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With the Meadowlark Dairy becoming more popular and as its reputation and Pleasanton have grown over the years, so too has the ice cream store’s infamous line of cars. But with the summer heat approaching, the city decided to implement a change in the way traffic flows around the downtown shop.
Starting this Saturday (June 1), everyone who wants to use the dairy’s drive-up service will have to approach from the First Street direction, according to a press release from the Pleasanton Downtown Association.
That means motorists will no longer be able to drive up to the dairy from Main Street by turning left from Neal Street.
The PDA press release states that the city will be painting the median on Neal Street and no left-turn signage will be installed so patrons will know they will be prohibited from entering in that direction.
Cedric Novenario, senior traffic engineer for the city, told the Weekly that the city has implemented this pilot project in order to mitigate the long line of cars, as well as the safety and circulation issues that come along with all those cars that used to clog up traffic in two main ways.
“Coming from the west, patrons are queuing up in the two-way-left turn lane on Neal Street between Railroad Avenue and Main Street — in most cases the intersection at Main Street and Neal Street and Rose Avenue gets congested and overflows onto Main and Rose Avenue with additional patrons trying to enter into the queue,” Novenario said. “From the east, patrons queue up along the curb between First Street and Railroad Avenue — which can also create congestion at First Street and Neal Street.”
In order to curb that congestion, Novenario said the city will be creating a 700-foot stacking lane, which is a lane where vehicles can wait and queue up in order to minimize impact to traffic flow, on Neal Street and First Street. People will now come from First Street along the Lions Wayside Park and turn right onto Neal Street in order to get into the dairy drive-thru.
All of the parking spots adjacent to the park and from the north side of Neal Street between First Street and the dairy driveway will also be removed in order to create that stacking lane, according to the PDA press release. No-parking signs will be installed along the stacking lane and a combination of delineators and roadway striping will also help reinforce and identify the new lane.
The new traffic lane will stay in effect from this weekend until Aug. 31 because, as Novenario explained, it is a pilot project. He said the city will evaluate the traffic circulation through the summer and determine whether or not it should keep the stacking lane.
As for the westbout 10/10R bus stop located in the area, the stop will be relocated to First Street adjacent to Delucchi Park and the two buses will be rerouted to Bernal Avenue and Old Bernal Avenue, according to the PDA.
The original bus stop located on what will be the new stacking lane will be closed and the Livermore Amador Valley Transit Authority will post signs to indicate the new relocated stop.
“The city of Pleasanton will continue to work with the Meadowlark Dairy and LAVTA to address any issues or concerns that arise with the new circulation pattern,” according to the PDA press release.
