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Susan Dever referred to the Valley Avenue and Santa Rita Road intersection and said her <br />son came in contact with a semi-truck as it was turning right. His bike was destroyed and <br />luckily he was fine, but her point is that this is the most dangerous intersection in the City <br />and if congestion gets 60% worse as data indicates, it will increase the danger for <br />everyone. She asked to keep traffic moving within the city, keep children safe and provide <br />the people who work in the city alternate ways to enter and exit the city during the <br />business day. She asked to keep the Stoneridge Drive extension in the General Plan. If it <br />is removed, the only responsible action would be that City representatives find other <br />solutions that will make things better. <br /> <br />Garland Draper said the Stoneridge Drive extension must be retained in the General Plan <br />because it is the best solution to address east/west traffic congestion in Pleasanton and <br />the city needs one or more arteries to move east/west traffic to neighboring cities. It will <br />bring some undesirable cut-through traffic, but it will also reduce peak traffic volume as <br />indicated in the traffic study. She agreed it will add traffic to a street with no traffic, but <br />said this street has setbacks and sound walls which are luxuries that many streets <br />currently do not have in Pleasanton. Some people believe that traffic will simply not come <br />if the extension is denied, but it will and it is the Council’s task to plan for it by <br />implementing the extension. She read an email from Jim LaTimburg, who could not attend <br />the meeting, which indicated he feels Pleasanton will suffer from increased traffic <br />congestion with or without the Stoneridge extension, felt the issue of whether or not to <br />leave it in the General Plan was too narrowly focused, questioned what action would be <br />taken to improve traffic flow, and urged the Council to leave the extension in the plan and <br />work on additional proposals to improve traffic flow. <br /> <br />Daniel Sapone said he appreciates the work of staff, said a PowerPoint presentation was <br />made 21 years ago of data consisting of temperatures and engineering tolerances which <br />then launched the space ship shuttle, Challenger. The numbers over the years were <br />exhaustively analyzed and in conclusion, all information necessary to have predicted the <br />O-rings would fail was in front of everyone, but the important numbers were overlooked <br />and a wrong decision was made. He said last week they saw all of the data needed to <br />make the right decision; however, not everyone saw the same numbers and conclusions <br />were different. After the workshop, Nancy Allen showed him the numbers he missed on <br />Page 8, Table II and he agreed he had not noticed the numbers. The data showed that as <br />a result of the Stoneridge extension, Santa Rita Road would be reduced by 530 cars; <br />Stanley Boulevard reduced by 270; Hacienda Drive reduced by 630; various other <br />reductions along other streets about 100; Valley Avenue reduced by 550; and therefore, <br />the Stoneridge extension removes 2080 cars from streets by adding 2300 cars to <br />Stoneridge Drive. He asked if there was room to reconsider in light of these numbers. <br /> <br />Mrs. H. Jones felt that the extension should be left in the plan. Those contesting the plan <br />cite cut-through traffic, endangerment of children, and other quality of life issues and she <br />felt these reasons were overblown, incorrect, and do not address the benefits generated <br />by the extension. She felt the extension is good for all of Pleasanton, it would significantly <br />reduce the amount of time it takes for residents to travel east, residents will no longer need <br />to get on I-580 to access points in Livermore, it will reduce traffic that cuts deep into <br />Pleasanton via Santa Rita, Valley, and the Stanley route so many people take trying to get <br />to Livermore, and it was also important to know the City has an agreement with Livermore <br />regarding Valley Care Hospital. She felt the extension would not endanger children, it <br />would make streets safer by reducing traffic, felt they will be able to get funding needed to <br />complete State Route 84 improvements and the 580/680 flyover, felt if Stoneridge is not <br /> <br />City Council Minutes 10 May 1, 2007 <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />