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HomeMy WebLinkAbout6.5 SRRD PH3&4 PublcHearing 1r 2 ■45 CITY OF DUBLIN AGENDA STATEMENT City Council Meeting Date: May 26, 1987 SUBJECT: Public Hearing: San Ramon Road Improvements, Phase III and Phase IV (Alcosta Boulevard to Silvergate Drive) Environmental Assessment EXHIBITS ATTACHED: Copy of Environmental Assessment has previously been submitted to the City Council and is available for public review at the City offices. RECOMMENDATION: 1 r `1�1) Open public hearing J 2) Receive Staff presentation and public comment 'L.)'1 3) Question Staff and the public . 4) Close public hearing 5) No City Council action is required at this time; however, the hearing record will remain open for written comment for an additional ten days FINANCIAL STATEMENT: Ultimate cost of the project is estimated to be as follows: Phase III project (Vomac to Alcosta) - $1,650,000, including $110,000 in sound mitigation work. Phase IV project (Silvergate to Vomac) - $1,850,000, including $145,000 in sound mitigation work. DESCRIPTION: This hearing is being held to present studies to date on the location and design of a 1.0 mile improvement of. San Ramon Road, consisting of road widening, signalization, lighting, and landscaping. The hearing is a forum for public discussion of the major features, including social, economic, and environmental effects of the proposed project. Written statements may be submitted to the City for ten days after this hearing. This hearing is being held prior to making a commitment to the alternatives presented; no studies or plans will be finalized until the complete public record has been analyzed (including data gathered at the hearing and received in response to the draft Environmental Assessment). Subsequent to this hearing, and prior to requesting approval of the project, all the data gathered at the hearing or submitted for the record will be available for inspection and copying at the City offices. The proposed project is a Federal Aid Urban project, which receives funding from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and alsc• uses local funding sources. Because there are federal monies involved, the environmental review of the project must comply with both Federal (NEPA) and State (CEQA) guidelines. An Environmental Assessment is used to determine if a full-scale Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is required, or if a Finding on No Significant Impact (FONSI) can be issued. The Environmental Assessment and FONSI meet the requirements of a CEQA Negative Declaration. An Environmental Assessment was prepar€d for this project by the City through the City's consultant, Santina and Thompson, Inc. Santina and Thompson was assisted by other consultants, including TJKM (traffic engineers) and Charles M. Salter Associates, Inc. (noise consultants) . A draft Environmental Assessment was submitted to Caltrans for their review. Caltrans requested some minor modifications to the ITEM NO. COPIES TO: ( Environmental Assessment and then forwarded the modified document to FHWA for their Ireview. The document was then returned to the City, approved for circulation and public comment. The approval for circulation was received in February, 1987. After the close of the public hearing period, the public comments will be addressed and necessary modifications to the Environmental Assessment will be made - and sent to Caltrans for their review. Final approval of the Environmental Assessment would come from FHWA. An informal meeting was held on May 14, 1987, to explain the proposed project to area residents. The purpose of this meeting was to allow residents with similar questions and concerns to meet with the City Engineer and project consultants. The two-hour meeting permitted a more in-depth discussion of the project and project procedures than would be possible at the public hearing. Issues brought up in that meeting which are not re-stated in the public hearing or in writing will be addressed along with the other comments. The proposed project is the road widening, signalization, lighting, and landscaping of about 1.0 mile of existing San Ramon Road from Silvergate Drive to Alcosta Blvd. The road widening includes new curb and gutter, relocation of the existing bike lane to the west, a median, and landscaping of the median and roadway frontage. A new signal is proposed at Vomac Road. The signal at Shannon will be reconstructed. Lighting will be installed along the bike path and at intersections. The following discussion summarizes the most significant environmental issues relative to the proposed road widening projects: STREAMBED - Koopman Canyon Creek runs parallel to the roadway near Shannon Park. The stream then turns east and flows under the road. The proposed widening will require alteration to the alignment and streambed. The California Department of Fish and Game must approve any stream alterations. AIR QUALITY - Dublin is located within the San Francisco Bay Area air basin. The entire basin is designated by the California Air Resources Board as a non- attainment area for ozone and carbon monoxide. Non-attainment means that the Federal Ambient Air Quality Standards have been violated within the past two to three years. There will be some increase in carbon monoxide due to increased traffic. The increased levels of carbon monoxide will not exceed air quality standards for the design year (2005). The Federal Highway Administration has determined that this project is included in the Metropolitan Transportation Commission and therefore conforms to the State Implementation Plan which has transportation control measures for air quality. NOISE - Noise measurements were taken at several locations along San Ramon Road in July of 1985. These measurements revealed that the Le ranged from 62 to 67. (L ea is the equivalent steady-state sound level that in .0-stated period of time would coain the same acoustic energy as the time-varying sound level during the same time period.) The predicted noise level in the year 2005 is 67 dB L . The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) noise standards for federally funded roadway projects defines a traffic noise impact to be "when the predicted traffic noise levels approach or exceed the noise abatement criteria, or when predicted traffic noise levels substantially exceed the existing noise levels." For residential areas, the noise abatement criterion is 67 dB L eq' As the project area would approach (or equal) the 67 dB (L ), this would constitute a noise impact. Mitigation of this impact is proposeedgthrough three different noise attenuation barriers. Six- to eight-foot barriers will be installed on the east side of San Ramon Road behind properties that are at or up to ten feet below the level of the roadway. A three-foot high wall near the roadway will be installed to mitigate properties more than ten feet below the roadway. Along the west side of the road, existing fences are proposed-to be improved to attenuate noise at properties which would benefit from such improvement. This work would be done only with the permission of the property owner. For those properties which would not benefit from improved fences, other measures will need to be investigated. BIOLOGY - Construction of the project will involve removal of existing trees and ground cover adjacent to Koopman Canyon Creek. The removal of this vegetation will eliminate wildlife habitat. The impacts may be temporary in nature. For X mitigation, ,it is proposed that slopes be planted with willow species and other plants similar to those removed during construction. Wildlife cover will fill in quickly with this type of vegetation. TRAFFIC - The existing average daily traffic (ADT) for this section of San Ramon Road is 14,000 to 15,000 vehicles. The road is operating near or at designed capacity. Future levels of development in the project area and the region will add traffic and cause the intersections to operate at unacceptable levels. Predicted ADT for the year 2005 is 25,000 vehicles. This level of traffic would occur with or without the project. The project was designed specifically to mitigate adverse traffic conditions. Additional lanes will increase capacity, and turn lanes and signalization will improve the levels of service at the intersections. The environmental assessment also includes some discussion of Geology, Floodplain, Public Utilities and Services, and Cultural Resources. No adverse impacts to these resources have been identified. Staff recommends that oral and written testimony be taken on the social, economic, and environmental effects of this project.