Q&A From Aloft Hotel Traffic Study Discussion

Residents and city council members posed questions to the engineers hired to conduct a study of the impact of the on local traffic at tonight’s special council meeting.

The city commissioned the study after many residents complained that adding a hotel at would make worse an already congested intersection at Bryden Road and Richmond Road.

The study concluded that the office building that is part of the site’s approved master plan would generate more* traffic than the proposed hotel by about 200 trips per day. Chagrin and Richmond Road see about 42,000 cars per day now.

The firm, The Mannick & Smith Group, Inc., also evaluated eight suggestions to improve the flow of traffic at the intersection of Bryden Road and Richmond Road.

Click the PDF to the right to see the full study.

See the questions posed during the hearing and the answers given by Mannick & Smith and city staff below.

Council did not vote on the proposed rezoning that would allow the hotel at tonight's meeting. Watch Beachwood Patch for more updates as they become available.

Q: Because of the calculations the firm listed in the study, wouldn’t it be more accurate to list the estimated number of trips for each potential development on this site as ranges of numbers instead of as one number?

A: Mannick and Smith used a standard traffic engineering method to calculate these numbers, and the standard way to present the results is to list one number, but they offered to provide the ranges.

Q: Mannick & Smith compared office traffic to that of a hotel. Should they compare it to a motel, since Aloft will not have food service and guests will be leaving to get food as if they were staying at a motel?

A: The numbers listed for the hotel traffic is drawn from hotels both with and without food. Plus, the two restaurants proposed for the same site may keep as many guests from leaving the property frequently.

Q: Where did the calculations for the traffic on Bryden Road come from?

A: The numbers are from a 2008 actual car count on the road. The city conducted that study as part of the

Q: Mannick & Smith calculated the difference in the number of trips the hotel or office would bring to this building. Did they calculate how much time the traffic would add to residents’ commutes?

A: No, that was not one of the duties the firm was asked to complete, but Council President Mark Mintz added that it is something Council can take into consideration.

Q: The suggestions to improve traffic at Bryden Road includes prohibiting left hand turns onto Bryden from northbound Richmond Road. Will the city consider prohibiting left hand turns only during rush hour?

A: Yes.

Q: Did the traffic analysis take into account that Goldberg Companies has agreed to gate one of the site’s driveways at night and during the morning rush hours, easing traffic at that intersection?

A: No. The study was commissioned before that decision was made.

Q: Will the city modify this intersection, even if the hotel or office building projects do not pan out? How can residents follow those decisions?

A: Yes. The city is committed to improving the safety of the intersection of Bryden and Richmond Roads, said Mintz. Agendas for council meetings are posted on the city’s website.

Q: Will the city take into account the impact this traffic could have on other intersections on Richmond Road and Chagrin Boulevard?

A: Yes.

Q: Is the intersection unsafe?

A: No, said Police Chief Mark Sechrist. In fact, the intersection at Bryden Road and Richmond Road saw four accidents in 2010 and none were serious, he added. “The reality is that there are many many many more dangerous areas of road than that intersection,” he added.

*Editor's Note: The original version of this article reported that the office would generate more traffic.