CCMIN021803 - Laserfiche WebLink

Mr. Knowles said that would have no impact. For example, the next nearest meters would be in Castro Valley and that is so far away it would have no impact on Pleasanton. Mayor Pico felt there was more concern about what happens in Livermore. Ms. Ayah was concerned about what happens on 680. She referred to I-gg0 where meters were installed and the ideal was to have all cities cooperate and turn them on at the same time. That is what happened and it worked. Mr. Knowles was unsure what Ms. Ayala meant by "ideal". He did not see any negatives for activating the on ramp meters at the three ramps in Pleasanton. Ms. Ayala felt that was assuming 580 has the capacity to hold the traffic being diverted off city streets along with the expected 55% increase in traffic that was referred to earlier in the meeting. She has been told that 580 does not have the capacity to hold all that traffic. Mr. Knowles agreed 580 cannot hold 50% more capacity than it does today. He said those forecasts do not use fully constrained models. The new traffic model being used includes existing constraints. He described the way the freeway operates presently and the benefits that would come from on ramp metering. Ms. Ayala still believed all ramp meters should be turned on at the same time. If that does not occur, then the collision rate ahead would still exist and traffic would back up onto surface streets. Once the lights are on, they cannot be turned off. Mr. Knowles said if Pleasanton roads could benefit from metering, why put off the metering a couple of years in the future when the entire corridor would be metered? Why not get the benefit right away? Ms. Ayala said traffic engineering is not a science and once the lights are on, the City cannot turn them off. Mr. Knowles said CalTrans wants to turn the lights on for the entire corridor and it is to its advantage to operate the meters in a way that keeps Pleasanton happy. Mr. Knowles said he is in favor of the meters because it helps reduce cut-through traffic and improve traffic flow on the freeway. He could see no down side to turning on the metering and the experience in other communities verifies that. He showed graphs to demonstrate traffic volumes at various locations. Ms. Hosterman asked how long it would take for the metering to retrain those who currently cut through the City to go from 680 to 580? Mr. Knowles said he wanted one month of metering on Bemal, Stoneddge and Owens to gather statistics and prepare flyers, etc. to accelerate the retraining process. That would induce extra delay on those streets so the freeway was clearly the faster way of going and to hand out Pleasanton City Council 14 02/18/03 Minutes