PC 07/23/97 - Laserfiche WebLink

. . . projects while the West Las Positas Committee is undergoing its study. The revised Development Agreement would provide the City with a source of funds for Canyon Way and other improvements, as well as increase the amount of Taubman's funding for traffic mitigation improvements. Pat Gibson, Vice President of Kaku Associates, 1453 Third St., Santa Monica, the original traffic engineer for the Stoneridge Shopping Center, reviewed the three different traffic studies done for the project. Nineteen locations were studied, and without the Stoneridge expansion, without the West Las Positas interchange, and without other traffic mitigations, seven of the 19 intersections would be at LOS E. With the Stoneridge expansion, not enough traffic is added to change the volume-to- capacity ratio; Stoneridge will utilize less than one percent of the capacity of 17 intersections out of 19. At two locations - both sides of the 1-680 interchange - the volume-to-capacity ratio increases, utilizing one percent of the capacity of both intersections, but not enough to warrant the construction of the West Las Positas interchange. Additional traffic studies showed that regional cut-through traffic does not change the conclusions. Chair Barker asked Mr. Gibson how Stoneridge Shopping Center impacts the morning peak, considering that the most stores do not open until 10:00 a.m. Mr. Gibson replied that there is no impact on the morning peak; the impact is on the afternoon peak hour. Chair Barker inquired if the off-ramp traffic signals get a priority based on an agreement with Caltrans to ensure that traffic does not back-up the ramp, such that if there are cars in the loop, these cars get priority. Mr. Gibson answered that Caltrans maintains control of the on-ramp metering and the off-ramp traffic signal. He explained that Caltrans put loops at the end of the ramp and when there are cars at the end of the ramp that might back-up onto the freeway, the green time is extended to clear the ramps. This is basically a safety issue for the mainline freeway. Mr. Gibson added that this fact was taken into account in the traffic analyses. Chair Barker asked if the sequence timing at the ramps contributes to the LOS E at the Hopyard Road/Stoneridge Drive intersection, considering the closeness of the traffic signals along Stoneridge Drive from Hopyard Road to the mall. She further inquired if this LOS E could be cleared in the future with better sequence timing from improved technology. Mr. Gibson replied that the use of some new computerized signals has diminished the capacity out of some intersections by five to seven percent; however, the calculations for the Pleasanton analyses already assume a theoretically perfect signal operation. Commissioner Cooper inquired what benefit the City would have in vesting an additional 202,000 square feet at this time, as opposed to when projects come along, given the fact that Taubman already has 178,000 square feet and the Development Agreement could be amended at any time. He felt that not committing the City at this time would give the City more leverage down the road, as opposed to not having any control in the future. Planning Commission Mmnles Page 9 July 23, 1997