City Council Meeting Tues.: The 49ers' Traffic Jams & the TMOP - Part Two

Dear Santa Clarans,


There are some parts of the Traffic Management and Operations Plan, or TMOP, that are worth flagging.  A short index might help in locating the important parts.  Page numbers shown below are document page numbers:

1.    What data is going to be collected, so that we can challenge any spin on the traffic numbers?:

• See page 4, Table 2-1

2.    Streets in Zip Code 95054 subject to access and/or parking restrictions, "Areas of Parking Prohibitions," and "Measures to Protect Property Owners:"

• See list, page 6, Section 2.2.2
• See page 106, Figure 5.5-3
• See page 107

→  The above is a critical feature of the parking plan.  Recall that the 49ers' stadium boosters sold their "plan" three years ago based on firm guarantees of 'residential intrusion control.'   Now, all of that is out the window.  If you live close to the 49ers' stadium, the amount of parking enforcement you get will depend on how much enforcement you demand.

3.    Neighboring properties are expected to be in use during an NFL event.  Note the inclusion of the Santa Clara Youth Soccer Park.  That's pretty much pro forma at this point, because no one really knows what's going to happen to the YSL:

• See list, page 10, Section 2.2.6

4.    "An illustration of the likely parking facilities for Stadium events is provided in Figure 2-4."  Likely?  After two years of obfuscation by the San Francisco 49ers on exactly this issue, there should be no "likely," but instead firm letters-of-intent and an exact numerical total of parking stalls.  They either have the 21,000 parking spaces they claim, or they do not.  To get most of the story:

• See page 12, Figure 2-4, for "likely" parking facilities
• See page 102, Figure 5.5-1, for "Potential" Stadium Parking Program"
• See page 103, Table 5.5-2, for a count of those "likely" parking spaces

5.    "As described earlier, the parking program [Over three years after Measure Jed was passed!] has not yet been finalized for event day use of off-site parking facilities.":

• See page 101

6.    Page 5 does show the totals of patrons and their estimated arrival and departure rates.  But note that estimated 18,818 vehicle trips does not include the 1,740 vehicle trips made by some 2,900 stadium employees on an NFL game day.  For the straight story on those additional trips - and the parking stalls needed to accommodate them:

• See page 99

7.     Business Owners:  If you refused to agree to the 49ers' offsite parking demands, then you're now on your're own.  Please see the last sentence in the following paragraph:

• See page 104, "Areas of Parking Prohibitions"

►  In sum, considering how long we've been waiting for it, the Transportation Management and Operations Plan should have (1) a rock-solid description of a fully-formed Parking Overlay District, and (2) at least some indication of the makeup of the NFL event-day multicity police force needed to squeeze the 49ers' traffic jams into parking spaces.   Unfortunately, it contains neither.   Residents on Santa Clara's north side, in particular,  should have serious concern over what this plan fails to make firm.

If you need any additional information on the TMOP, we'll be happy to answer any questions we're able to.  What we don't know, we'll find out.

We welcome your commentary as well - but comments you have on the TMOP should also be directed to the Mayor and the City Council.  Please let them know what you think.


Thanks for all of your support,
William F. "Bill" Bailey, Treasurer,
http://www.SantaClaraPlaysFair.org

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City Council Meeting Tues.: The 49ers' Traffic Jams & the TMOP - Part One

Dear Santa Clarans,


The 49ers Stadium's Transportation Management and Operations Plan, or TMOP comes before Council this Tuesday evening, November 19th.  These 150 pages will directly impact Santa Clarans and Sunnyvale residents living north or U.S. 101.  Santa Clara Plays Fair encourages all Santa Clarans, but in particular those of us in Zip Code 95054, to examine this plan carefully.

This will give you a fair idea of the traffic jams that you can expect during events at the 49ers' stadium.

• First, see the report's page 5 and note that the total number of vehicle trips on an NFL game day is recycled from the 2009 Environmental Impact Report.   At that time, the San Francisco 49ers and their stadium boosters needed desperately to low-ball the count of vehicle trips so that any traffic plan here would "show well" compared to Candlestick Park.

If you believe that figure - 18,818 vehicle trips - then maybe the 21,000 offsite parking spaces (the parking spaces that the 49ers now swear they have) will be enough to accommodate those vehicles.   If the intersections are cleared a little sooner, fine - but none of this is going to reduce those game-day traffic jams in any way.

• Of greater interest to Santa Clara residents, particularly on our north side, will be 'Residential Intrusion Control.'  See page 6 of the report, Section 2.2.2,  for a list of streets with "Event-related vehicle access" restrictions.   At the very least, if you are a resident of the Agnews area on Santa Clara's north side, your own street should be on this list.

• But what the City - and the Stadium Authority - are really willing to do to prevent residential parking from being swamped with game-day parking has been dialed back quite a bit since 2009.   See in Section 5.1.1 on report page 29 the four numbered bullets at the bottom of the page:   Basically, you will get parking enforcement on your street not because it's the right thing to do, but only if you speak up about abuses by 49ers' fans.    Those game-goers will be trying to evade the parking fees in the much-vaunted "Offsite Parking District."

Frankly, if we're dealing with game-goers who've spent $2,000 to $20,000 on stadium PSLs, they should have no quarrel with paying $40 to stow the Escalade while they're at the game.  If they do have a problem with that and if they insist on jam-packing your own street so that you can't park in front of your own home, that will speak volumes about the regard that the 49ers' fan community truly has for the team's new home.

Can you attend the City Council Meeting this Tuesday evening?  If you are a resident concerned about the game-day congestion generated by the 49ers' stadium, you can express those concerns when the TMOP is taken up.

Please come to Council Chambers, 1500 Warburton Drive, at 7:00 pm on Tuesday evening.  If you cannot attend, please email your written comments directly to the Mayor and the City Council .
 
Tomorrow:   A little index for the TMOP.


Thanks for all of your support,
William F. "Bill" Bailey, Treasurer,
http://www.santaclaraplaysfair.org/

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