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Karen Gonzales 0 rom: Pleasanton City Clerk ubject: Item #15 on the City Council Agenda - Owens Drive S1.6PPLE6'� ENTAL MA_____ .. Original Message Provided to the City Council From: Kim Pace Sent: Saturday,January 13, 2018 8:19 AM After Distribution of Packet To: Mayor and City Council Subject: Item#15 on the City Council Agenda -Owens Drive Date 110 A Ladies and Gentlemen, As a long-time resident of Pleasanton, I have watched it grow from a pleasant suburban town to a small city. With the influx of more housing and businesses, comes more people. And more people need a way to get around town. Unfortunately, public transportation is not as efficient or plentiful as it could be. In addition, many who live here do not work here,which means more cars on the road to get out of town. And more people living here means more cars on the road to grocery shop, go out to eat, shop retail, etc. In my opinion, the roads system that was originally designed did not foresee the tremendous influx via growth in population because our master plan did not foresee state mandated affordable housing. In the past several years,traffic has become more and more congested, so you can imagine my surprise and dismay when the planning department deemed it a good thing to narrow down Owens drive across from BART in order to liPccommodate some on-street parking for new residential housing. I have NO IDEA what the planning department was hinking by narrowing a heavily traveled road in a high density area of businesses, housing and BART. Evidentially, the planning department does not use the very streets they design and approve, particularly when the rest of us are on them at peak hours. There has always been a sensitivity in Pleasanton to the pass-through traffic and how to abate the flow. But clogging a major artery, not to even mention getting emergency vehicles through when the road is backed up with traffic, shows a lack of understanding of citizens' needs. So please open Owens back up. The cost should be taken out of the salaries of anyone who approved narrowing it in the first place, because like the traffic circle debacle on Vineyard, Pleasanton citizens will be footing the bill for short- sighted thinking. As you brace yourselves for more high-density housing that will be forced on our town, PLEASE plan for the increased traffic flow. And while you are planning, please think even more towards the future when self-driving cars and improved public transportation options should be welcomed and accommodated. Our heritage downtown may be the heart of Pleasanton, but the rest of the city should keep pace with the present while planning for the future. Thank you for reading my email and taking my thoughts into consideration. Kind regards, illKaren Clark Pace 1