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Proposed Bunnings Warehouse 90 Benalla Road Shepparton April 2015

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Page 1: Proposed Bunnings Warehouse 90 Benalla Road Sheppartongreatershepparton.com.au/.../C183/Traffic_Report.pdf · 8. Traffic Generation and Distribution 19 8.1 Traffic Generation –

Proposed Bunnings Warehouse 90 Benalla Road Shepparton April 2015

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Proposed Bunnings Warehouse

90 Benalla Road, Shepparton

22 April 2015 (i) Ref: 14787 report - april 2015

CONTENTS

1. Introduction 1 2. Proposed Development 1 3. Existing Conditions 3 3.1 Location and Land Use 3 3.2 Road Network 5 3.3 Turning Movement Counts 8

4. Car Parking 9 4.1 Car Parking Provision 9 4.2 Planning Scheme Parking Supply Requirements 9 4.3 Empirical Parking Assessment 10 4.4 Adequacy of Parking Supply 10

5. Car Park Access & Layout 11 5.1 General 11 5.2 Car Park Access 11 5.3 Car Park Layout 15

6. Bicycle Parking 15 7. Loading 16 7.1 Planning Scheme Requirements – Clause 52.07 16 7.2 Truck Access to the Site and Within the Site 16 7.3 Waste Collection 19

8. Traffic Generation and Distribution 19 8.1 Traffic Generation – Employee and Customer Vehicles 19 8.2 Traffic Generation – Delivery Vehicles 20 8.3 Traffic Distribution 21

9. Traffic Impact 22 10. Conclusion 23 Appendix A – Turning Movement Count Results

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Proposed Bunnings Warehouse

90 Benalla Road, Shepparton

22 April 2015 1 Ref: 14787 report - april 2015

1. INTRODUCTION

O’Brien Traffic has been engaged by Benalla Road Developments Pty Ltd to provide traffic engineering advice and undertake a traffic impact assessment in relation to the proposed development of a Bunnings Warehouse at 90 Benalla Road, Shepparton. The subject site includes various land parcels. The northern section of the subject site is already zoned Commercial 2, the centre section is currently zoned General Residential, and a rezoning to Commercial 2 is proposed, and the southern section is currently zoned General Residential, and no change to this is proposed. In the course of preparing this report:

Plans (including Plan No. TP-01 Revision P11 prepared by Michael Carr Architects) and other relevant documentation has been examined;

The subject site and surrounding road network has been inspected on a number of occasions and traffic data collected;

Multiple discussions have been held with VicRoads and Council officers in relation to a range of issues including access design; and

The traffic and parking implications of the proposal have been assessed.

2. PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT

It is proposed to construct a Bunnings Warehouse at 90 Benalla Road, Shepparton, as shown on the extract from Plan TP-01 Rev P9 at Figure 1. A retarding basin is to be provided on the south eastern portion of the site, and the south western portion of the site is not to be developed as part of this application. The Bunnings Warehouse is to comprise a main warehouse area of 9,921 sq m (including entry), an outdoor nursery area of 2,925 sq m, a timber trade sales area of 2,664 sq m, a building materials and landscape yard of 1,680 sq m, and a bulk trade area (including staging area) of 2,283 sq m, giving a total retail floor area of 19,473 sq m. Car parking for 417 cars is proposed, inclusive of 9 disabled spaces and 4 car + trailer bays. Customer and employee vehicular access and egress are proposed via a new signalised intersection on Benalla Road at the eastern boundary of the site (providing for right and left turns into the site and left turns out of the site), and via an all direction access on Fordyce Street at the southern end of the development. Access issues are discussed further in Section 5 of this report. A delivery area is proposed on the south western portion of the Bunnings site, with all delivery vehicle access provided via Fordyce Street. Delivery vehicle access is discussed further in Section 7 of this report.

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Proposed Bunnings Warehouse

90 Benalla Road, Shepparton

22 April 2015 2 Ref: 14787 report - april 2015

Figure 1: The proposed development (extract from TP-01 Rev P11)

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Proposed Bunnings Warehouse

90 Benalla Road, Shepparton

22 April 2015 3 Ref: 14787 report - april 2015

3. EXISTING CONDITIONS

3.1 Location and Land Use

The subject site and surrounding area are shown in Figures 2, 3 and 4, which provide a locality plan, an aerial view of the entire site and a more detailed aerial view of the portion of the site to be developed as a Bunnings Warehouse respectively. The site is located on the southern side of the Midland Highway (locally known as Benalla Road), between Fordyce Street and Florence Street, Shepparton. The area of the site to be developed as a Bunnings Warehouse has frontages to Benalla Road of approximately 57 metres and to Fordyce Street of approximately 86 metres, and has an area of 42,850 sq m. To the south of the land to be developed as a Bunnings Warehouse is a further 17,969 sq m parcel of land. The eastern portion of this southern parcel (4,083 sq m) is to include a retarding basin that will be constructed as part of the Bunnings Warehouse development, while no development of the western portion of the southern parcel (13,886 sq m) is proposed as part of this current application. The northern part of the site is zoned Commercial 2, whilst the southern portion is zoned General Residential in the Greater Shepparton Planning Scheme. It is proposed that the northern part of the General Residential zone will be rezoned to Commercial 2 as part of this proposal. The parcel of land at the southern end of the subject site is to remain zoned as General Residential land. The “Shepparton Market Place” is located immediately to the east of the subject site.

Figure 2: Locality Plan

Subject site

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Proposed Bunnings Warehouse

90 Benalla Road, Shepparton

22 April 2015 4 Ref: 14787 report - april 2015

Figure 3: Aerial photograph showing location of the subject site

Figure 4: Close up aerial view of the portion of the site to be developed as a Bunnings Warehouse

Benalla Road

Florence Street

Fordyce Street

Subject site (indicative only)

Benalla Road

Fordyce Street

Gilchrist Street

Subject site (indicative only)

Portion of site to be developed as a Bunnings Warehouse

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Proposed Bunnings Warehouse

90 Benalla Road, Shepparton

22 April 2015 5 Ref: 14787 report - april 2015

3.2 Road Network

Benalla Road (Midland Highway) is zoned Road Zone Category 1 in the Greater Shepparton Planning Scheme and is under the control of VicRoads. In the vicinity of the site, Benalla Road is a divided road with two traffic lanes in each direction, a parking lane on the north side of the road and a bicycle lane on the south side of the road (westbound). Along the frontage of the site there is a service road with access provided from the main carriageway. A median break with a U-turn lane for eastbound traffic is located opposite the eastern boundary of the site, also providing access for eastbound traffic to enter into the service road. A further median opening, allowing westbound traffic to U-turn, is located to the west of the site, opposite Watson Street. The speed limit along this section of Benalla Road is 70 km/h. Benalla Road is a designated B-Double route. An aerial view of Benalla Road along the site frontage is shown in Figure 5. Views along the Benalla Road main carriageway and the service road (facing west) are shown in Figure 6 and Figure 7 respectively.

Figure 5: Aerial view of Benalla Road along site frontage

Subject site

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Proposed Bunnings Warehouse

90 Benalla Road, Shepparton

22 April 2015 6 Ref: 14787 report - april 2015

Figure 6: View west along Benalla Road main carriageway (subject site on left of photo)

Figure 7: View west along Benalla Road service road (subject site on left of photo)

Fordyce Street is a local street providing one lane of traffic in each direction and kerbside parking. It has no linemarking except at its intersection with Gilchrist Street. At Benalla Road, access to/from Fordyce Street is limited to left in/left out only. A median break is located on Benalla Road just west of Fordyce Street allowing U-turns. A view of Fordyce Street is shown in Figure 8 and an aerial view of the Benalla Road/Fordyce Street intersection is shown in Figure 9.

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Proposed Bunnings Warehouse

90 Benalla Road, Shepparton

22 April 2015 7 Ref: 14787 report - april 2015

Figure 8: View of Fordyce Street looking south

Figure 9: Aerial view of the intersection of Fordyce Street and Benalla Road

Gilchrist Street is a local street providing one lane of traffic in each direction and kerbside parking. Gilchrist Street intersects with Fordyce Street opposite the subject site. Gilchrist Street has no linemarking except at its intersection with Fordyce Street. An aerial view of the intersection of Gilchrist Street and Fordyce Street is shown in Figure 10.

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Proposed Bunnings Warehouse

90 Benalla Road, Shepparton

22 April 2015 8 Ref: 14787 report - april 2015

Figure 10: Aerial view of the intersection of Gilchrist Street and Fordyce Street

3.3 Turning Movement Counts

In order to be able to carry out an analysis of the current and future operation of the road network, a number of turning movement counts were commissioned at the following locations in the vicinity of the subject site in 2012 and 2013: Benalla Road through traffic and turning movements at the median openings at

the eastern end of the site and to the west of the site (refer Figure 5); and

Benalla Road/Fordyce Street left-in/left-out intersection (refer Figure 9).

The turning movement count at Benalla Road/Fordyce Street was undertaken on Friday 24th August 2012 between 4pm-6pm (to capture the PM peak hour), and on Saturday 25th August 2012 between 11am - 2pm (to capture the Bunnings peak hour). The other data was collected on Friday 1st November 2013 and Saturday 2nd November 2013, for the same time periods. Summaries of these turning movement counts are provided in Appendix A. It is noted that the November 2013 counts were undertaken just prior to Melbourne Cup Day (which was Tuesday 5th November). Given that this holiday is only observed in the Melbourne metropolitan area, it is considered that the data collected is valid, and, if anything, would include higher levels of through traffic than would otherwise be the case as Melburnians may pass through the area on their way to a long weekend. In other words, the assessment provided later in this report is conservative, using through traffic volumes that may be higher than would generally be recorded.

Subject site

Gilchrist Street

Fordyce Street

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Proposed Bunnings Warehouse

90 Benalla Road, Shepparton

22 April 2015 9 Ref: 14787 report - april 2015

4. CAR PARKING

4.1 Car Parking Provision

It is proposed to provide a total of 417 car parking spaces, including 9 disabled spaces and 4 car + trailer spaces. Given the total retail floor area of 19,473 sq m, this equates to a parking provision of 2.14 spaces per 100 sq m.

4.2 Planning Scheme Parking Supply Requirements

Parking policy and requirements applicable to the development are specified in Clause 52.06 of the Greater Shepparton Planning Scheme. The purpose of Clause 52.06 is: To ensure that car parking is provided in accordance with the State Planning Policy

Framework and Local Planning Policy Framework;

To ensure the provision of an appropriate number of car parking spaces having regard to the demand likely to be generated, the activities on the land and the nature of the locality;

To support sustainable transport alternatives to the motor car;

To promote the efficient use of car parking spaces through the consolidation of car parking facilities;

To ensure that car parking does not adversely affect the amenity of the locality;

To ensure that the design and location of car parking is of a high standard, creates a safe environment for users and enables easy and efficient use.

The Table at Clause 52.06-5 provides parking rates for a range of uses. While the use of a Bunnings Warehouse is predominantly ‘Trade Supplies’, there is also a component of Restricted Retail type products. It has been estimated that a Bunnings Warehouse will have no more than 25% of its floor space stocking restricted retail type products. The amended Table at Clause 52.06 specifies that parking is to be provided for Trade Supplies at a rate of 10% of the site area, and for Restricted Retail at a rate of 3 spaces per 100 sq m. Conservatively applying the Trade Supplies parking rate to the whole Bunnings site area of 42,850 sq m means that parking is to be provided on 10% or 4,285 sq m. Assuming that each car space plus a portion of the adjoining accessway totals 25 sq m, this results in a requirement for 171 car spaces. Applying the Restricted Retail rate of 3 spaces per 100 m2 to 25% of the floor area (i.e. 4,868 sq m) gives a

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Proposed Bunnings Warehouse

90 Benalla Road, Shepparton

22 April 2015 10 Ref: 14787 report - april 2015

requirement for 146 spaces, giving a total requirement under Clause 52.06 for 317 spaces. A total of 417 car parking spaces are proposed, meaning that the Planning Scheme car parking requirement is exceeded by 100 spaces. In relation to disabled parking space requirements, the Building Code of Australia requires provision of 1 disabled space “for every 50 parking spaces or part thereof”. As there are 417 parking spaces, this equates to a requirement for 9 disabled spaces, which is met by the proposal. Notwithstanding that the proposed parking provision exceeds the requirements of the Planning Scheme, an empirical assessment of parking demand is included below for completeness.

4.3 Empirical Parking Assessment

There are now a large number of Bunnings Warehouses operating in both metropolitan and regional areas. Data is available from a number of sources and shows that the peak parking demands for Bunnings Warehouses range between 1.1 and 2.8 spaces per 100 sq m for the metropolitan sites and between 1.2 and 1.7 spaces per 100 sq m for the regional sites. The provision of parking at a rate of 2.14 spaces per 100 sq m of retail floor area therefore exceeds the empirically determined parking rate at all regional sites where data is available. It is noted that the parking demand at the various Bunnings Warehouses varies according to a range of factors including the location of the site (city/regional centre), size of the facility, the catchment of the facility (i.e. are there other Bunnings stores nearby), the location of other large hardware stores etc.

4.4 Adequacy of Parking Supply

The proposed provision of 417 car parking spaces equates to a rate of 2.14 spaces per 100 sq m, which significantly exceeds the existing parking demands identified from surveys at a number of regional Bunnings stores. The provision of 9 disabled spaces meets the requirements of the Building Code of Australia. Therefore, it is concluded that the proposed Bunnings Warehouse development will provide adequately for the peak parking demand of customers and staff.

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Proposed Bunnings Warehouse

90 Benalla Road, Shepparton

22 April 2015 11 Ref: 14787 report - april 2015

5. CAR PARK ACCESS & LAYOUT

5.1 General

This section of the report discusses employee and customer access and egress to the proposed on-site car parking area. Delivery vehicle access is considered separately in Section 8 of this report.

5.2 Car Park Access

5.2.1 Benalla Road Access

As part of the pre-advertising stage of this project there has been extensive consultation and negotiation between the applicant, Council and VicRoads in relation to the layout and design of the Benalla Road access point. The proposed design of this access is shown in Figure 11. It comprises a new signalised intersection allowing right and left turns into the site and left turns out of the site. A new connection is provided between Benalla Road and the service road to replace the existing connection (which can be seen in blue ‘underneath’ the new intersection layout in Figure 11). A driveable section of median is provided to allow vehicles to U-turn directly into the service road.

Figure 11: Proposed Benalla Road intersection

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Proposed Bunnings Warehouse

90 Benalla Road, Shepparton

22 April 2015 12 Ref: 14787 report - april 2015

Drivers exiting the site and wishing to travel east along Benalla Road will be able to do so by turning left out of the site and then U-turning at one of the existing median U-turn facilities (noting that given the development pattern of Shepparton the majority of trips will be to and from the west – i.e. right turn into the site and left turn out of the site). This is discussed in more detail later in this report. Figures 12 and 13 provide swept path diagrams showing the movements of vehicles into and out of the Bunnings site (using a 12.5 metre rigid design vehicle) and into the new service road connection (using a semi-trailer design vehicle).

Figure 12: Swept path diagrams (left turn into Bunnings site and right turn into service road)

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Proposed Bunnings Warehouse

90 Benalla Road, Shepparton

22 April 2015 13 Ref: 14787 report - april 2015

Figure 13: Swept path diagrams (right turn into and left turn out of Bunnings site)

It is noted that the intersection design shown above complies with the Planning Permit Conditions specified by VicRoads in its letter to Council dated 29 October 2014 (i.e. during the pre-advertising phase of this project). Note that the detailed analysis that led to the development of the above intersection layout has been provided separately to VicRoads and is not included in this current report.

5.2.2 Fordyce Street Access

Customers and staff will also be able to access the site via Fordyce Street, where a driveway is provided along the southern boundary of the Bunnings development, providing access through to the car parking area. A 1.5 metre wide footpath runs along the southern side of the driveway providing convenient pedestrian access. It is anticipated that the Fordyce Street access will generally be used by customers or employees who live near by the site, or by frequent users who may use Fordyce Street to access Benalla Road. The intersection of Fordyce Street and Gilchrist Street is currently poorly defined with faded or missing linemarking, wide expanses of pavement, limited signage, and minimal deflection on the north/south route even though a modified T-intersection is operating (Figure 14). Therefore, as part of the development of the Bunnings Warehouse it is proposed to reinstate/upgrade the linemarking, provide median islands and kerb outstands to narrow the pavement and better define the desired travel paths (whilst retaining access for large vehicles), and improve signage, as indicated in Figure 15.

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Proposed Bunnings Warehouse

90 Benalla Road, Shepparton

22 April 2015 14 Ref: 14787 report - april 2015

Figure 14: Existing conditions at Fordyce Street/Gilchrist Street intersection (looking north)

Figure 15: Proposed modification to Fordyce Street/Gilchrist Street intersection

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Proposed Bunnings Warehouse

90 Benalla Road, Shepparton

22 April 2015 15 Ref: 14787 report - april 2015

5.3 Car Park Layout

All on-site car parking spaces are arranged at 90 degrees to the access aisles. All car parking spaces have widths of 2.6 metres and lengths of 5.5 metres, with the exception of the 4 x ‘car + trailer’ spaces, and the disabled spaces, therefore exceeding the minimum requirements of the Planning Scheme. The disabled spaces comply with the dimensional requirements of AS2890.6-2009. Aisles adjacent to parking bays are a minimum of 7.2 metres wide which exceeds the Planning Scheme minimum requirement of 6.4 metres. It is noted that, as discussed and agreed with Council and VicRoads, there is no parking accessed off the Benalla Road accessway for approximately 35 metres inside the site, plus there is approximately 25 metres between Benalla Road and the site boundary. It is concluded that the layout of the car park will provide for convenient access/egress and circulation for customer and staff vehicles.

6. BICYCLE PARKING

Bicycle parking policy and requirements applicable to the development are specified in Clause 52.34 of the Greater Shepparton Planning Scheme. The purpose of Clause 52.34 is: To encourage cycling as a mode of transport; and

To provide secure, accessible and convenient bicycle parking spaces and associated shower and change facilities.

The table at Clause 52.34-3 of the Planning Scheme sets out bicycle parking requirement rates for various land uses. However, as with the car parking assessment provided earlier in this report, the proposed development does not fall neatly under any of the categories provided. An assessment under the ‘trade supplies’ category which is nested under the ‘retail premises group’ in the Planning Scheme requires staff bicycle parking to be provided at a rate of 1 space per 300 sq m of leasable floor area and customer bicycle parking to be provided at a rate of 1 space per 500 sq m of leasable floor area. Application of these rates to the 19,473 sq m of retail floor area equates to a requirement of 64 staff spaces and 38 customer spaces. This is considered to be an excessive requirement for bicycle parking particularly given that many of the goods sold at a Bunnings Store (including almost all items

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Proposed Bunnings Warehouse

90 Benalla Road, Shepparton

22 April 2015 16 Ref: 14787 report - april 2015

available from the nursery area, bagged goods area and timber trade area) are too large to be conveniently transported by bicycle. It is noted that the development of the bicycle parking requirements of the Planning Scheme would likely not have envisaged a retail floor area approaching 20,000 sq m (which results in these large numbers of required bicycle parking spaces). Clause 52.34-2 specifies that a permit may be granted to vary, reduce or waive any requirement in relation to bicycle parking and details a number of decision guidelines that the responsible authority must consider (as appropriate) before deciding on an application, including “whether the proposed number, location and design of bicycle facilities meets the purpose of this clause”, and “the users of the land and their opportunities for bicycle travel”. It is considered that, based on previous experience with a large number of Bunnings stores, 6 customer spaces and 6 staff spaces would be sufficient to cater for those staff who may choose to cycle to/from work and the likely minimal customer bicycle parking demand. It is noted that staff shower and change facilities will be provided in the back of house staff area. It is proposed to provide customer bicycle parking spaces in a visible location easily accessed via the proposed pathway system. Staff bicycle parking could be readily provided in a secure area within or adjacent to the Bunnings building.

7. LOADING

7.1 Planning Scheme Requirements – Clause 52.07

Loading policy and requirements applicable to the proposed development are specified in Clause 52.07 of the Greater Shepparton Planning Scheme. The purpose of Clause 52.07 is:

To set aside land for loading and unloading commercial vehicles to prevent loss of amenity

and adverse effect on traffic flow and road safety.

Clause 52.07 of the Planning Scheme sets out the minimum dimensions for loading bays as outlined in Table 1.

Floor Area of Building Minimum Loading Bay Dimensions

2,600m2 or less in single occupation

Area 27.4m2

Length 7.6m

Width 3.6m

Height Clearance 4.0m

For every additional 1,800m2 or part Additional 18m

2

Table 1: Loading Requirements – Clause 52.07

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90 Benalla Road, Shepparton

22 April 2015 17 Ref: 14787 report - april 2015

Based on the Planning Scheme loading requirements and the proposed retail floor area of 19,473 sq m, the loading requirements for the proposed development equates to an area of 207.4 sq m with minimum length and width dimensions shown in the table. The total area devoted to loading significantly exceeds the required amount, and, based on the experience of the many existing Bunnings stores, will provide adequately for the delivery requirements of a Bunnings Warehouse.

7.2 Truck Access to the Site and within the Site

It is envisaged that vehicles up to B-double size will access the Bunnings site. All delivery vehicles will travel south along Fordyce Street before turning left into the site to access the loading bays (Figure 16). Figure 17 shows a B-double exiting the site to Fordyce Street.

Figure 16: B-double accessing the site and loading bay via Fordyce Street

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90 Benalla Road, Shepparton

22 April 2015 18 Ref: 14787 report - april 2015

Figure 17: B-double exiting the site to Fordyce Street

It is envisaged that large delivery vehicles will access Fordyce Street from the east by turning left from Benalla Road into Fordyce Street, and from the west by travelling east along Benalla Road to the Doyles Road roundabout (located approximately 850 metres east of the subject site), U-turning at the roundabout, and then travelling west along Benalla Road back to Fordyce Street. It is noted that Doyles Road is a bypass road that is likely to cater for a significant proportion of arriving delivery vehicles. The roundabout at the intersection of Doyles Road and Benalla Road is shown in Figure 18. Delivery vehicles leaving the site will choose a route depending on their destinations. Vehicles with a destination to the west will drive north along Fordyce Street and then turn left into Benalla Road. Vehicles with a destination to the east are likely to turn left out of the site into Fordyce Street, then turn right into Gilchrist Street, right into Watson Street, and then right into Benalla Road. Alternatively, larger vehicles could make use of existing U-turn facilities along Benalla Road.

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Figure 18: Doyles Road/Benalla Road intersection

It is concluded that Benalla Road and Fordyce Street will provide appropriately for the entry and exit movements of all delivery vehicles up to B-double size associated with the Bunnings Warehouse.

7.3 Waste Collection

Waste collection will occur from the loading area at the rear of the site, with waste collection vehicles using the entry and exit routes described in Section 7.2.

8. TRAFFIC GENERATION AND DISTRIBUTION

8.1 Traffic Generation – Employee and Customer Vehicles

As mentioned earlier in this report, there are now a large number of Bunnings Warehouses in operation around Victoria. The absolute weekly peak hour of trip generation associated with Bunnings Warehouses is Saturday midday. Traffic generation recorded during the Friday PM on-road peak hour is about half to two thirds of the Saturday rate, and the traffic generation recorded during the AM on-road peak hour is significantly lower again. Based on the traffic generation rates collected at various Bunnings sites, a generic Friday PM peak hour rate of 3.0 trips per 100 sq m, and a Saturday midday peak hour rate of 5.5 trips per 100 sq m could be expected.

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Proposed Bunnings Warehouse

90 Benalla Road, Shepparton

22 April 2015 20 Ref: 14787 report - april 2015

Rather than using the generic trip generation, in this case a survey was undertaken of traffic entering and exiting the existing Shepparton Bunnings store, which is located approximately 700 metres east of the subject site. The surveys were carried out from 3pm to 6pm on Friday 28th February 2014 and 11am to 3pm Saturday 1st March 2014. These times were selected to include the Bunnings Friday and Saturday peak periods. As the size of the existing Bunnings Warehouse is known (9,569 sq m), the data collected during the survey periods discussed above was used to obtain a peak hour trip generation rate for the Friday afternoon and Saturday lunch time periods. The trip numbers recorded were 317 trips during the Friday peak hour (3pm to 4pm) and 612 trips during the Saturday peak hour (11am to 12 noon), which equates to existing Bunnings Shepparton trip generation rates of 3.3 and 6.3 trips per 100 sq m for the Friday and Saturday respectively. Note that these figures include trips into and out of the site. Rather than just apply these empirically derived rates to the new retail floor area (which, at 19,473 sq m is approximately double the existing building area) which would result in approximately double the number of trips to the new Bunnings Warehouse, a more realistic, first-principles, approach has been used. This is because in practise, in a relatively self-contained area such as Shepparton, the number of Bunnings customers is not going to double simply because the store size has doubled.

In fact it is considered, based on discussions with Bunnings, that customers will increase by no more than 50% when comparing patronage of the existing Bunnings Warehouse and the proposed new store. Rather, Bunnings hopes to entice customers to buy more items per visit at the new store given the expanded product range that will be on offer. To be conservative a 60% increase of existing customer numbers and therefore traffic generation has been assumed. This means that there will be in the order of 510 trips generated during the Friday afternoon peak hour (including trips into and out of the site) and 980 trips generated during the Saturday lunchtime peak hour (also including trips into and out of the site). It should be noted that traffic generated by the store at all other times of the week will be significantly lower than these peak figures.

8.2 Traffic Generation – Delivery Vehicles

Delivery vehicles of various sizes ranging from utes and vans to small and large rigid trucks and up to semi-trailers and B-doubles will access the Bunnings Warehouse loading facilities. Based on data collected at Bunnings Bendigo (Kangaroo Flat) and Bunnings Wangaratta it is expected that in the order of 20 delivery vehicles would access the site each weekday, with much lower numbers on weekend days. The large majority

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Proposed Bunnings Warehouse

90 Benalla Road, Shepparton

22 April 2015 21 Ref: 14787 report - april 2015

(i.e. over 70%) of delivery vehicles recorded at both the Bendigo and Wangaratta Bunnings stores were rigid trucks, with a much smaller percentage of articulated vehicles (less than 20%).

8.3 Traffic Distribution

To determine likely traffic distribution figures a survey was undertaken of traffic entering and exiting the existing Shepparton Bunnings store, which is located approximately 700 metres east of the subject site (refer Figure 19). The surveys were carried out from 3pm to 6pm on Friday 28th February 2014 and 11am to 3pm Saturday 1st March 2014. These times were selected to include the Friday afternoon on-road peak period and the overall peak hour of the Bunnings Warehouse, which is typically Saturday in the middle of the day. The traffic turning right and left into the site was recorded, and traffic exiting the site, which all had to turn left to exit, was tracked around the Doyles Road roundabout so the ultimate direction of all exiting traffic could also be determined.

Figure 19: Existing Shepparton Bunnings

In summary, for traffic entering the existing Bunnings site during the Friday survey period 19% was from the east and 81% from the west. During the Saturday survey period 17% came from the east and 83% from the west. This is a logical distribution given the location of the site and the development pattern of Shepparton (Figure 20).

Doyles Road / Benalla Road roundabout

Existing Bunnings Warehouse

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Proposed Bunnings Warehouse

90 Benalla Road, Shepparton

22 April 2015 22 Ref: 14787 report - april 2015

Figure 20: Aerial view of Shepparton

Assuming that 20% of trips to the new Bunnings site continue to be from the east, and given the development pattern of Shepparton and the location of the subject site in relation to Fordyce Street, Gilchrist Street, and the local road network, it is anticipated that 60% of trips will be from the west along Benalla Road, and 20% of trips will be via Fordyce Road. Based on the above, the likely distribution of traffic entering and exiting the site during the absolute weekly peak hour (Saturday lunchtime) is shown in Figure 21.

9. TRAFFIC IMPACT

As mentioned earlier in this report, this proposal has already been subject to extensive consultation and negotiation between the applicant, Council and VicRoads in relation to the layout and design of the new signalised access point as well as the likely future operation of existing U-turn facilities in Benalla Road. The analysis undertaken, which has been provided to Council and VicRoads separately and is not repeated in this report, indicates that Benalla Road will operate satisfactorily when the Bunnings Warehouse opens, and will continue to operate satisfactorily even after 10 years of growth is applied to Benalla Road traffic. Fordyce Street will also operate satisfactorily after the Bunnings Warehouse is developed.

Subject site (indicative only)

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Proposed Bunnings Warehouse

90 Benalla Road, Shepparton

22 April 2015 23 Ref: 14787 report - april 2015

Figure 21: Saturday peak hour traffic distribution

10. CONCLUSION

Based on the investigations carried out in relation to the proposal and outlined in this report, it is concluded that there are no traffic or parking related reasons to inhibit the granting of a permit for the proposed Bunnings Warehouse development.

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Appendix A Turning Movement Count Results

Figures A1 to A2 - Benalla Road /Fordyce Street

Figures A3 to A4 - Benalla Road median opening (at the eastern boundary of the site)

Figures A5 to A6 - Benalla Road median opening (to the west of the site)

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Proposed Bunnings Warehouse

90 Benalla Road, Shepparton

22 April 2015 A1 Ref: 14787 report - april 2015

Figure A1: Benalla Road/Fordyce Street - Friday PM Peak Hour Turning Movement Volumes (24 August 2012)

Figure A2: Benalla Road/Fordyce Street - Saturday Midday Peak Hour Turning Movement Volumes (25 August 2012)

NORTHNORTH Fordyce Street

879

37

Benalla Road

858

85

NORTHNORTHFordyce Street

1093

26

Benalla Road

978

50

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Proposed Bunnings Warehouse

90 Benalla Road, Shepparton

22 April 2015 A2 Ref: 14787 report - april 2015

Figure A3: Benalla Road Median Opening at the eastern boundary of the site - Friday PM Peak Hour Turning Movement Volumes (1 November 2013)

Figure A4: Benalla Road Median Opening at the eastern boundary of the site - Saturday AM Peak Hour Turning Movement Volumes (2 November 2013)

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Proposed Bunnings Warehouse

90 Benalla Road, Shepparton

22 April 2015 A3 Ref: 14787 report - april 2015

Figure A5: Benalla Road Median Opening to the west of the site- Friday PM Peak Hour Turning Movement Volumes (1 November 2013)

Figure A6: Benalla Road Median Opening to the west of the site- Saturday AM Peak Hour Turning Movement Volumes (2 November 2013)