Stoneridge Drive Extension is GOOD for Pleasanton!

You're right and the council agreed with a 5-0 vote. The Stoneridge Drive Extention will remain in the General Plan.

Hi Alice
How about giving a link to this study web site? I would be very curious as to how this 10% was determined. I have used computer modelling myself and have missed target completely both because of the program itself and/or, incorrect or missing data. Do you remember that this computer study is the second one and is in disagreement with the first?

Also, even old Bing,(along with Dublin and Livermore),who is on your side, say's in his last editorial that this parallel road would be used as a detour when an accident occurs on 580 which i would note seems like quite often.

Like many people in Pleasanton, I am not ready to support this extension and route 580/680 traffic thru their beautiful neighborhood
and would rather error, if that is the case, on the side of my neighbors on the Stoneridge. It make it a whole lot easier to look them in the eye at our summer concerts in the park.

Cut-through traffic already has a detour on Santa Rita and Valley. The study is available on the City website, linked to the May 1 council agenda.

The divisiveness of this issue among Pleasanton residents is caused by a general lack of understanding by most people with regards to traffic amount versus traffic circulation. Improving circulation, such as the Stoneridge extension would do, balances the current traffic load across more city streets and the study shows this. It is like pouring a cup of water into a 2-cup glass versus keeping the water in a 1-cup glass. No one should be fooled that the extension would _reduce_ traffic. Instead it helps expedite current traffic load. In fact, build not only the Stoneridge extension (all the way out to Livermore), but make El Charro a 6 lane thoroughfare to Stanley.

The extension is good for Pleasanton, but even better, we should also be working on ways to reduce the traffic amount by getting people out of their cars. Build BART out to Livermore. Ride the bus. Bring back school busing. Build a Tri-Valley light rail system. Build more bike paths. Build more little "general stores" next to neighborhoods. Residents should make commitments to try to not use their SUVs so much for that quick trip up to the grocery store for a few items.

Then at the concerts in the park we can all look each other in the eye, both Stoneridge residents and Danbury residents, and say we did a good job of getting together as a community and helping solve an issue that is both local and regional in importance.

Thanx Stacy but I am still unable to find those minutes. I may need your help with pasting the link. Until then, I would like to to ask a couple of questions on what you have written and how it relates to what Alice says. She says that 90 % of the use of this extension would be Pleasanton residents. This extension takes you out of Pleasanton so what exactly does she mean? Are we saying that 90% on the cars on this road are heading east in the morning and returning in the evening? You say that the road improves circulation and expediates traffic. Do you mean in and out of Pleasanton? To where? From where? I don't know anyone who works east of here but it is possible i am missing the point and welcome your clarification.
The editorial from this paper that did stick in my mind was the retired Pleasanton fireman who was upset because it was so difficult to deliver a Christmas present to his mother in Livermore(during rush hour?!!) and called on the council to act as the 3 wisemen. Oh boy.......
There has been so much talk and so little fact that I would really like to see some hard info(hopefully without analogies)for a change.
Lastly, may i assume you are a resident of Valley, east of Hopyard?
Regards

Hi Stacy
Here's something looks interesting.
Web Link
From the Herald -
"The murky data did not seem to indicate clear results. "

Also, i have allittle trouble with the non-descript "GOOD FOR PLEASANTON" I did find this from the CC Times.
I think it clears things up a bit for me.
Web Link
"It has been predominantly Santa Rita Road and Valley Avenue residents who have voiced support for the extension. They argue that extending Stoneridge Drive to El Charro Road would reduce gridlock in central and southeastern Pleasanton and say the Santa Rita Road-Valley Avenue intersection is one of the most congested in Pleasanton, with a high volume of traffic accidents to reflect that

I'm not against you Stacy( or Alice), I'm just looking at the info
and sorting out the what, why and who.

Hi John,

Web Link

First you probably need to start with the definition of "cut-through" traffic as used in the study. Traffic that starts within Pleasanton with a destination of another city is not cut-through traffic. Neither is traffic that starts somewhere else with a destination of Pleasanton. Neither is traffic that starts somewhere else, makes a stop in Pleasanton for gas, snacks, etc., and continues to another city. That is all considered local traffic. The study says only 10% of the traffic on Stoneridge extension will be starting in another city with a destination outside of Pleasanton. Keep in mind the study models traffic at build-out so it anticipates the traffic that will be generated by the development at Staples Ranch and other development in Hacienda (at the rate things are going the extension probably won't be built until then!).

Do you remember the off-ramp metering light at Sunol Blvd. a few years ago? Our city government thought it was a good way to reduce cut-through traffic. They had to rip it out a few months later after receiving so many complaints from Pleasanton residents who couldn't get to their homes in the time they were used to. What a waste of time and money. That should have been a wake-up call to the Council at the time that local traffic still makes up the majority of traffic in Pleasanton. Funny that it got followed up with the traffic circles on Vineyard! To me, keeping Stoneridge closed will have the same effect. The government should be expediting traffic through Pleasanton, not hindering it. When drivers feel they are making progress towards their destination they are less frustrated and less prone to accidents.

I'm a resident in Wood Meadows, which is near the corner of Stoneridge and Santa Rita. My neighborhood exits on Santa Rita. We frequently use Stoneridge or Owens to go to friends homes or stores in the west and Santa Rita/Valley to go south to grandparents' house on Montevino. But this isn't about me or my family, we chose to live where we do and we were well aware before we moved that there is no light at Sutter Gate and Santa Rita (wouldn't want one either!). I won't complain like the fireman.

I've lived in Pleasanton a long time, having grown up here, so I'm acutely aware of the increase over the years in the time it takes to get across town. I have also seen that our city government has done nothing effective to work on the problem in over 10 years. This past year Hostermann and Brozosky both said they'd work on synchronizing city traffic lights if elected mayor. This idea of synchronizing lights has been suggested almost 6 years ago by others and it still hasn't happened, traffic is only worse. Why should it take an act of mayor to get it done? Why isn't it done yet? The delays in getting across town affect businesses too since delays discourage people from making an attempt to go to certain stores. Why do you think Home Depot wants to build a second store across town?

Expanding the freeways will only solve half the problem. Expanding freeways doesn't address the local traffic! Pleasanton is no longer a small town.

Busy week - where are we?
The definition for cut-thru in your first paragraph seems clear enough. Fair to say that the vast majority of the traffic would be Pleasant citizens going to work to the east of here and residents of the cities east of Pleasanton coming to jobs in Pleasanton. The rest of the traffic would be relatively small and more evenly distributed thru out the day.
I am assuming that you do not work in that direction and simply want other people to use it to free up the roads so you can visit friends and go shopping. Looking at the traffic data presented and adding worse case times along a direct route, using your Grandparents as a destination, at the most you might add 10 to 15 minutes to your drive without Stoneridge. Does that seem reasonable to you?
When that amount of time becomes more important than a neighborhoods safety and security concerns, then we should all be worried.

As far as being a frustrated drivers causing accidents, that does not give anyone the right to behave as an emotionally immature Neanderthal and yet, I have seen that behavior over and over on 580 as well as 680. Just take a guess as to who are the most likely to use cut-thru's given the choice? hint- when you hear of the regular tie up at the 580-680 take a drive down to Dublin Canyon if you're feeling brave, make you own conclusion.
I don't buy into the cutting into business theory. If anything, it's more likely that business would drain off to Livermore than increase in Pleasanton. I think if there was money in the equation here, then the road would already be built. I believe that the big Home Depot will probably get built for just that reason. Also, as to why you think this home depot is being built, the following is the statement from their rep.

"Home Depot representatives countered that they have no plans to close the Johnson Drive store which, though smaller, serves customers from west and north Pleasanton and Dublin. It is also convenient to contractors because of its close proximity to Hopyard Road, I-580 and I-680.
The proposed new store would offer more upscale merchandise, as well as the same merchandise found on Johnson Road, they said. Its marketing area would include south and eastside communities I Pleasanton, Pleasanton downtown, and the west side of Livermore.
The main store would be built at the rear of the site, with smaller stores, including a drive-through coffee shop, at the corner of Bernal and Stanley. Also planned is a self-serve Chevron gasoline station along the Stanley Boulevard edge of the site. "

Should mention that some years ago, i lived within a couple of miles of 2 Home Depots, an OSH and an Expo so a home depot on the other side of town is no surprise.
As far as living here your whole life, i really wish you had lived in some of the other towns to the west and south of us so you could experience first hand what roads like this parallel extension
do.

In you first reply, you say
"The extension is good for Pleasanton, but even better, we should also be working on ways to reduce the traffic amount by getting people out of their cars. Build BART out to Livermore. Ride the bus. Bring back school busing. Build a Tri-Valley light rail system. Build more bike paths. Build more little "general stores" next to neighborhoods. Residents should make commitments to try to not use their SUVs so much for that quick trip up to the grocery store for a few items."

I have heard this hundreds of time, usually coupled with the desire to lay down more asphalt. Where is the incentive if you are constantly providing a reason not to do it? While agreeing with the idea, i have become acutely aware that is used by many people(but not you) who ride buses and bikes fewer times than i drive to work(which is almost 0 ) What they really mean is that they want other people to use those services so their own driving becomes easier. As i look around the train in the morning, i usually note that it is only half full or so. This train goes thru Livermore for Pete's sake !! I know what you are thinking in this regard and I've already heard all the excuses.
I guess that in the end, neither of us is going to change our minds, maybe in part because of our different experiences and the only way to settle it is for the citizens of Pleasanton to take a truly democratic vote.
Good luck
j

until the crime goes up. and the atmosphere is changed by vagrants!