COUNTY DISPUTES TRAFFIC STUDY BY NEWHALL RANCH DEVELOPER.Byline: Christopher Noxon Daily News Staff Writer The developer of the Newhall Ranch project has grossly underestimated how much traffic from the proposed mega-tract will spill into Ventura, transportation officials said. The 25,000-home project, which will rival a city the size of Camarillo when complete, will send 15,480 car trips to Ventura County every day, Transportation Commission planners predict. The spillover spill·o·ver n. 1. The act or an instance of spilling over. 2. An amount or quantity spilled over. 3. A side effect arising from or as if from an unpredicted source: could jam country roads and tie up intersections already backed up during peak hours peak hours npl, peak period n → horas fpl punta peak hours peak npl → heures fpl d'affluence or de pointe . The developer's traffic study, contained in a 50-pound, 3-foot-high environmental impact report currently under review before the Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. County Planning Commission Noun 1. planning commission - a commission delegated to propose plans for future activities and developments commission, committee - a special group delegated to consider some matter; "a committee is a group that keeps minutes and loses hours" - Milton Berle , predicts that only about two percent of car trips that start inside Newhall Ranch will end up in Ventura County. That estimation estimation In mathematics, use of a function or formula to derive a solution or make a prediction. Unlike approximation, it has precise connotations. In statistics, for example, it connotes the careful selection and testing of a function called an estimator. is far too low, Ventura County Transportation Commission Executive Director Ginger Gherardi states in a letter to Los Angeles planners. ``Although the Ventura County line forms the western boundary of the project, the (developer's traffic studies) give little more than lip service lip service n. Verbal expression of agreement or allegiance, unsupported by real conviction or action; hypocritical respect: to the impacts upon Ventura County,'' Gherardi stated. ``Projects of this magnitude must consider regional impacts.'' But Newhall Ranch officials said the study adequately considers its western neighbor. ``We believe the E.I.R. systematically addresses the regional traffic issues,'' said Newhall spokeswoman Marlee Lauffer. ``That absolutely includes Ventura County.'' The report from Ventura is the first since local officials began scrutinizing the project two months ago. Officials worry about the impact of a project planned for 12,000 acres west of the Golden State Freeway The Golden State Freeway is a north-south freeway running through Kern County and Los Angeles County, California. Originally built as U.S. Highway 99, it was re-signed as Interstate 5 in 1964. just over the county line in the Santa Clara River Valley The Santa Clara River Valley is a rural region of eastern Ventura County, California and northwest Los Angeles County, California that is named for the Santa Clara River which winds through the valley before emptying into the Pacific Ocean between the cities of Oxnard and Ventura. . Less a housing project than a city built from scratch, the project includes movie theaters, business parks, a golf course, schools, parks and homes to accommodate up to 70,000 people over the next 25 years. The Ventura Transportation Commission meets Friday to complete its formal response to the draft environmental impact report. The public has until Feb. 11 to submit written comments to the Los Angeles Regional Planning regional planning: see city planning. Commission. The commission is expected to call for a more complete study on how many car trips will head into Ventura County. The existing study is based on a general formula and not on specific land uses in Ventura, said county transportation planner Steve DeGeorge. ``They include a number that represents Ventura, but the number is much less accurate than if they considered individual land uses,'' he said. A more precise analysis would boost the total number of car trips heading into Ventura by two percentage points - from 2 percent predicted by the developer to 4 percent, said DeGeorge. ``If it was a small project a few percentage points wouldn't matter so much,'' said DeGeorge. ``But in terms of sheer numbers it makes a big difference.'' The difference works out to an additional 7,740 car trips a day. That possibility warrants a much more thorough analysis, he said. ``It's a brand new city and it deserves a much closer look,'' DeGeorge said. But the enormity e·nor·mi·ty n. pl. e·nor·mi·ties 1. The quality of passing all moral bounds; excessive wickedness or outrageousness. 2. A monstrous offense or evil; an outrage. 3. of the project may actually minimize the spillover of traffic, said Lauffer. ``It's a fully functional town,'' she said. ``It's not just a housing development. Certainly people are going to leave, but many people will stay most of the time. It's completely self contained.'' |
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