01 - Laserfiche WebLink

Sharon Piekarski reported she appreciates the buffered bicycle lane that was added as well as the shorter crossing distance when Owens Drive was modified. She opined it is safer for bicyclists and pedestrians and is in keeping with promoting physical activity. The current conditions do not severely impact traffic movement in the area. She did not believe the proposed expense is warranted and is not in the best interest of the community. She voiced support for staff recommendations and stated the City can always look at changes, at another time, should traffic get worse. Julie Testa spoke in opposition to the plan noting it is counterintuitive and does not make sense. She stated residents are frustrated at the transfer of public land and the resulting negative impact. She spoke in support of correcting Council's previous mistake, by adding another eastbound lane, and preserving two lanes, westbound. She requested a change to the Specific Plan to prevent the future possibility of the westbound side getting reduced, as well. She asked Council to restore two lanes, eastbound and preserve two lanes. westbound. Rohit Gupta agreed with Ms. Testa's comments noting since changes were made, many of his coworkers have stopped using Owens Drive and expressed concerns with drivers merging from three lanes to one. An Li thanked Council for its work on this issue and opined the changes should not have been made from the beginning. She noted the need to have courage to fix the problem and urged Council to do so. Sachin Bhayani believed there will be a significant increase in parking, expressed concerns with the lack of consistency in the City and suggested implementing a solution were drivers, pedestrians and bicyclists can exist in harmony. He urged Council to approve making the appropriate changes to increase public safety for all. Yalin spoke in support of adding another eastbound lane on Owens Drive. She addressed a growing population and felt there should be an investigation in connection with the reduction in lanes made by a previous Council. Haiying Huang spoke in support of adding another lane eastbound on Owens Drive. She reported the previous Council made a mistake in reducing the number of lanes and urged Council to correct it. She recommended acting to prevent similar mistakes in the future and urged staff to use common sense in planning and increase transparency. Muriel Dekers-Brown agreed that reducing Owens Drive did not make sense, presents a public safety issue and has caused her to use other routes to get home. She urged Council to increase transparency and ensure everyone is safe. Sonia Gupta spoke in favor or widening Owens Drive again and expressed concerns with decreased public safety with the reduced number of eastbound lanes. She added many of her friends have the same concerns and urged Council to approve widening the road to two lanes. Mark Schwanhausser commented on encouraging different types of transportation and trying to find a right balance. He noted the data shows minimal impact and urged Council to approve staff recommendations. He agreed with previous comments about Santa Rita and questioned spending $1 million to rewiden the road. Robin Liu reported often driving on Owens Drive and felt reducing the number of eastbound lanes was not a good decision. He urged Council to rewiden the lanes on Owens Drive. Mayor Thorne closed public comment. City Council Minutes Page 6 of 9 January 16, 2018