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just open it and say "let the traffic come." He said traffic downtown is drowning and another outlet is needed at the northern portion of town. He hears comments about the child safety issues if Stoneridge is extended and noted there is a major sports park on Hopyard Road, which is a six lane road and children cross that every day. Alisal Elementary and Amador High School are on major thoroughfares and children also cross those roads. Mayor Hosterman indicated the opportunities for first responders to make their way across the city are a major consideration and the Police and Fire Chiefs have input in that process. She indicated as plans move forward with Staples Ranch, an emergency vehicle access road will be included. Peter MacDonald representing BRE Properties, an apartment developer seeking to purchase the vacant property at Gibraltar Drive and Hacienda, said he supported the TOD analysis and felt it was a serious concept that needs to be considered by all cities, especially those with BART stations. There have been a number of studies that talk about what happens when there is high density residential, mixed use, and a BART station or similar facility. It provides an affordable, energy efficient and aesthetically pleasing lifestyle. When BRE first inquired to purchase the property, it was told the city was considering rezoning several properties for high density and the General Plan should be completed in a year or so and BRE should be patient. That was four years ago and BIE would like to proceed with its proposal. He indicated there is no location in Pleasanton that would have less impact for this type of project. Rongming Sun believed this was a network flow problem. He believes increasing traffic on 84 would help decrease traffic on Valley. He had some suggestion for accountability for the model. He stated it is based on mathematical data or theory and suggested applying the data to some existing road to prove whether the modeling is accurate. Billie Otis supported modeling the Stoneridge Drive extension sooner rather than later. She wanted the model to include not only Pleasanton traffic, but also as an alternate the I-580 route. She noted the 1985 Stoneridge Drive Specific Plan it stated that it was intended to be an alternative easUwest route to I-580. She further noted it indicated it would be a major benefit to regional travel within the Tri-Valley by creating additional easUwest roadway capacity in the I-580 corridor. She believes due to its function as an easUwest arterial, it is estimated that one-third of the traffic will be cut through traffic and the amount of traffic could be higher if there is an accident on I-580. She stated the writers of the Specific Plan did not anticipate the current congestion on I-580 where traffic is at a crawl with or without an accident. She believes with high density growth in Dublin, Livermore, Mountain House and beyond, it is unlikely there will be a reduction of traffic in the future. John Carroll agreed with statements made by Ms. Otis. He believed the traffic model has been a work in progress for a long time. He asked if there was an incident if the traffic model would accurately predicted the outcome. He noted Pleasanton is at the intersection of two major freeways and he felt there was a natural tendency for people to want to cut across the city to go south. He indicated he was in favor of maintaining constrained gateways and preserving trees and landscaping. He supported modeling the Stoneridge extension now to determine how much traffic would decrease, if any, given the condition of I-580. City Council Minutes 11 January 30, 2007 Joint Workshop