Traffic Congestion
Significant concerns remain about traffic and whether the mediation measures proposed will alleviate the paralyzing congestion that already occurs along Wiehle and Sunrise Valley at peak hours. At the 5 September meeting, the developer's traffic analyst acknowledged that no effort had been made to assess potential cut-through traffic in neighboring residential streets, nor had the negative impact of drivers trying to avoid rising tolls by cutting through Sunrise Valley and South Lakes Drive been considered.
Given that their proposal projects over 6,100 additional vehicular trips per day, addressing traffic issues is critical.
Construction on the South Lakes connector across the Toll Road—frequently cited by thier traffic expert as the best solution—is not anticipated to begin for at least another 25 years, underscoring the pressing need to address traffic concerns now.
Our Master Plan requires that the “cumulative impacts of development and redevelopment should be routinely assessed and evaluated.”
In short, we need more robust discussions on new traffic from this project and others as part of the pre-hearing engagement.