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<br /> The policies addressing traffic behaviors to be discouraged is what the goal is, whether it is regional <br /> cut-through or residents taking short cuts through collector streets. If a policy were adopted that says <br /> "minimize traffic on local thoroughfares and neighborhood collector streets" that would justify building <br /> the West Las Positas interchange and that is not something that is desired as part of this process. It is <br /> necessary to have an idea of what the policies will be, what the definitions will be, who and what kind of <br /> traffic is to be addressed. If it is neighborhood traffic that starts in one part of Highland Oaks and goes <br /> to the Mall and back, that may be fine for local collector streets rather than on the freeway or Foothill <br /> Road. One must think about where you are heading with various classifications of trips. Staff tried to <br /> build a hierarchy of classifications on which to build policies. <br /> Ms. McGovern did not understand why people who get off BART and use Pleasanton streets <br /> rather than freeways are not considered cut-through traffic. <br /> Mr. Swift said if a car parks in the Dublin parking lot then they are regional cut-through traffic, <br /> but if they park on the Pleasanton side then they are not because BART is the destination ending in <br /> Pleasanton. If the desire is to discourage the traffic to the business park from using any streets other <br /> than streets leading to freeways, then there are policies that could be adopted and the traffic signals <br /> could also be adjusted to favor north/south routes to the freeways and make it difficult to go east/west <br /> across the city. That would be a great way to minimize traffic heading for Stanley Boulevard because <br /> we meter traffic going onto 580. Unfortunately, that would mean the traffic moved to Dublin Boulevard <br /> or some place else to the north. <br /> Ms. McGovern agreed with the definition of regional traffic that it is basically traffic on a street it <br /> should not be using. As far as the other two definitions, she felt if staff needed to use them for traffic <br /> modeling or if they should be combined she did not care. She felt if anyone lived in Pleasanton, then <br /> all the streets were theirs to use. She then considered the three Alternatives. She made a chart <br /> comparing them and felt there were minimal differences. She wanted to take Alternative A, add the <br /> land uses that have not been added as yet. Then look at Alternative B and see what could be taken <br /> from Alternative B to deal with the additional land uses. She wanted to have a starting point and build <br /> on it rather than take away from something. She believed it was possible to monitor every traffic signal <br /> and change them at any given time. She asked why that was not being done. That could affect traffic <br /> in Pleasanton. <br /> Mr. Knowles said it would be a full time job to monitor like that. <br /> Ms. McGovern said a person could be hired for about $60,000 a year and it would be worth it <br /> compared to the cost of all the road widenings and additional traffic signals. <br /> Councilmember Thorne agreed it would be a good idea to review regional definitions of cut- <br /> through traffic and to have some consistency. He was really only concerned with regional cut-through <br /> traffic because that is what really impacts the city. People who live and/or work here have a right to <br /> use the streets any way they want to. He supported Alternative B, but made it clear that at this meeting <br /> an option is not being selected and put in concrete. He felt people were looking at details and trying to <br /> adjust them too early. Land use should be reviewed and then select the Alternative that gives the most <br /> ability to move around. He did not like the Rose Avenue extension, but felt Alternative B was a good <br /> starting point. <br /> Councilmember Sullivan was comfortable with the definitions presented by staff. It is a tool to <br /> understand what is going on. He had no problem talking to other cities about their definitions, but he <br /> Joint Workshop <br /> City CounciVPlanning Commission 15 08/30/05 <br />