City Council

City of Sunnyvale Meeting Minutes City Council Tuesday, November 11, 2014 5:15 PM Special Meeting - Joint Study Session (Audio only) 5:15 P.M. SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING (Joint Study Session with Planning Commission and Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission) 1 Call to Order in the Sunnyvale Community Center Community Room, 550 E. Remington Drive Vice Mayor Jim David called the meeting to order at 5:40 p.m. 2 Roll Call Present: 7 - Mayor Jim Griffith Vice Mayor Jim Davis Councilmember David Whittum Councilmember Pat Meyering Councilmember Tara Martin-Milius Councilmember Glenn Hendricks Councilmember Gustav Larsson City of Sunnyvale Page 1 City Council Meeting Minutes November 11, 2014 City Staff Present: City Manager, Deanna J. Santana Assistant City Manager, Robert A. Walker Assistant City Manager, Kent Steffens City Attorney, Joan Borger Director of Public Works, Manuel Pineda Director of Community Development, Hanson Hom Planning Officer, Trudi Ryan Economic Development Manager, Connie Verceles Associate Planner, Rosemarie Zulueta Traffic Engineer, Carla Ochoa Visitors/Guests Present: Approximately 60 members of the public Sue Harrison, Planning Commission Larry Klein, Planning Commission Russell Melton, Planning Commission John Cordes, Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission Kevin Jackson, Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission Richard Kolber, Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission 3 Public Comment 4 Study Session City of Sunnyvale Page 2 City Council Meeting Minutes November 11, 2014 14-0668 El Camino Real Bus Rapid Transit Study Session Summary: John Ristow, Director of Planning and Program Development for the Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) presented on the proposed El Camino Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project and Environmental Impact Report (EIR) using a PowerPoint slide presentation. Councilmembers asked questions, made comments, and requested additional information; summarized below (some comments were made by more than one Councilmember and are only listed once). • How accurate is the transportation model and how are the results validated • What happens to the cars that are currently using the road • Are bike lanes continuous • Is the City of Santa Clara going to support dedicated lanes • Will bike lanes be continuous through intersection • A number of questions and discussion on travel time • What is the regional perspective and how does this fit with possible North-South Sunnyvale Transit connections • Need bus occupancy data for current users • What is the VTA board decision criteria • What is the best project for the City, not just the transit agency Planning Commission, BPAC and Public Comment: • Focus on the North-South transit connections • Does the model take into account future use patterns • How do different decisions from different Cities affect the project • Is the modeling taking into account U-turn increase • The road is complete gridlock and the project will make it worse • The dedicated lane does not serve the majority • No employees on el Camino ride transit • The travel time analysis seems inaccurate • The presentation is not objective – only supports dedicated lanes • The dedicated lanes project is visionary • Dedicated lanes are exciting • Need to keep parking on EL Camino • What is the existing and future traffic flow • North South issues need to be addressed • Should be constructed in two phases • Project costs do not make sense – too long to break even • Dedicated lane is not the answer City of Sunnyvale Page 3 City Council Meeting Minutes November 11, 2014 5 Adjourn Special Meeting 6:45 PM City of Sunnyvale Page 4