Vacations - Easements, Reserves, Streets, Walkways - 1979-1981 pt1

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-3- 9. Traffic Impacts We have recently analyzed traffic circulation in the downtown area based on four factors: (a) Trip generation from the Hahn/Falaschi pro- posal, (b) Diversion of traffic from the closure of West Estudillo, (c) General traffic growth beyond project related traffic, and (d) Street improvements that would increase traffic capacity. a. Project Traffic The 1975 Orchard Park proposal envisioned 220,000 sq. ft. of lease area. This proposal did not incorporate the Safeway and Bill's Drugs building area (37,000 sq. ft.). The present Hahn/Falaschi proposal is for a total of 100,000 sq. ft., a 60% decrease in leasable area and trip generation. There will be an estimated 6,000 vehicle trips per day generated from the project. b. Diverted Traffic The 1975 proposal as well as the current proposal include the closure of the subject streets. Then as well as now, an estimated 4,000 vehicles per day will be diverted from West Estudillo Ave. (roughly 3,000 cars to Davis St. and 1,000 to West Juana Ave.). The subject segments of West Joaquin Ave. and Washington Ave. do not now carry through traffic and therefore diverted traffic from closing them is negligible. The 4,000 vehicle diversion is a modest increase and is well within the carrying capacity of the adjacent streets. c. General Traffic Growth In the 1950's and 60's traffic in the Bay Area was projected to grow approximately 3% per year. Our 1975 study and more recent studies assume a 1% per year growth factor. The increasing cost and scarcity of gasoline over the past years has cause signi- ficant changes in the driving habits of the motoring public. These constraints on driving are expected to worsen over time, causing a similar constraint on general traffic increases in the East Bay. We are no longer comfortable with the same projected growth rates that we have previously used, and feel that traffic will grow at a somewhat slower rate. d. Increasing Traffic Capacity The current project includes street improvements such as the widening of Davis St., the signalization of the East 14th/Hays intersection and the return of two-way traffic to Hays Street, that will significantly aid traffic circulation downtown. Other minor improvements are planned at specific locations as the need for increased traffic capacity arises. The Davis St./San Leandro Blvd. intersection improvements, when completed, will greatly assist the congestion problems in that area. Congestion problems in the Davis Street/San Leandro Blvd. intersection do not arise from the Plaza I project.