HomeMy Public PortalAbout12 - 190530 Vanasse Traffic memo WorldTech responseMEMORANDUM
TO:
Mr. Andrew J. Copelotti
Boylston Properties
800 Boylston Street
Suite 1390
Boston, MA 02199
DATE: May 29, 2019
SUBJECT: Arsenal Yards
Watertown, Massachusetts
FROM: F. Giles Ham, P.E . ff
Vanasse & Associates, Inc.
35 New England Business Center Drive
Suite 140
Andover, MA 01810
(978) 474-8800
RE: 7319
As requested, Vanasse & Associates, Inc. (VAI) has provided clarification with respect to comments
provided to the Town in an April 1, 2019 email from WorldTech Engineering with respect to the above -
referenced project. For ease of review, we have provided the comments followed by our response.
Comment 1. We do not know where the employee density value originated from. This information
should be cited within the document.
Response: The employee density value of 1.75 employees per 1,000 square feet comes from the
existing Linx building in Watertown, which was monitored for trip generation purposes.
The existing 185,000 sf Biotech lab space is currently fully occupied and accommodates
260 employees. This equates to 1.41 employees per 1,000 sf and is below the 1.75 ratio
presented in the February 15, 2019 memorandum. A parking count was conducted at the
Linx project on May 29, 2019. At 10:30 AM there were 217 cars parked on -site with a
demand ratio of 1.17 vehicles per square foot and is supportive of the low employee ratio
for the Biotech lab space.
Comment 2.
The traffic counting program used as a basis of the report was conducted in January
2019. The traffic counting agency noted construction vehicles entering/exiting the site.
Can we confirm if this building was fully occupied when the traffic counts were
conducted?
Response: In January 2019 at the time of the traffic monitoring, the building's occupancy was
119,000 sf. The total building square footage is 185,000 sf.
Comment 3. In general, our review indicates the change in use, as described, will generate less
traffic than initial approval from 2018.
Response: WorldTech presented an alternative analysis which still resulted in less traffic than the
2018 approved uses.
In summary, VAI concurs with the WorldTech conclusion that less traffic will be generated by the change
in use and we have provided clarification to the comments raised.
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