Download - Thirroul Plaza 282 Lawrence Hargrave Dr, Thirroul (Lot 103 ......Car Parking Facilities – AS2890.1. 10. The proposed development would result in a significant impact on vehicle access

Independent Peer Review Traffic and Parking Assessment Report

Prepared for: Save Thirroul Village Community Group

September 2020

Report No: PT20059r01_Final

Thirroul Plaza 282 Lawrence Hargrave Dr, Thirroul (Lot 103 DP706867).

Hargrave Dr, Thirroul (Lot 103 DP706867)

Positive Traffic Pty Ltd

1 Project: Thirroul Plaza – Independent Traffic Report Peer Review

September 2020

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Executive Summary ................................................................................................... 3

2. Introduction ................................................................................................................ 6

3. Proposed Development ............................................................................................ 7

3.1 Site Location .................................................................................................................................... 7

3.2 Proposed Development ................................................................................................................. 7

4. Independent Peer Review Findings .......................................................................... 9

4.1 Loss of Thirroul Village Public Parking ........................................................................................... 9

4.2 Mid Block Capacity of Lawrence Hargrave Drive Exceeded .................................................... 9

4.3 Unsafe Loading Dock Access ..................................................................................................... 12

4.4 Poor Loading Dock Design .......................................................................................................... 13

4.5 Queuing in King Street ................................................................................................................. 14

4.6 Insufficient Basement Car Park Driveway Width ........................................................................ 15

4.7 Insufficient Traffic Signal Separation Spacing ............................................................................ 17

4.8 Decentralisation of Southbound Bus Stop .................................................................................. 17

4.9 Poor Location of Taxi Zone ........................................................................................................... 17

5. Conclusions .............................................................................................................. 18



September 2020

List of Figures Figure 1 – Thirroul Plaza Development Site Location

List of Tables

List of Photos



September 2020

1. Executive Summary

This report has been prepared as an independent peer review of the proposed Thirroul Plaza

development at the site known as 282 Lawrence Hargrave Drive, Thirroul and submitted Traffic

Impact Assessment Report prepared by Bitzios Consulting dated 24 February 2020 and included as

part of a revised development application for the redevelopment of the subject site.

This independent review has also given consideration to the feedback from local residents following

attendance over four (4) public consultation sessions held on Monday 29 September 2020 at the

Thirroul Surf Lifesaving Club.

The proposed development would include removal of the existing small retail premises, small Coles

supermarket and open air rear car park to provide the following development:

• 82 residential apartments consisting of 18 x one-bedroom units, 52 x two-bedroom units and

12 x three-bedroom units.

• Small retail tenancies (some 18) with a total Gross Floorspace Area (GFA)of 1,865 m2

• Coles supermarket with a total GFA of 3,014 m2

• Dual level basement car park with a total provision for 361 spaces and single entry / exit

driveway from King Street with a single 3.2m wide entry and exit lane.

• Common ground floor loading dock facility with turntable (assumed as not stated in traffic

report) to accommodate up to a 19.0m semi-trailer and to provide servicing of all retail

tenancies in the development.

To accommodate the traffic demands of the proposal, the traffic report has recommended the

following changes to the immediate surrounding road network within the Thirroul Village Centre:

• Installation of traffic signals at the intersection of Lawrence Hargrave Drive and King Street

• Removal of all southbound kerbside parking in Lawrence Hargrave Drive between the

existing pedestrian refuge (outside Post Office) and Bath Street (McCauley Street) – Loss of 5

on-street public parking spaces.

• Removal of all southbound kerbside parking in Lawrence Hargrave Drive between Bath

Street (McCauley Street) and Raymond Road - Loss of 4 on-street public parking spaces

• Removal of all southbound kerbside parking in Lawrence Hargrave Drive between Raymond

Road and Station Street - Loss of 3 on-street public parking spaces.

• Relocation of the existing southbound bus stop (immediately north of Bath Street (McCauley

Street) approximately 115m south to a position immediately south of Raymond Road in

place of existing time parallel parking - Loss of 3 on-street public parking spaces.

• Relocation of the existing taxi zone on the northern side of King Street to a position (around

the corner) in Lawrence Hargrave Drive outside the Anita Theatre - Loss of 3 on-street public

parking spaces.

• No stopping zone on northern side of King Street at Lawrence Hargrave Drive for a distance

of approximately 20m - Loss of opportunity to provide 3 on-street public parking spaces

where taxi zone is currently located.



September 2020

• No stopping zone on southern side of King Street between Lawrence Hargrave Drive and

proposed driveway access - Loss of 5 on-street public parking spaces.

• Six (6) public parking spaces on bend of King Street near railway line.

• Main public pedestrian entry in Lawrence Hargrave Drive at Raymond Road.

• Private pedestrian entry (residents) in King Street.

This peer review has found:

1. The resultant road upgrade works necessary to accommodate the significant traffic

generation of the proposal would result in the loss of 26 public parking spaces currently

servicing ground floor street retail of the Thirroul Town Centre.

2. The traffic impacts on the surrounding road network would be unacceptable with mid-block

capacity of approach roads well exceed.

3. The traffic report fails to assess traffic conditions during school holiday periods which include

greater volumes compared with non-school holiday conditions.

4. The traffic report does not account for additional potential rat running of traffic generated

by increased demands in Lawrence Hargrave Drive.

5. The traffic report does not quantify the existing parking demands of the public spaces lost

with the proposal nor the impacts of the loss of these parking spaces on the availability of

public parking within the Thirroul Town Centre.

6. The potential queues in King Street southbound observed in the traffic report would

potentially block access to the proposed loading dock / general driveways in King Street in

the future resulting in both queuing in King Street and internal queuing in the car park.

7. The proposed traffic signals at King Street would not comply with the minimum separation

requirements of Transport NSW and would be located too close to the existing traffic signals

at Raymond Road.

8. The design of the loading dock access is unsafe and would result in a high safety risk to

exiting traffic with no management of the access and the requirement for the largest

service vehicle to utilise the full width of the access when entering / exiting the site.

9. The proposed driveway to service the supermarket and residential components is too

narrow and does not comply with the requirements of the Australian Standard for Off Street

Car Parking Facilities – AS2890.1.

10. The proposed development would result in a significant impact on vehicle access to retail

developments in both Lawrence Hargrave Drive and King Street with the removal of a large

number of existing convenient parallel parking spaces.

11. The removal of parallel parking in Lawrence Hargrave Drive would also remove both the

physical barrier of parked vehicles to protect adjacent pedestrians and result in a

diminished amenity for existing outdoor dining areas.

12. The relocation of the southbound bus stop to a position east of Raymond Road results in a

bus stop no longer central to the core of the Thirroul Town Centre.

13. The traffic report has not accounted for the potential increase in bus or emergency vehicle

travel times along Lawrence Hargrave Drive with the increased traffic demands generated

by the development.



September 2020

Overall, the proposal would result in significant traffic impacts on the surrounding network and to

accommodate the demands of the proposal requires a loss of a large number of convenient public

parking serving existing retail premises within the Thirroul Town Centre.

Whilst the traffic report has included an assessment of conditions over two (2) weekdays, it does not

account for the increase in traffic demands along Lawrence Hargrave Drive which occur during

school holidays.

Should the proposal proceed in its current form, the resulting cost to both convenience and

accessibility to the existing retail / service community of the Thirroul Town Centre would be

significant.



September 2020

2. Introduction

This report has been prepared on behalf of Save Thirroul Village Community Group to present

findings of an independent peer review traffic and parking assessment report of the proposed

Thirroul Plaza Development at the site known as 282 Lawrence Hargrave Drive, Thirroul.

The basis of this review include the Traffic Report prepared by Bitzios Consulting Pty Ltd dated 24th

February 2020 and the plans prepared for the development.

Independent Assessment Author

I Dean Brodie currently hold the position of Managing Director of Positive Traffic Pty Ltd and have

been a practicing traffic engineer / transport planner for approximately 27 years. I possess a

Bachelor of Civil Engineering.

The remainder of the report is set out as follows:

• Section 3 describes the existing traffic and parking conditions and the proposal;

• Section 4 summarises the identified issues with the proposed development; and

• Section 5 presents the conclusions



September 2020

3. Proposed Development

The following presents a summary of existing site and traffic conditions.

3.1 Site Location

The existing site includes a small number of retail premises with single vehicle driveway access via

King Street. The site also includes a small (some 1,700sqm) Coles supermarket. The driveway in King

Street provides access to an open-air car park at the rear.

The location of the site is shown below in Figure 1.

Figure 1 – Thirroul Plaza Development Site Location

3.2 Proposed Development

The key elements of the proposed development in terms of yield, traffic, access and parking are

summarised below:

• 82 residential apartments consisting of 18 x one-bedroom units, 52 x two-bedroom units and

12 x three-bedroom units.

• Small retail tenancies (some 18) with a total Gross Floorspace Area (GFA)of 1,865 m2

• Coles supermarket with a total GFA of 3,014 m2

• Dual level basement car park with a total provision for 361 spaces and single entry / exit

driveway from King Street serve by a single 3.2m, wide entry and exit lanes.

• Common ground floor loading dock facility with turntable (assumed as not stated in traffic

report) to accommodate up to a 19.0m semi-trailer and to provide servicing of all retail

tenancies in the development.



September 2020

To accommodate the traffic demands of the proposal, a number of changes to the public road

and parking networks is necessary. These are:

• Removal of a number of existing public on-street car parking spaces in both Lawrence

Hargrave Drive and King Street to accommodate new traffic signals at the common

intersection of these two roads.

• Removal of 26 kerbside public parking spaces within Lawrence Hargrave Drive and King

Street to provide additional road capacity.

• Relocation of the existing southbound bus stop in Lawrence Hargrave Drive from a position

near King Street a position immediately south of Raymond Road.

• Relocation of taxi zone from King Street outside Anita Theatre to Lawrence Hargrave Drive

northbound at expense of public on-street parking.

Of note from the traffic report1 the estimated additional traffic generated by the development

would be 564 additional vehicle trips two way during a weekday AM peak, 555 additional vehicle

trips two way during a weekday PM peak and an additional 734 vehicle trips two way during a

Saturday AM peak.

1 Proposed Thirroul Plaza Development Traffic Report – Bitzios Consulting 24 February 2020



September 2020

4. Independent Peer Review Findings

The following presents a summary of the issues identified with the proposed development on

matters pertaining to traffic, access, parking and safety.

4.1 Loss of Thirroul Village Public Parking

As confirmed in the traffic report, to accommodate the significant traffic demands of the proposal,

a number of existing on-street parking spaces (a total of 26) require permanent removal at all times

of the day in both Lawrence Hargrave Drive and King Street. The cost to adjacent retail

developments following the loss of convenient on-street parking would be significant and has not

been acknowledged in the traffic report.

Further, the traffic report does not provide an analysis of the existing demand for parking within the

parking spaces lost through surveys during typical operational periods of the centre and in

particular during school holidays when demands are observed to be even greater.

The loss of on-street parking adjacent to ground floor street retail results in the loss of the ‘barrier’

created by parked vehicles to provide both protection for pedestrians using the pathways and as a

noise barrier to adjacent traffic for outdoor dining and general amenity.

The loss of 26 public parking spaces throughout the Thirroul Village Centre only provides a benefit to

the proposal and there has been no offer to provide additional parking in a similar convenient

location to offset the significant loss of convenient public parking.

4.2 Mid Block Capacity of Lawrence Hargrave Drive Exceeded

The counts submitted as part of the preparation of the traffic report were undertaken during a

single weekday in September 2019 and a single Saturday. The nature of the area is such that

demands during school holidays on both the road and parking networks exceed those which are

experienced during typical non-school holiday periods.

It is noted that copies of the counts provided in the traffic report included errors with little or no

traffic shown to occur in Lawrence Hargrave Drive whereas in fact the road carries large volumes of

traffic being the only major road corridor through the area. An example of zero volume counts is

shown below.



September 2020

In other locations during the weekday AM and PM periods, approach volumes to intersections in

Lawrence Hargrave Drive are in the order of 700 – 800 vehicles per hour per direction in a single

lane of travel. This is without any traffic generated by the development proposal.

Table 5.1 of Austroads Part 3 – Geometric Design sets out typical mid-block capacities for various

types of urban roads with interrupted flow, with unflared major intersections and with interruptions

from cross and turning traffic at minor intersections.

When improvements to isolated intersections are being considered, without any change to

upstream conditions, the figures in Table 5.1 can be taken as limiting values.



September 2020

In the case of Lawrence Hargrave Drive which includes a single lane of travel in each direction and

convenient parallel parking adjacent, Austroads suggests a mid block capacity of 600-900 vehicles

per day. As the intersection counts confirm, the current mid block flows in each direction in

Lawrence Hargrave Drive exceed or are near mid block capacity limits established by Austroads.

Given the traffic report estimates a net increase in peak hour traffic generation of 555 – 734

additional trips onto the network including Lawrence Hargrave Drive, the traffic demands of the

proposal result in a minimum 50% increase in traffic demands within the Thirroul Village Centre.

Further, it would result in mid block traffic volumes well beyond the limits recommended by

Austroads.

The traffic impacts of the proposal are considered significant and have not been fully accounted

for in terms of both upstream / downstream queueing impacts along Lawrence Hargrave Drive nor

the increased potential for rat running to occur from traffic endeavouring to avoid the over

congested main corridor.

A further impact of the marked increase in traffic demands along Lawrence Hargrave Drive is the

potential increase in travel times of both general, public transport and emergency vehicles along

Lawrence Hargrave Drive which has not been accounted for in the traffic report assessment.

As stated above the nature of the Thirroul Village Centre is such is that it is a destination for holiday

makers during school holidays. The additional traffic demands during school holiday periods has

not been accounted for in the traffic report.



September 2020

An example of the marked increase in traffic demands in Lawrence Hargrave Drive during school

holiday periods is shown below from the RMS permanent counter ID 100004 north of Thirroul near

Clifton (closer than the suburb of Stanwell Park assumed to be a market for the supermarket as

detailed in the Retail Strategy Report submitted with the application).

Data from the counter below during the week of 14 January 2019 without any data for the Sunday

was greater, 33,243 vehicles than the week after school holidays of 18 February 2019 which did

include data for a Sunday and had less overall traffic demands for the week of 32,204 vehicles.

The impacts of demands during school holidays cannot be understated when considering traffic

impacts of proposals within the Thirroul Village Centre and which has not been accounted for in

any way in the Bitzios Consulting traffic report.

4.3 Unsafe Loading Dock Access

As shown in the traffic report, the loading dock access from King Street includes a single entry / exit

driveway which would accommodate up to a 19.0m semi-trailer vehicle. The turning path

assessments of such a vehicle entering / exiting the driveway from the traffic report show this vehicle

requires the full width of the driveway access resulting in an unsafe environment for any vehicle

travelling in the opposite direction.

This is shown below



September 2020

Further, a vehicle travelling in the opposite direction has no area to wait out of the way of an

incoming / outgoing 19.0m semi trailer which is considered unsafe. This vehicle would be required

to reverse over some distance back into the loading dock area to move out of the way or reverse

into King Street. There are no traffic management systems proposed to control vehicle access to or

from the loading dock.

The loading dock access in its current form is unsafe and requires significant widening to ensure safe

access for vehicles entering / exiting the site concurrently.

4.4 Poor Loading Dock Design

As confirmed in the traffic report the loading dock would not only provide access to the

supermarket service vehicles in the form of 19.0m articulated trucks, it is also the common loading

dock for all other retail tenancies proposed within the development, some 18 separate tenancies,

and waste collection for the residential component.

The loading dock design as shown below does not include any specific parking spaces for a range

of service vehicles which would access the loading dock to service the overall site. Further, it

appears a turn table is proposed (not stated in the traffic report) to enable a 19.0m articulated

vehicle to enter and leave the site in a forward direction.



September 2020

The scale of the turn table appears to remove any possibility for separate service vehicle bays to be

provided in the loading dock. Thus, once a vehicle is parked within the turn table it renders it

unavailable for any other service vehicle which may enter the loading dock at the same time.

The access by an articulated vehicle at the time another service vehicle is positioned within the

turntable results in such a vehicle having to wait within the loading dock access driveway blocking

access for other vehicles in both directions.

Overall, the loading dock design, whilst appears to include a turntable to enable a 19.0m semi-

trailer to enter / leave in a forward direction is inadequate, does not provide parking for a range of

service vehicles at the same time and would result in blocking of the access driveway.

4.5 Queuing in King Street

As confirmed in the traffic report and despite the proposal to provide traffic signals at the Lawrence

Hargrave Drive / King Street intersection to provide sufficient capacity to accommodate the traffic

generated by the proposal (at the expense of public parking), future queuing within King Street was

noted to extend to a position near the proposed access driveways.

The proposed access driveway to the basement car park was noted to be approximately 58m from

the intersection with Lawrence Hargrave Drive with the loading dock access some 50m from the

intersection



September 2020

The modelling provided by Bitzios Consulting confirms the 95th percentile queue in King Street on a

Saturday in 2031 within the upgrade of the intersection to traffic signals would be between 23.8m –

42.4m as shown below.

As traffic demands during school holiday periods would be greater than the baseline volumes

assumed in the modelling, there is a potential that future queuing in King Street would block both

entry and exit of the loading dock driveway and shopping centre / residential driveways. In turn this

would create congestion both internally in the basement parking areas and within King Street itself.

The future demands of school holidays needs to be accounted for in the modelling to have

confidence that the blocking of the proposed access driveways does not occur in the future.

4.6 Insufficient Basement Car Park Driveway Width

The proposed common access driveway to the two level basement car park would serve both

retail parking (Class 3A parking in accordance with AS2890.1) and residential / residential visitor

parking (Class 1 & 1A parking in accordance with AS2890.1).

Of note the greater proportion of parking would serve the retail uses and given the access should

provide a safe convenient arrangement for potential unfamiliar users of the car park, the

assumption that the design of the access to the car park requires Class 3A access arrangements is

not unreasonable.

The Australian Standard for Off Street Car Parking Facilities – AS2890.1 specifies the following

requirements for the provision of an access driveway/s serving a range of car parks in terms of size.



September 2020

Thus, a single access driveway serving a total of 361 parking spaces of a Class 3A car park from a

local street requires a Category 4 access driveway in accordance with Table 3.2 above. That is, a

driveway which includes a 6.0m – 8.0m wide entry lane, a 6.0 – 8.0m wide exit lane separated by a

physical separation of 1.0m – 3.0m in width.

The current proposal includes a single 3.2m entry and 3.2m wide exit lane arrangement which is

considered completely inadequate to accommodate the expected entry / exit demands of the

proposal. Further, the proposed access does not comply with the minimum requirements of

AS2890.1 and is considered unsatisfactory.



September 2020

The proposal requires a markedly wider driveway for it to be considered adequate to

accommodate the forecast demands of the development and to achieve compliance with

AS2890.1.

4.7 Insufficient Traffic Signal Separation Spacing

The development would rely on the provision of a new set of traffic signals at the intersection of

Lawrence Hargrave Drive / King Street which is located only some 90m away from the existing

traffic signals at Raymond Road.

TransportNSW specifies a minimum separation distance between traffic signals of approximately

120m and thus the proposed traffic signals would be located too close to existing traffic signals at

Raymond Road.

4.8 Decentralisation of Southbound Bus Stop

As confirmed in the traffic report, the provision of traffic signals at King Street requires the relocation

of the existing southbound bus stop in Lawrence Hargrave Drive near King Street to Station Street, or

some 120m further south.

The new position of the bus stop, whilst located near a set of existing traffic signals, results in a bus

stop no longer located central to the Thirroul Village retail precinct. In turn, this requires bus

passengers, in particular the elderly or infirmed, to walk longer distances to gain access to the

centre parts of the Thirroul Village.

Of further note and as observed on site, King Street provides a number of medical facilities

including a medical centre, optometrist, and dentist. The relocation of the southbound bus stop

further away from these important facilities for the elderly / infirmed would create an unnecessary

impact.

4.9 Poor Location of Taxi Zone

As required by traffic modelling, the existing taxi zone southbound in King Street needs to be

relocated to a position northbound in Lawrence Hargrave Drive directly outside the Anita Theatre.

The current position on the northern side of King Street allows taxi’s to pick up passengers outside

the Anita Theatre (or those who visit the medical facilities to the north in King Street) and then

conveniently travel north or south after exiting King Street turning left or right out of King Street.

However, the relocated taxi zone to the western side of Lawrence Hargrave Drive north of King

Street would result in any taxi wishing to travel south needing to travel around the local road

network, generating additional vehicle trips in local streets, additional cost to passengers and

further inconvenience to taxi drivers.

The relocated position of the taxi zone to accommodate the traffic generation of the proposed

development is a poor location and results in further loss of public parking.



September 2020

5. Conclusions

This report has included a peer review of both the architectural design plans of the Thirroul Plaza

development and the associated traffic report2 submitted as part of the development application.

The findings of this assessment are presented below:

1. The proposed development would result in significant traffic impacts on the surrounding

road network which can only be accommodated through the permanent loss of a large

number (26) of public on-street parking spaces.

2. The traffic impacts of the development during higher demand school holiday periods have

not been accounted for in the traffic report.

3. The impacts on increased travel times for buses and emergency vehicles has not been

accounted for in the traffic report.

4. The loss of convenient public parking would have a significant impact on the accessibility to

surrounding businesses within Thirroul Village and this cost has not been accounted for in the

traffic report.

5. The parking demands of the lost parking spaces to accommodate the significant traffic

generation of the proposal has not been addressed in the traffic report.

6. The proposed access arrangements for the development for both service vehicles and

general vehicles are inadequate and unsafe.

7. The relocation of the taxi zone to accommodate the development is a poor location

requiring taxis to circulate through local streets to travel south.

8. The loading dock design is poor design and inadequate to provide sufficient parking for a

range of service vehicles accessing the dock concurrently.

Overall, the proposed development would result in a significant impact on the functioning of the

Thirroul Village Centre. The proposal in its current form requires the permanent loss of a large

number of public parking spaces within the centre, would result in increased inconvenience and

cost to existing patrons of the village and recommended intersection improvements provide little

material benefit to patrons of Thirroul Village or traffic conditions within the centre.

2 Thirroul Plaza Traffic Report – Bitzios Consulting February 2020