MEMORANDUM
to: Roger L. Stancil, Town Manager
from: George Small, P.E., Director of Engineering
Brian Curran, Police Chief
Kumar Neppalli, E.I.T., Engineering Services Manager
SUBJECT: Follow-up Response to a Petition Regarding Night Work on the Greenbridge Project
DATE: December 8, 2008
PURPOSE
This report provides response to a petition regarding night work on the Greenbridge project located adjacent to the intersection of West Rosemary Street and Merritt Mill Road.
We recommend that the Council take no action with respect to the approved permit for street closures and night work associated with Greenbridge project. Town staff is closely monitoring the work and will make recommendations to the Town Manager for changes in the permit as appropriate.
At its October 15, 2008 meeting, the Council received an oral petition from a citizen complaining about noise levels during night time construction hours at the Greenbridge project. Town staff provided a report in response to the petition at the November 10th Council meeting recommending no changes in the permit stipulations for night work and street closures associated with the Greenbridge project construction. At the November 10th meeting, the initial petitioner and an additional petitioner expressed opposition to the staff recommendation for no change in the permit stipulations. The petitioners requested that the Town change the permitted construction times to a period other than 2 am to 7 am, such as 7 pm to midnight.
DISCUSSION
In early October, the Town issued a permit, including variance from the Town’s Noise Ordinance, for street closures and night work between the hours of 2 am and 7 am for construction of the Greenbridge Project located adjacent to the intersection of West Rosemary Street and Merritt Mill Road. The following discussion provides information regarding construction activities associated with the Greenbridge project.
Lane Closures during
Day Time:
One travel lane is closed on Graham Street or Merritt Mill Road when using
the crane and bucket concrete delivery system. During the crane and bucket
system operations, concrete trucks travel from the plant near Hillsborough south
along Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard, turning right on Franklin Street and
then right again on either Graham Street or Merritt Mill Road to make
deliveries to the construction site. It takes approximately 30 minutes to
empty a truck using the crane and bucket system. Once empty, the trucks depart
the site by turning right onto West Rosemary Street and then left onto Martin
Luther King, Jr. Boulevard to return to the concrete plant located south of Hillsborough.
Currently, three concrete trucks are used in a semi-continuous loop for this
work, circulating between the concrete plant and the Greenbridge site.
Road Closures during Night Time:
The concrete placement for foundations and below-grade walls requires numerous deliveries by concrete trucks and the operation of concrete pumping equipment. The pumping equipment allows for placement of concrete at a much faster rate than the crane and bucket system, a requirement when pouring large floor slabs. Because the rate of concrete placement with the pump is much faster than with the crane and bucket, the number of trucks used to supply the operation increases accordingly. For concrete pumping work, 20 concrete trucks are used in a semi-continuous loop moving back and forth between the concrete plant and the Greenbridge site.
Of the remaining late night concrete pumping operations, the contractor has advised us that 14 can be set up at a location on Merritt Mill Road that is as far away as possible from the apartment building that is of concern to the petitioners. Approximately 24 of the remaining concrete pumping operations will be staged on Graham Street, a full block away from those apartments. We believe that these remote pumping operations will effectively reduce/mitigate construction noise that might affect residents of the apartments in question.
We evaluated alternative time periods for the concrete pumping operations, including 9am to 4pm, 7pm to 1am, and 2am to 7am. Because this project is located in an area of Town predominately occupied by commercial properties and business, pedestrian and vehicular traffic volumes are relatively high during day time and evening hours. Considering these issues, we determined that construction during the late night hours would create the least amount of disruption to area business, drivers, and pedestrians. The late night work would also allow businesses located in the area, including a funeral home, to continue operations during normal business hours without interruption.
Alternative Construction Times
Town staff from the Manager’s Office, Police Department, and Engineering Department met with the Greenbridge developer and discussed several options. After evaluating several possible time periods for the concrete pumping operations, we continue to believe that the late night construction hours are in the best interest of the community-at-large because performing this work during other hours would create the following problems:
We believe that concentrating the heavy construction work and associated street closures during night hours between 2 am and 7 am when pedestrian and vehicular traffic are at their lowest levels would create the least amount of disturbance to the majority of the community and would be in the public interest from both functional and safety aspects. The night work would also allow businesses located in the area to continue their operations during normal business hours without interruption. None of the alternative time periods that we considered for concrete pumping operations proved to be practical for the reasons noted above.
We recommend that the Council take no action with respect to the approved permit for street closures and night work associated with Greenbridge project. Town staff is closely monitoring the work and will make recommendations to the Town Manager for changes in the permit as appropriate.
