REV91698

• Permit No: M1980244
• IBM Index Class Name: Revision
• Doc Date: 3/7/2000
• Doc Name: TRAFFIC STUDY
• Type & Sequence: AM8
• Media Type: D
• Archive: No

Cripple Creek & Victor Gold Mining Company Treffic Study
• EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Cripple Creek 8 Victor Gold Mining Company (CCBV) operation is located between the
communities of Cripple Creek and Victor, in Teller County, Colorado. Generally surrounded
by Highway 67 on the west and south, and County Roads 81, 82 and 83 to the north and
east, the mining operations cover approximately 4 sq. mi. of area. CC&V is applying for
Amendment No. 8 to their state mining permit (M-80-244) and county use permits to allow
additional mining activity and associated growth in mine employment. The growth in activity
and employment is expected to result in additional traffic on County and State roads. This
traffic study was performed according to accepted ITE methodologies and examines the
proposed mine expansion and estimates potential traffic impacts that may be expected to
result.
The proposed mine expansion will allow mine production to increase, requiring approximately
59 additional employees by the year 2003 (peak employment year under Amendment No. 8),
and bringing the number of regular employees to approximately 336 from the current level of
about 285. The increased operations and production proposed under Amendment No. 8 will
generate additional vehicle traffic to and from the mine. Based on the research of available
data, and discussions with mine personnel, the 59 additional employees would be expected
to generate a maximum additional 118 vehicle trip ends over the course of a 24-hour day (59
round trips).
Growth in mine production will also lead to growth in delivery of operating supplies. On a
daily average basis, the increased production will increase truck traffic to the mine from
• about 6.6 trucks/day in 1999, to a potential of about 10 trucks/day in 2003. It is not expected
that the additional 3-4 truck trips per day will have a significant or even measurable impact to
area roadway and intersection capacity or safety. Truck traffic associated with mobilization
and major component delivery will also not have a significant impact to capacity or safety to
area roadways and highways.
The roads surtounding the mine experience significant fluctuations in seasonal traffic, with
summer peak traffic almost three times the traffic of winter months. Traffic volume count
data was obtained from the Colorado Department of Transportation and Teller County. In
addition to available information, traffic counts were also conducted on study area roads in
February 2000. Through these sources, we were able to obtain data for "Average Daily
Traffic" volume on Highway 67 and various county roads.
Intersection traffic was counted at the two mine entrances for this study. The morning and
evening peak period (shift change) traffic was counted for both the Carlton and Ironclad
access locations. At the Ironclad entrance, just under 40 vehicles were observed either
entering or exiting the mine during the peak hour. Of the two mine access roads and two
parking lot entrances present at the Carlton access, mine traffic for all four access points was
counted at about 50 vehicles per hour (vph). Based on the capacity analysis, access
locations experience no capacity deficiencies under existing conditions. Operating
conditions of intersections are assessed using a volume to capacity ratio, or by estimating
the average delay experienced by traffic traversing the intersection. Operating conditions are
expressed as "level-of-service" (LOS). Level-of-service can vary from A to F, much like
school grades, with LOS A representing free flow conditions of little delay or congestion and
• LOS F indicative of substantial congestion, long vehicle queues and significant delay. Both
access point intersections under study operate at LOS A with less than 2 seconds/vehicle
average delay for side road traffic.
TranSystems Corporation -March 7, 2000 Page 1