RES 231363 - Laserfiche WebLink

AUGUSTIN BERNAL MOUNTAIN BIKE TRAIL PROJECT DRAFT INITIAL STUDY 12956 DUDEK 79 April 2022 Setting Local access to the Augustin Bernal Community Park is provided via Golden Eagle Way and regional access to the park is provided via Interstate 680. Impact Discussion a) Would the project conflict with a program, plan, ordinance, or policy addressing the circulation system, including transit, roadway, bicycle, and pedestrian facilities? The proposed project would construct an engineered mountain bike trail within an existing Community Park to replace the unofficial user-created mountain bike trail and trail spurs within the site. The project would not directly or indirectly induce substantial population growth and associated traffic in the project area. As discussed in Section 3.16(a), the project could slightly increase use of the Augustin Bernal Community Park by providing an engineered mountain bike trail that could be used by mountain bikers within a wider range of experience and skill levels. The project could slightly increase traffic volumes on local streets but would not change traffic volumes or transportation patterns in the project vicinity in a way that could increase the need for or deteriorate performance of transportation facilities. Therefore, the project would have no impact due to conflicts with circulation system-related programs, plans, ordinances, or policies. b) Would the project conflict or be inconsistent with CEQA Guidelines section 15064.3, subdivision (b)? CEQA Guidelines Section 15064.3 requires consideration of potential environmental effects resulting from increases in the number of vehicle miles traveled (VMT). The CEQA Statute provides that the intent of evaluating a project’s effects related to VMT is to support three statutory goals: “the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, the development of multimodal transportation networks, and a diversity of land uses” (Public Resources Code Section 21099). Traffic generated by the proposed project during construction would be temporary, lasting approximately three months. Construction traffic would also be nominal because there would generally be fewer than 20 workers onsite daily, and most equipment and materials would be delivered to the site at the beginning of construction and stockpiled, avoiding the need for delivery traffic to occur throughout the construction period. Thus, construction traffic would not affect VMT in the project area. The Technical Advisory for Evaluating Transportation Impacts In CEQA (OPR 2018), states that off- road facilities that serve non-motorized travel, such as Class I bike paths, trails, and multi-use paths are not likely lead to a substantial or measurable increase in vehicle travel. As discussed in Section 3.16(a), the proposed project would slightly increase use of the existing Augustin Bernal Community Park, and thus could result in some new vehicle trips to and from the park. However, the proposed project is a local-serving recreation facility, and as such, is not expected to generate a substantial number of new vehicle trips within the region. Additionally, the Technical Advisory provides that “small projects,” meaning those that would generate fewer than 110 trips per day, may be determined to be unlikely to result in significant VMT impacts. If each trail user arrived at the