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Post New Event| An inadequate traffic solution | | Print | |
| Written by Marilyn Olson, Scotts Valley | |
| Thursday, 04 September 2008 | |
|
"Was anyone else amazed by the simple solution in the city’s traffic
report for alleviating the traffic congestion from the proposed city
center and Target project?"
EDITOR,
Was anyone else amazed by the simple solution in the city’s traffic report for alleviating the traffic congestion from the proposed city center and Target project? I was. How will adding one right-hand turn lane off southbound Highway 17 and one left-hand turn lane at Whispering Pines offset the additional 9,000 cars per day at the Mt Hermon Road-La Madrona Drive intersection? How will it keep traffic moving on the overpass and northbound Highway 17 from being congested by off-ramp traffic during rush hour and holiday shopping seasons?
How will it alleviate the shortage of 239 parking places during high shopping seasons?
These two additional lanes might partially address the city center issue, but please don’t expect us to believe it is the answer for Target traffic woes. It’s far more complicated than that.
Marilyn Olson, Scotts Valley Comments (7)
  written by synergy, September 08, 2008
At the Aug. 18th meeting at the SV Hilton regarding the Target, Major Johnston stated that the Mid-Town Interchange needed to be considered on its own merits, not as part of the Target proposal. Very slick answer, but very misleading. The Target would generate so much traffic as to make a Mid-Town Interchange ESSENTIAL to keep large sections of our city from descending to LOS D to F level of access. To attempt to keep the MTI out of discussions on the traffic impact of Target (or of the Town Center which would make an MTI even MORE critical) is deceptive and unfair to the citizens of Scotts Valley!
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 written by Steven Smith, September 08, 2008
Could a southbound 17 on/offramp at El Pueblo Rd. (without the overpass) be a cheaper solution?
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 written by consider this, September 09, 2008
picture 1 child crossing a road which has one car passing 10,000 times
1 child crossing a road which has 5000 cars going to and from the Target 1 child crossing a road where 10,000 cars make a one way way trip. It doesn't matter to the child, it's 10,000 times any way you cut it. report abuse
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 written by Mike Shulman, September 10, 2008
SB 17 on/off ramps could be considered, but it poses a location challenge. The 'ideal' location (from a planning perspective) of the MTI would be near Disk Drive, where the trailer park currently resides, bringing that traffic to the controlled intersection at SV Drive. That would obviously require considerable land acquisition which isn't really feasible at this point (for various reasons). There are some possible locations for on/off ramps a bit to the north, between some of the industrial buildings, where significant land acquisition might not be necessary. But that would lead to a somewhat circuitous traffic pattern for vehicles using that access, so benefits become a bit mixed. It would still cost $$ that neither the city nor Cal-trans has, and the Cal-trans approval process would be lengthy (and would they even approve such a limited interchange in that area?). So I'd say there are lots of questions, probably worth asking, but not likely to be easily answered.
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 written by MTI at City Council Meeting, September 11, 2008
This is a topic that should be discussed publicly at a Council meeting. Four meetings of the Scotts Valley City Council have passed since Vice Mayor Cliff Barrett asked Mayor Johnson to add a public discussion about the viability of the Mid-Town Interchange to the Council agenda. To date Mayor Johnson has refused to place the topic on the Council agenda. Clearly the topic is of interest to the citizens yet the Mayor seems to be ignoring not only the voters but also the Vice Mayor's request. Mayor Randy Johnson is this another case where you and Dene Bustichi would rather not have the citizens informed and involved in the process? Please stop stalling and schedule the meeting!
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 written by 20000 more cars, September 16, 2008
Mt. Hermon Rd is already the third busiest road in Santa Cruz County and with the addition of a Target store it is expect to become even busier. The Town Center Traffic report estimates that Target will generate 9,075 additional car trips on Mt. Hermon Road per weekday and 11,533 additional car trips per weekend day. Take 3 minutes to watch this youtube video interview on the traffic impact that Target caused when they opened the Berkeley Target store. Send the youtube link to others in the Scotts Valley community. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fCjnvhMFQo
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To me, the major issue is the ugly appearance of a big box store on a meadow right below a wooded hillside, and viewable from the freeway. This project does not belong on this site, and the traffic impacts are another reason why this is so.