No traffic impacts expected for Lake Osiris Road church

By Laura Fitzgerald
Posted 3/20/19

A traffic study for Good Canaan Land church, a proposed church on Lake Osiris Road in the Town of Montgomery, revealed little impact on the road and surrounding residences.

The local residents …

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No traffic impacts expected for Lake Osiris Road church

Posted

A traffic study for Good Canaan Land church, a proposed church on Lake Osiris Road in the Town of Montgomery, revealed little impact on the road and surrounding residences.

The local residents of Queens-based Good Canaan Land Church are planning to build a church on land subdivided from a large farm on Lake Osiris Road in the Town of Montgomery. The two-story 12,000-square-foot building has a footprint of 7,800 square feet.

The traffic study completed by Stephan Maffia, Principal Engineer, concluded the estimated additional traffic generated by the church is low, even during its peak Sunday service time period. The study estimates approximately 40 additional vehicles at peak Sunday traffic times traveling in either direction on Lake Osiris Road for a total trip generation of no more than 80 vehicles.

All other hours during the week and the rest of the weekend will generate significantly lower traffic rates of no more than 15 vehicles to both sides of the road.

“Traffic related impacts for the proposed development will be minimal,” the study concludes.

While the traffic study was conducted in the winter months, it did take into account pedestrian and bicycle traffic, which are significantly higher in warmer months. However, due to the low traffic volume, the study concluded pedestrian and bicycle traffic would not be impacted on Lake Osiris Road and such traffic could travel safely.

The Lake Osiris Country Club, which is across the road from the proposed church, was closed during the traffic study, which took place in January and February. So, additional traffic was also estimated to account for the Country Club traffic, based on industry standard trip generations.

The church will have two accesses from Lake Osiris Road approximately 650 feet east of the intersection of Lake Osiris Road and Fairway Drive, adjacent to Zwart Lane. The project is expected to be complete in 2021.

To evaluate the potential worst-case impacts of the development, manual turning movement counts were conducted at the intersections of Lake Osiris and High Meadows Road and Lake Osiris and Borden Road, as well as the driveways to Faith Baptist Church in Montgomery and Freedom Road Bible Church in Walden.

Traffic counts were collected on one typical weekday and a Sunday morning.

The bottom floor of the church houses a sanctuary, a common area, bathrooms and offices while the top floor contains four apartments and a balcony for overflow during services.

Lawrence Marshall, Principal Engineer for MNTM, said the four two-bedroom apartments will house the church’s caretaker, pastor and visiting clergy and pastors.