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<br />Mr. Brozosky pointed out that Council had a two dimensional view of this area when it <br />completed the Specific Plan and Council did not realize there was a slope. <br />Mr. Knowles pointed out the difficulty of traffic at Petronave Lane and if a traffic signal <br />had not been intended, staff would have had to take a second look at the site distance. Once it <br />had been decided in the general scheme of designing the roadway there would be a signalized <br />crossing, staff did not take other measures to assist vehicles to that location. <br />Mr. Wilson pointed out that instead of making a left turn, a vehicle would only be able to <br />make a right turn exiting Petronave Lane. <br />Mr. Brozosky mentioned that Council had adopted a draft Traffic Circulation Element for <br />the new General Plan. Although he voted against it, one of the items included in the Traffic <br />Circulation Element was the widening of Vineyard Avenue to four-lanes. He asked staff if the <br />draft Traffic Circulation Element and the traffic model needed to be modified to design Vineyard <br />Avenue between Montevino Drive and Bernal Avenue as a two-lane street with medians? <br />Mr. Knowles said staff did not use discretion in designing Alternative B. Staff took every <br />roadway widening that was included in the 1996 General Plan and included it into the draft <br />Traffic Circulation Element because it was aware that it would be a working draft. Staff was also <br />aware that these later discussions would occur after the final land use. From the General Plan <br />build out model runs from a year prior and in testing the sensitivity of each of these widenings, <br />staff has an idea of the benefits and the impacts, and other than being able to pass a slower <br />vehicle thus reducing delay slightly on this roadway, the striping test conducted has shown and <br />demonstrated, based on staff's traffic simulations, that no large traffic backups are occurring. <br />The main point of the temporary striping has borne out of the fact that everyone has been able <br />to test drive it and decide if there are any fatal flaws and from a traffic engineering standpoint <br />and in working with the neighbors to minimize noise and calm the neighborhoods, it has been a <br />successful test. <br />Mr. Brozosky agreed the striping has been successful; however, he wanted to point out <br />one of the items included in the Traffic Circulation Element was the widening of Vineyard <br />Avenue to four-lanes. He asked staff if the draft Traffic Circulation Element and the traffic model <br />needed to be modified to design Vineyard Avenue between Montevino Drive and Bernal Avenue <br />as a two-lane street with medians? <br />Mr. Wilson said staff is recommending Council to authorize staff to proceed with the <br />design of Vineyard Avenue between Montevino Drive and Bernal Avenue as a two-lane street <br />with medians as there is sufficient time involved in preparing the design, and staff will also have <br />the opportunity to address the draft Traffic Circulation Element. <br />Ms. McGovern was not confident with any of the various options that staff had proposed <br />for the roundabouts. She had a vision, which included the roundabouts, the opening of Neal <br />School and traffic going between Livermore and Pleasanton and residents on Theissen Drive <br />dropping their children off and going to work. She did not believe the roundabouts would be an <br />adequate means for safe traffic control. <br />Mr. Knowles said the roundabouts were designed in accordance with federal design <br />guidelines and there is language within the guidelines that state the busier the side street is the <br />better the roundabouts operate. The difficulty currently is that traffic on Vineyard Avenue is not <br />used to traffic coming from the side streets and the closer traffic gets to a balanced flow, the <br />Pleasanton City Council 18 1 0/04/05 <br />Minutes <br />