Editorial Editorial (December 09, 2005)

Don't barricade Happy Valley Road

Alameda County Supervisor Scott Haggerty's plan to build a barricade at the Callippe Preserve golf course entrance to keep traffic off Happy Valley Road makes no sense. It would force all out-of-town golfers headed to Callippe, including residents of both Castlewood west of I-680 and in Pulte Home's new Castlewood Heights community that is within the Pleasanton city limits and has direct access to Happy Valley Road, to use a circuitous route to reach Callippe or their neighbors on Alisal Street. From the freeway interchange, it's 2.2 miles to Callippe using Happy Valley Road. To travel by way of Sunol Boulevard, Sycamore Road and Alisal, as Haggerty's barricade would require, is a 4.2-mile route that would force golf course traffic from these local neighborhoods and out-of-town cut-through city streets instead of using the more direct county road. At a time when Pleasanton is looking for ways to reduce cut-through traffic, Haggerty's plan would do just the opposite.

And the county means business, whether legal or not. City Council members were surprised Tuesday to learn that county road crews, apparently at Haggerty's urging, arbitrarily installed temporary barriers at Happy Valley Road and the golf course entrance at Westbridge Lane. The barriers, designed to make it difficult to make a left turn from Westbridge onto Happy Valley Road, were placed on Pleasanton's right-of-way without any notice to city officials. When he heard abut the county barriers, City Manager Nelson Fialho ordered them torn down. It's expected that Haggerty will now take this to the next step, preparing designs for the cul-de-sac or card-operated gate that he wants to protect his constituents along Happy Valley Road, and then ask the county board to conduct public hearings in advance of permitting the barrier in compliance with state laws affecting road and highway closures. These hearings are expected to start early next year and council members said they would keep the public informed on those schedules. Fialho and City Attorney Michael Roush acknowledged, however, that the agreement Pleasanton made with the Alameda County Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) in 2002 that allowed the city to annex 576 acres -- or about 80 percent -- of Happy Valley for the golf course also included language that gives the county the right to close Happy Valley Road.

The golf course opened just last month. There are no traffic reports yet to show that traffic heading to or out of Callippe have an adverse impact on either Happy Valley Road or Alisal Street. Building a barrier between these two thoroughfares would be an arbitrary decision to please a few while inconveniencing many, and would also eliminate the only direct link around Sunol Boulevard in the event that heavily-used commuter thoroughfare is blocked in an emergency. If you have a comment on this proposal, send it to the Alameda County Board of Supervisors and to Supervisor Haggerty at 1221 Oak St., Ste. 536, Oakland, CA 94612. Comments also can be e-mailed directly to Haggerty's office at shaggerty@bos.mail.co.alameda.ca.us.

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