and there is a need to update the functional classification designations of the roadway system to conform to current standard nomenclature and application to the driveway access and design ordinance. This plan serves as an update to the 1992 plan, and replaces it as the Town's official thoroughfare plan component of the Comprehensive Plan. 1.2 Plan Purpose The purpose of the Thoroughfare Plan, as a component of the Comprehensive Plan, is to provide residents, employees and visitors to Westlake with convenient vehicular and pedestrian access and roadway circulation. It is further intended to reinforce the rural and recreational character of the Town, minimize traffic congestion, and be environmentally sensitive in terms of reducing air pollution and storm water runoff. It is also intended to be compatible with the specific thoroughfare plans of adjacent cities and the general roadway system of the total urbanized area. The Plan contains a et of goals and policies and a map which are intended to provide guidance for the planning and design of multi-modal facilities in Westlake. Roadway alignments depicted within are general in nature. Detailed design and construction standards for roadways can be found in the Town's Engineering Standards. Westlake Thoroughfare Plan Page 1 Town of Westlake 2.0 INVENTORY AND ANALYSIS 2.1 Function of Thoroughfare Planning The function of the Thoroughfare Plan is to provide a guide for determining future roadway requirements for the Town. The Plan is developed to support the Town's land use plan by providing adequate capacity to move people,goods, and services efficiently. It will allow the Town to acquire needed right-of-way in advance of or as new development occurs. The plan should be flexible and should be reviewed on a regular basis to incorporate changes in local conditions. The plan is a guide that indicates roadway capacity needs in response to planned land uses in an area and serves as a basis for subdivision requirements. In developed sections of the Town,the Thoroughfare Plan provides guidance for upgrading and/or protecting the integrity and character of existing thoroughfares. 2.2 Thoroughfare Planning Process The process of developing a thoroughfare plan requires the consideration of elements that affect travel demands, movement and access requirements, and physical constraints to roadway construction. In addition, the plan should further community objectives for the character of Westlake. The first consideration in developing a thoroughfare plan is the Town's land use plan. The type of land uses that are existing or planned for an area help to decide the appropriate roadway capacity and access needs for that area. A densely developed commercial area will require higher capacity roadways and intersections than a low density residential area. The next consideration is balancing the movement and access functions of the thoroughfare system. Roadways serve two competing functions, the movement of traffic, and access to properties. This competition exists as ingress and egress maneuvers from local properties impede the movement of traffic on major roadways, and as high traffic volumes make turning movements into and out of driveways difficult. Structuring a thoroughfare plan such that these two competing functions occur on separate portions of the system is a primary goal of thoroughfare planning. Physical constraints to roadway construction such as drainage areas, topography, vegetation, and existing development are considered. Efforts are made to cross, or avoid these constraints in a logical manner that will minimize topographical changes and construction costs while maintaining mature stands of trees and efficient operations. In addition, it is important to lay out roadways that will open key views and vistas within the Town. Finally, community objectives for maintaining a rural character for the Town while accommodating development, lielp to further determine roadway patterns, access characteristics and the design of roadway corridors. Westlake Thoroughfare Plan Page 2 Town of Westlake 2.3 Existing Conditions in Westlake The system of streets and highways in the Town of Westlake is generally comprised of rural asphalt roadways constructed by Tarrant and Denton Counties. The exceptions are(1)the sections of U.S. 377, S.H. 114 and S.H. 170 that have been upgraded to freeway standards and (2) the sections of Kirkwood Boulevard and Sam School Road constructed to improved standards in the Solana development. 2.4 Thoroughfare Plans of Adjacent Cities In the interest of showing the relationship between the proposed Town of Westlake Thoroughfare Plan and the thoroughfare plans in the adjacent cities, information on the plans for the cities surrounding the Town has been obtained and is presented in Figure 1 (see p. 4). As shown, all thoroughfares that extend to the boundaries of the Town link directly to a similar roadway cross- section in an adjacent municipality. Westlake Thoroughfare Plan Page 3 � T � LU Q < B- do3 I ( a U- Qacoe Q O w M 'M'Oil AL tilt d x4 0 Szo:3z z> Q ZZLJ W im W Illtl I U 1 to , ' -- ' � �' •; M' a,OL tilt• _ -— a r--- I I -- o 1 O I I rclr ' L I Y µ1 e II LEI f ' , x Ix . C2Ci�k JFi ri ," AL t �` �,• >,e...�=�7,T����a YAP�;x � .!A 0 f11i��:i' n �� �RL , • �? mot,m 2 � �J ✓'44 >, a y± tx �Y !4l , T c �•, ;. k t 3E r� N �• Town of Westlake 3.0 TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM POLICIES The following goals and policies have been developed to provide guidance and direction in the planning,design,implementation,maintenance and operation of a multi-modal transportation system for the Town of Westlake. These goals and policies should be supported with specific actions by the Town to assure that the desired levels of mobility, safety,and land use compatibility are attained. Goal 1: Develop a road system within Westlake that works with development standards to create a rural experience for the driver and reinforces a sense of community in Westlake. Policy 1.1 Develop roadways, where possible, that: • Use natural swales for drainage • Are constructed of high quality.concrete or asphalt construction, without curbs and gutters. • Take advantage of views to hills, valleys,trees, and water, • Are bordered by densely landscaped thickets, Policy 1.2 Avoid frequent driveways or intersections along major and minor arterials. Policy 1.3 'nary horizontal and vertical alignment of directional travel lanes on major arterials. Goal 2: Develop roadways and circulation routes to take advantage of, and work with, the natural topography to enhance the community's rural character and design. Policy 2.1 Locate and design all roadways to minimize grading to both create the roadway and to create usable building sites. Policy 2.2 Major arterials should be laid out to follow topographic contours and to take advantage of views and vistas to landmark development or natural features such as hills, trees and water bodies, Policy 2.3 Locate and design local roadways to: • Avoid straight horizontal alignments • Preserve specimen trees and groves of trees • Create local views and vistas that reinforce the community's rural character Goal 3; Ensure that the Westlake thoroughfare and circulation system fits into regional circulation systems. Policy 3.1 Locate and design thoroughfares to facilitate regional circulation, but discourage "cut through" traffic in the Town. Westlake Thoroughfare Plan Page 5 Town of Westlake Goal 4: Ensure a balanced relationship between land use development and the transportation system. Policy 4.1 Develop administrative procedures and responsibilities for the preparation, review and approval of land use-related transportation plans and development traffic impact studies. Policy 4.2 Maintain a Master Thoroughfare Plan coordinated with land use development considerations represented in the Comprehensive Plan which permits the following: • Right-of-way acquisition necessary to improve intersection capacity and thoroughfare continuity. • Right-of-way dedications as specified by the Master Thoroughfare Plan. • Intersection designs and right-of-way alignments where possible as part of the Master Thoroughfare Plan. • Dedication of street system rights-of-way in those areas of the community that are undeveloped. Policy 4.3 Coordinate local, state and federal street and highway improvement project planning with existing and expected land uses. Policy 4.4 Locate and design thoroughfares to provide a high level of design amenity and neighborhood preservation, including the consideration of neighborhood traffic management programs. Policy 4.5 Develop and implement a roadway functional classification system which provides for a range of traffic flow functions from providing mobility for through traffic to providing access to adjacent properties. Goal 5: Ensure the development, maintenance and operation of a safe, efficient and effective transportation system to serve the Town. Policy 5.1 Develop and maintain a transportation planning process which addresses long range needs but emphasizes short and mid-range problem solving. Policy 5.2 Develop and maintain programs and funding strategies to implement transportation improvements, ensuring adequate capacity at the least cost to the Town without compromising service, delivery, or quality. Policy 5.3 Develop, maintain, and operate a street and highway system which will meet the existing and future travel needs of the Town in terms of safety and capacity. Policy 5.4 Investigate opportunities to provide a fiscally responsible transit system which gives consideration to journey-to-work trips, the needs of transit dependent persons, and Westlake Thoroughfare'Plan Page 6 Town of Westlake opportunities for inter-modal transfer. 4.0 THOROUGHFARE SYSTEM The Thoroughfare Plan proposed for the Town of Westlake is based on a system of functionally classified roadways. These functional classifications are intended to reflect the role or function of each roadway within the overall thoroughfare system. 4.1 Roadway Functional Classification System The functional classifications describe each roadway's function and reflect a set of characteristics common to all roadways within each classification. Functions range from providing mobility for through traffic and major traffic flows to providing access to specific properties. Characteristics unique to each classification include the degree of continuity, general capacity, and traffic control characteristics. Figure 2 illustrates the relative roles of each classification to achieve its intended function, Figure 2 -Roadway Function by Classification Complete access control, little local traffic ALL MOVEMENT • ■ ■ ■ r r ■ z C, ■ • # • a w ■ ■ • • C i e i ACCESS i FUNCTION e • r r Z • e ■ ■ • r r • O • ■ ■ ■ Z e e e ■ LL • • • ■ e e e # r r + • MOVEMENT FUNCTION e i � � e ■ r e w v # • • a ■ No through traffic, o + + e unrestricted access + ■ e ■ e ALL ACCESS + r ■ FREEWAY ARTERIAL COLLECTOR LOCAL CUL OE SAC Westlake Thoroughfare Plan Page 7 Town of Westlake The vehicular road system is hierarchial in nature and includes freeways, major and minor arterials, major and minor collectors and local streets. Freeways, or expressways, are high capacity facilities with controlled access and are intended to carry high volumes of longer distance trips. They are a high capacity regional supplement to the arterial system. Arterials are used to move large volumes of through traffic at relatively high speeds throughout the community. Arterial streets are more or less continuous throughout the community and their primary function is to provide movement of traffic for arterials. Property access is a low priority function. The Collector system is used to carry moderate amounts of traffic and provide limited access to adjacent properties. Their function is to collect and distribute traffic to and from arterial and local streets. Local streets are used for low volume, low speed traffic movements. Their function is to primarily provide direct access to adjacent properties. Neighborhoods should be developed between arterial streets so that through traffic is routed around—not through—these areas. Collectors should penetrate the neighborhoods to collect and distribute traffic but not provide convenient, cut-through routes. Land use planning efforts should attempt to encourage compatible land uses adjacent to streets. Commercial activities should be developed in such a way that the primary mobility function of arterials are not degraded through access management. Wherever concentrations of traffic occur on collector streets, consideration should be given to not allowing houses to front on the street. Good subdivision designs can allow ample lot yields while orienting houses to local streets and not to collectors. Table 1. describes the most important characteristics of the roadway functional classifications. The arterial classification contained herein includes major arterial and minor arterial. The following sections describe the major features of the proposed plan. Figure 3 illustrates the Thoroughfare Plan for the Town of Westlake. The Plan recognizes the following classifications of public streets: Freeway,Major Boulevard Arterial,Major Arterial,Major Collector, Minor Collector and Local. The following briefly defines each classification in the Thoroughfare Plan: • Freeway- as designed,built, and maintained by the State of Texas. Existing examples are Northwest Parkway, State Highway 170 and US 377. • Major Boulevard Arterial, six (6) lane divided - an existing example is Kirkwood Boulevard. Rights-of-way average 165 feet wide but are quite variable(160 to 170 feet) and wide; minimum right-of-way is 130 feet. The median should vary from 20 to 60 feet. Each set of three lanes (referred to as a lane bundle) is laid out with its own centerline, independent of the other lane bundle, to allow maximum scenic beauty and variety. The median should be heavily landscaped as per the Town's Unified Development Code. Median crossings should be within five (5) degrees of being perpendicular to each lane bundle centerline. Westlake Thoroughfare Plan Page 8 •° Q o -� U N En Ln U ?�� " W ul v] cad ca W W a: W E- v •1 Z r W m m M CL C T C m q as cz ea a r d d ° o o °? CD U ,..o, O_O N s. a a 0. V) E O ~ �— m " Ch r co IJ 0 0 0 tz p-I Q a� D O �yy ca L'd cc; p C: O i. y U co T� N ci c _U as s � C 4. V i G 4-4 O ° N O .... U ° ca W in U U U z ° as z F '4-- s.�. _. CN O � �. ❑ V[a oK, j 'V�S a� ¢a N va - O atl I O aU U i O� � y ro sp U U 7 d, O 'd y �+ a�`�'i m 6 U °U M� -0 R. 4E, vi vi cUa .E E 'O c�tl IL—o R2 y cd = oL m p. vi ,0 LEGEND ■u■im■■u■n■m MAJOR BOULEVARD ARTERIAL 0000000000 MAJOR ARTERIAL I MINOR ARTERIAL -- -- --° .�....�..... MAJOR COLLECTOR z ..................... MINOR COLLECTOR all --- • MAJOR BOULEVARD 1� ---- - ARTERIAL 165'R.O.W..(A1 cae) I A "I y r,K r un l V y' I !� 6'S` yi 6'Swk 9 ° f 19'-34' 36' 2'0'-6�' 36° 19'-34' 130'—t65'PDX(Wable) mom I � MAJOR ARTERIAL -- + fi'Swk 4' 36' —5' 36' 14' 3Tf - / -- ♦ - --------- -- —_------ - ------ -----�.-- x.�h s'w 920'RO.W. I 0 v 1'" 1 � a � � • MINOR ARTERIAL �........... L � ' 6'5wk 6'Swk-l/ T 24' 26' 24' 17 S�+ Flo■ royt I 106'Raw. I • MAJOR y, COLLECTOR I 6'swk 6'swk� 24' 24' 20' 24' 14' `1 ✓A ♦� ~ x } .^ k r .,� .� i Q '.y �. I_ 94'R.O.W. I x x COLLECTOR ,cjjt J >'.•^"r� x� fi� � 7 x r _ � .. �' Y _h r i F a p .� 'C. If— 2-2-_-1 ,Fl ,rx n�lx.: tixl { yrk I Ro.w. I 1Ci LOCAL TM17 ( I swk 6 5wk _ Nlthou4 Vac I Var. 'k °Local Sidewalks >s r uy I Curb LDcalicn Vcries From 9Y 30' 13' ?� t With v Edge of Pavement curb Landscape Edge h :c• ding Setbock Line -- — - - -- - T YPC Roadway Ledce E d p err,„gyp , FIGURE 3 THOROUGHFARE PLAN TOWN OF WESTLAKE, TEXAS NORTH CRAPHIC SCALE 0 1000 2000 OOO NOVEMBER. 1998 Town of Westlake • Major Arterial,six(6) lane divided-right-of-way varies between 130 to 165 feet with a median width of 20 to 55 feet to allow for variations in the centerline of each lane bundle to maximize scenic beauty and variety. Examples (not in Westlake) of the general concept of this classification are Carroll Blvd. in Denton, or Forest Lane in Dallas. The median should be landscaped as per the Town's Unified Development Code. • Minor Arterial, four(4) lane divided - right-of-way is 120 feet with a median width of 24 to 30 feet. The intended purpose of a larger median width is to accommodate the potential need for additional turn lanes at intersections with other arterial streets. The median should be landscaped as per the Town's Unified Development Code. • Major Collector,four(4) lane divided - right-of-way width is 106 feet with a median of 24 feet. The median should be landscaped as per the Town's Unified Development Code, • Minor Collector, two (2) lane - right-of-way width is 90 feet. • Local, two (2) lane - right-of-way width is 60 feet. Roadway cross-section varies depending if curbs are present or not. In a curbed section, the roadway width is 30 feet and in an uncurbed section, the width is 24 feet. In order to incorporate topographic features within Westlake as well as hike-and-bike trails adjacent to roadways, right-of-way may vary by an additional 10 feet as identified in the Typical Roadway Landscape Edge. A graphic illustration depicting the recommended roadway cross sections is shown in Figure 3. Outside of the roadway edge, roadway cross-sections vary and is dependent upon the location of utilities. Westlake Thoroughfare Plan Page 11