05/19/2005 - Laserfiche WebLink

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been discussions in January between Acting City Engineer Dave Ross and Palo Alto regarding the traffic signalization at Arastradero. • Mayor O'Malley advised Council that the Palo Alto City Council had continued their final vote on the Development Agreement until the Los Altos Hills Council had the opportunity to direct their questions to the Palo Alto staff at tonight's meeting. Mayor Pro Tem Kerr requested additional 'information from Palo Alto staff on the public transit aspect of the development's transportation plan. Kerr questioned whether public shuttles would serve the Stanford Research Park and if they would be available to the Town's residents. Gayle Likens, Transportation Projects Manager, briefly summarized the City's transportation network and noted that the free shuttles were available to the public at large. Councilmember Jones requested further clarification regarding the traffic aspect of the Development Agreement; most notably their conclusion that the traffic increase as a result of the development would be modest and that traffic signals would not encourage "cut through"traffic into Los Altos Hills. Emslie provided an overview of the process that Palo Alto had undertaken in assessing the impact of growth at the Research Park. It was determined that the mitigation measures at the intersections presently being discussed (signal lights) would be necessary • without any additional growth in the Park due to regional traffic growth. Heba El-Givendy, Transportation Engineer, explained the analysis of the traffic counts that had been conducted and why they warranted the signalization of the intersections. She explained that the most recent traffic counts were for 2003-2004 and noted that the City would like to avoid widening Arastradero and would like to monitor the traffic flow at both intersections to determine when the installation of the signals would be appropriate. El-Givendy did not have the information requested by Councilmember Jones with her and offered to forward it to Council. She concluded her comments by noting that Palo Alto had determined that there would be no "cut through" traffic by reviewing the roadway layout of the network and where the trips would be generated from and their distance. The location of the two intersections in the overall network was the main determining factor that lead to their final opinion. OPENED PUBLIC COMMENT Martha Bowden, Saddle Court, expressed her concern that traffic signals on Arastradero would encourage motorists to increase their speeds. As President of the Terman Middle School PTA, she had expended great effort to limit the numbers of kids commuting to school in cars and had encouraged students to ride bikes or walk. Bowden noted that the Palo Alto study was a traffic flow report and had not included number counts for bicyclists and she was very concerned that the road was not a safe route for students to school. She believed that traffic signs were the best deterrent to slow motorists traveling • on Arastradero. 4 City Council Meeting Minutes May 19,2005