PermaLink to this posting:
http://meetingthetwain.blogspot.com/2017/11/sunnyvale-civic-center-plans-traffic-3.html
More detail on traffic - following up post 2 which is here:
http://meetingthetwain.blogspot.com/2017/11/sunnyvale-civic-center-plans-2.html
Summary:
1. The increased traffic activity generated by the new Civic Center will overload the intersection of Mary and Olive with nearly 4 minute wait times in the morning and nearly 7 minute wait times in the evening rush hours, regardless of whether Olive is closed or not. The proposed solution there is to make it exit from Olive onto Mary right turn only during rush hours. That's a lot of u-turns by people who would otherwise have turned left. It leaves open the question of how, or if, people would be able to enter Olive from Mary by turning left during busy traffic.
2. If Olive Ave. is closed, as in Option 2, it would appear that it will be very difficult to exit from the new Civic Center. Like "Hotel California" you can check in but you can't check out. This is because the proposed exits along All America Way and the driveways of the proposed parking structure do not allow for left turns, again resulting in a lot of extra driving to get to a place where a u-turn can be made.
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Please come to the City Council Meeting on Tuesday Nov. 7th at 7 PM 456 W. Olive Ave., Sunnyvale, CA and share your thoughts about how to proceed. If you cannot come, please email the city council at:
council@sunnyvale.ca.gov
This entire design process will take at least a year so don't think that just because you couldn't make the meeting it is too late to give your opinion.
Traffic:
A preliminary traffic analysis is available as attachment 4 at the city web site
https://sunnyvaleca.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=3202454&GUID=7597B6BF-FF80-419D-97E9-400156509C7A
This document, submitted by Mr. Ben Huie, of Kimley-Horn, shows (page 21) that as a result of the extra activity from the "Modernized" Civic Center - regardless of whether Olive Ave. is closed - we get:
- traffic at the intersection of Olive and Mary will have peak waiting times of 230 seconds (3 minutes, 50 seconds) in the morning. This is 24 seconds longer than without the project but includes expected private construction not yet completed,
- traffic at the intersection of Olive and Mary will have peak waiting times of 389 seconds (6 minutes, 39 seconds) in the evening. This is 1 minute & 55 seconds longer than without the project but includes expected construction from other private construction not yet completed,
A proposed solution is to prohibit left turns from Olive onto Mary and prohibit crossing Mary from Olive during rush hours - see map below (click on map to enlarge):
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| Impact of traffic added by Civic Center Project |
An excerpt from the report (pg 27):
"For Option #1, the key difference is that Olive Avenue would remain unchanged from the existing conditions. This is beneficial to the site access and circulation because it allows for vehicles to enter and exit the project site from the signalized intersection of W Olive Avenue/Mathilda Avenue."
Next picture illustrates the issue. The red arrows show that coming off of Olive you can cross Mathilda (there is a stop light there) to go North or go South and have enough distance to get into the left lane to turn East onto El Camino. From All America Way you can turn right only (blue arrow) because there is a raised median blocking crossing Mathilda. There is not enough distance to cross 3 lanes to get into the left-turn lane to turn East onto El Camino or make a u-turn at the light. (Click on picture to enlarge)
Further down on page 27:
"For Option #2, the major difference is the removal of Olive Avenue between Pastoria Avenue and Charles Street. This change from the existing conditions has made it difficult for vehicles exiting the project site to go northbound on Mathilda Avenue and eastbound on El Camino Real in the PM peak hour. Since the proposed layout for Option #2 restricts access to the intersection of W Olive Avenue/Mathilda Avenue, vehicles have to exit at mid-block driveways and make U-turns to get to their final destinations."
So if you come out of All America Way because Olive Ave. is no longer available, you will not be able to get into the left turn lane because of traffic during busy periods. You will need to make a U-Turn to go North on Mathilda or East on El Camino. But where? You will have to cross El Camino and make a U-Turn near the Tennis Courts. (Maybe stop off at "Trader Joe's" while you're at it.) The picture below shows the issue:
This will necessitate using driveways to exit the Civic Center. These have problems too. From the traffic document:
"Vehicles cannot exit the mid-block driveway on El Camino Real (near the southwest parking garage) and go eastbound on El Camino Real or to Mathilda Avenue. In addition to the long queues, the high speeds and high volumes make it difficult for vehicles to find an acceptable gap to cross three lanes to enter into the left turn lane."
and
"The driveway on Pastoria Avenue between the Library and the southwest parking garage is offset from the intersection of Pastoria Avenue/W Olive Avenue. This may result in sight distance issues for the driveway."
These issues are illustrated in the next picture for the corner of Option 2 drawings. The red circle shows where there would be visual issues because of the offset of the driveway from Olive. The red X shows the U-Turn you can't make because there is not enough distance during normal traffic hours to get into the left turn lane:
Again, like the problem with exiting the Civic Center from All America Way, it will be difficult to cross three lanes during normal busy traffic to get into the left turn lane to make a U-Turn. You will need to go all the way up El Camino to the Toyota dealer where there is a cut in the median or turn right onto Pastoria and make a U-Turn on Pastoria. On El Camino you will likely have to wait a while for oncoming traffic to clear since there is no light there. With some drivers exiting the parking garage onto Pastoria, and others trying to make a u-turn there, that intersection will be a real mess.
Solutions:
It appears that closing Olive Ave. causes a lot of traffic problems with no clear solution that doesn't cause as many problems as it solves. If option 2 (curved buildings) is preferred, there are various things that can be done to keep Olive Ave. open. The proposed new library could be "fatter" and shorter so it will fit in the space between Olive and the existing library. Or, the DPS building could be done first and then the library could be moved to the other side of Olive Ave. where the parking structure is currently proposed as in the diagram below:
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| Retaining Olive Ave. in Modified Option 2 |
Conclusion:
Please come to the City Council Meeting on Tuesday Nov. 7th at 7 PM 456 W. Olive Ave., Sunnyvale, CA and share your thoughts about how to proceed. If you cannot come, please email the city council at:
council@sunnyvale.ca.gov
This entire design process will take at least a year so don't think that just because you couldn't make the meeting it is too late to give your opinion.
Sincerely,
Michael Goldman
Sunnyvale City Council, Seat 7
