New Mexico Administrative Code › Title 18 - TRANSPORTATION AND HIGHWAYS › Chapter 31 - CLASSIFICATION AND DESIGN STANDARDS FOR HIGHWAYS › Part 6 - STATE HIGHWAY ACCESS MANAGEMENT REQUIREMENTS › Section 18.31.6.16 - TRAFFIC STUDIES FOR LAND DEVELOPMENT

Current through Register Vol. 35, No. 13, July 16, 2024
A.
Purpose:
As stated in
				18.31.6.15
				NMAC, a traffic engineering evaluation shall be required for all land
				development proposals that may directly or indirectly impact a state highway
				facility. This section describes the specific traffic study process that shall
				be followed to address the traffic engineering evaluation requirement for a
				land development project. The traffic engineering evaluation requirement may be
				waived by the department when considering a request for a new individual use
				access (see Paragraph (1) of Subsection E of
				18.31.6.14
				NMAC).
B.
Traffic study
				approach:
A two-tiered approach shall be utilized to satisfy the
				department's traffic study requirements for a proposed land development
				project. Traffic impact study requirements of local governments shall also be
				followed, where applicable. The departments two-tiered approach is as follows:
				First tier, site threshold analysis (STA); second tier, traffic impact analysis
				(TIA).
C.
Site threshold
				analysis:
A STA shall be required of all developing or redeveloping
				properties that directly or indirectly access a state highway. The STA should
				examine existing roadway volumes and trip generation estimates to determine if
				additional traffic analysis is required. The department STA form should be
				completed and should be reviewed by the district traffic engineer. If the site
				characteristics and the trip generation estimate for a proposed development do
				not satisfy the requirements for a traffic impact analysis as determined by the
				district traffic engineer, the STA should be approved and the traffic study
				requirement for the proposed development will be complete. A description of the
				subject matter that should be included in the site traffic analysis is provided
				in Section 16 of the
state access management manual.
D.
Traffic impact analysis:
The
				purpose of a TIA is to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the transportation
				system that will provide access to a proposed development site, including
				proposed access points, to identify potential short-term and long-term impacts
				on the state highway system. The requirements for a TIA are described in the
				following subsections. All traffic impact analyses shall be sealed and signed
				by a registered New Mexico professional engineer prior to the issuance of an
				access permit by the department.
(1) When is a
				TIA required? A TIA shall be conducted for each new development or property
				redevelopment impacting a state highway when:
(a) The results of a STA indicate that the
				proposed development is expected to generate 100 or more peak-hour total trips;
				or,
(b) The results of a STA
				indicate that expected levels of service (LOS) will be below the applicable LOS
				standards, and a mitigation plan cannot be resolved between the department and
				the permittee to address identified deficiencies; or,
(c) There are safety concerns along the
				highway where the development is located that are verifiable by the district
				traffic engineer.