[[This is a reformatting of the PowerPoint slides used in the oral presentation.]]

Comments on
Arastradero Restriping Trial Extension
(P&TC Hearing, 2011-07-13)

Douglas B. Moran
790 Matadero Ave

Traffic Calming
Remembering the Basics

• Smoothing traffic flow:
  • Goal: maintain thruput
  • Allows lower peak speeds, improves safety
  • Not simply slowing traffic
• More predictable traffic movements
  • Fewer decisions & distractions & stress
  • Fewer mistakes, improves safety
• Road rage not dismissed as "drivers shouldn't"

Cut-thru Traffic
(Maybell, Los Robles, Laguna, Matadero)

• Poor metric being used: no observed decrease in traffic on Arastradero
  • Fallacy: assumes no increase in the corridor
• Anecdotal for Matadero for peak hours
  • Traffic light queue doubling
  • More packs of cars from the light

Impression:
Disregarding Needs of Drivers

• Origin? Difficulty of doing anything put disproportionate burden on vehicular traffic
• Impression: feedback from drivers ignored. Examples:
  • Signage and lane markers: too little, too late
  • @Terman: Brief stretch expands to two thru lanes and then merges down (Opposite of traffic calming)
  • Missing left-turn pocket for Miranda just before Foothill creates long backups (exacerbating pre-existing)
    [[At the hearing: staff said that they would be moving to create this pocket in response to problems for the Arastradero West apartments.]]

Personal Observation
as driver

• Caveat: I avoid peak hours
• Worse than before
  • Worse congestion, including congestion at times it didn't previously occur
  • Less predictability: Lane changes and merges from layout worse than left-turning cars in 4-lane scheme
  • ? More cut-thru traffic?
• Flaws fixable??
• Available capacity for growth in the Research Park?