pages: PlanningBoard/2008-08-11.pdf, 10
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PlanningBoard | 2008-08-11 | 10 | John Knox-White stated that a little over two years ago he asked questions regarding the EIR, and believes staff has worked hard to answer his questions. He has worked with Harsh on behalf of transit and alternate transit advocates, although they did not always see eye-to-eye, Harsch has always worked in good faith. He does not agree with staffs' response to some of the comments from the transportation commission. For example regarding Otis Drive instead of adding new lanes we recommended staff look at reducing lanes to add a 2-way left turn lane. Staffs' response was "comment noted" - he does not understand what that means. He also made suggestions regarding the addition of bike lanes on Park Street to facilitate bike route connections. Staff's response was to move the bikes elsewhere. Eugenie Thomson agrees that Harsch should complete the current plan and urges the Board not to approve the requested expansion. She believes the transportation study is technically inadequate for the following reasons: the traffic study is not based on reality and her previous comments are not addressed; a planner from Dowling conducted the peer review of an engineers document; methodologies are inconsistent with the Highway Capacities Manual; the report did not recognize key lane changes; and the volume assumptions are not conservative. She stated that in 2005 the counts were low because the stores were not yet built or not yet operating. The comparisons with the Transportation Element EIR are not valid. She stated that her letter of July 14th was not included with agendas or on web. Pat Gannon gave her three minutes to Eugenie Thomson. Eugenie Thomson hired an independent company called Traffic Data Services. She would like to know why the level of service was worse at Park and Otis than the theoretical levels in the city study. She anted to know why no other kind of analysis was done and why was there no good access for fire trucks and buses. She urged the Board to consider an expansion only with an updated traffic study. Geoffrey Kline agreed with E. Thompson. If the developer does not correct problems now the city and residents will be responsible for correcting them in the future. Kurt Libby agrees with comments from Anne Cooks letter. He is concerned about traffic. Trucks entering Alameda from the bridges go down Broadway and are coming and going all night. He has noticed a lot more traffic on Broadway than in the last couple of years, making it difficult for residents to back out of driveways. He has to wash traffic related dust and soot from his house every few months and the traffic makes it too noisy for outdoor conversation. He stated these are new problems since the Centre has been under reconstruction. He is located 1.3 miles from the center, and not included in the area covered by the traffic study. He believes there is a need to expand the area covered by the traffic study. Stanley Davis, a representative of Kohls Department Store, spoke in support of the proposal. He stated that Kohls expects 2-3 deliveries per week, from a distribution center 80 minutes away. The drop off and pick up trailer will take only 10-15 minutes Page 10 of 21 | PlanningBoard/2008-08-11.pdf |