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News From the Trenches!

Stratford, ON (May 20, 2010) — A provincial board in Ontario has upheld the city of Stratford's decision to reject proposals for a cluster of new stores, including a Wal-Mart supercenter, ruling that the proposals "are neither in the public interest nor represent good planning."
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Eagle, CO (Jan. 5, 2010) — Voters in Eagle, Colorado, soundly defeated a proposed big-box lifestyle center yesterday in an election that saw the highest turnout in town history.
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Traffic

Established trip generation rates for supercenters significantly underestimate the actual traffic impact, according to this study.


Trip Generation Characteristics of Free-Standing Discount Superstores
by Georgiena M. Vivian, ITE Journal, August 2006

This study found that supercenters of 200,000 square feet or more generate an average of 42 percent more traffic than the rate listed in the Institute of Transportation Engineers Trip Generation manual. Traffic engineers, developers, and city officials use the figures in this manual to estimate the traffic impact of development projects. This study, which relies on traffic counts conducted at five supercenters in Oklahoma and Texas, indicates that the manual significantly underestimates the traffic generated by large supercenters (stores that combine general merchandise and a full grocery department) and that traffic analyses based on it are unreliable indicators of the actual traffic impact of a supercenter development.


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