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Ms. McGovern said Bernal Avenue is not just for Pleasanton and noted the activities that <br />occur at the Fairgrounds and the Downtown events which draw many people. During the Fair, <br />traffic already backs onto 680. <br /> <br /> Mr. Knowles said the metering is not operated on the weekends, which is the main time <br />traffic to the Fair and Downtown events would occur. <br /> <br /> Ms. McGovern said events at the Fairgrounds are not held just on the weekends and cited <br />various events. She asked to take note of the large amount of traffic on Bernal and asked if the <br />model had considered the 750,000 sq. ft. of commercial that has been approved for the Bernal <br />property. <br /> <br />Mr. Knowles said it had taken that into account. <br /> <br /> Ms. McKeehan pointed out that the biggest queue of traffic is at the opening and closing <br />of the events. The metering is from 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm. If there is an evening event at the <br />Fairgrounds, that would be a different issue for staff to look at. <br /> <br /> Jeff Renholts, Aster Court, said years ago there were discussions about speeding and it <br />was stated that 70% of citations issued were given to people speeding in their own <br />neighborhoods. He asked if that were still accurate? It appeared to him that the primary reason <br />for cut through traffic is the backup at the 580/680 interchange. He proposed a couple of <br />modeling tests. He noticed that when lane reductions occur, traffic backs up and asked what <br />would happen if there were four lanes through the entire corridor and the onramps were extended <br />at Hopyard, Hacienda and Santa Rita. As soon as you approach El Charro, traffic disappears. <br />He also proposed a model to add a flyover connector westbound 580 to southbound 680. He felt <br />that would positively affect Pleasanton's traffic. He realized these improvements could be very <br />expensive, but was interested to see what would happen on the model. <br /> <br /> Otis Nostrand, Chair of the Pleasanton Chamber of Commerce, noted that all the people <br />who work here but do not live here have left the City by this time. He felt he represented those <br />people and believed they should be considered as residents here too. He did not want solutions <br />to be done at the expense of the business community. He suggested that if staff wants feedback <br />from the business community, that it meters in bound traffic and then hold the meeting at lunch <br />time. Youwouldgetmoreofthosepeopleatthemeeting. He asked ifthe metering is proposed <br />as an alternative to the General Plan, which has already identified solutions to the issues. <br /> <br /> Mr. Knowles said initially it was an interesting experiment to see what would happen. In <br />the long run, it is an immediate, cost effective, stopgap while staff continues to work on other <br />issues. A key concern is that CalTrans plans to open a southbound Sunol Grade HOV lane by <br />the end of the year. As soon as the freeway can handle 33% more cars and the 580/680 <br />connection can't get them there, he is concerned about a huge influx of traffic. That is one of the <br />reasons for the timing to test metering right away. Now that staff knows the results, it can be <br />implemented on Stanley before that becomes an even heavier cut through route across the center <br />of town. He did not say metering was a permanent solution. Even with Highway 84 widening, <br />the model still showed a significant amount of traffic using Sunol. The question is whether to <br /> <br />Pleasanton City Council <br />Special Meeting Minutes <br /> <br />13 08/22/02 <br /> <br /> <br />