Glendale Turns to Computer to Predict Effects of Growth

Glendale joined the ranks of dozens of the nation’s largest cities this week by endorsing a sophisticated computer-based program that will be used to more accurately predict traffic congestion and other ramifications of future development.

The City Council on Tuesday unanimously allocated $284,000 to utilize a “transportation modeling” system that provides the most advanced technology in traffic management and planning, according to city officials.

“This is something we have needed for a long time,” Mayor Carl Raggio said.

The system, expected to be in operation within six months, will allow the city to compile a vast amount of traffic, planning and development information in a computer. That information can then be used to predict the impact citywide of any new development, Public Works Director George Miller said. It will provide “a means for addressing short- and long-range concerns,” Miller said.

The system could be used, for instance, to determine where and how large an expansion might be permitted of the Glendale Galleria shopping mall or the most suitable sites for housing or commercial development, based on current and projected traffic patterns, officials said.

The program will also show how the development will affect current uses, such as residential neighborhoods.

“We want to know what the impacts are, and we want the answers now,” said Moses Wilson, a Glendale traffic management consultant.

City Manager David Ramsay said the program is part of a $50-million, five-year traffic management plan being formulated in Glendale. “The management of traffic has received top priority in this city,” Ramsay said. “This is another tool in developing a comprehensive plan to help us predict the ramifications of development.”

In the past, the city has typically studied the impact of proposed development on traffic only in an area immediately surrounding the project site and on a case-by-case basis.

The system will be installed and programmed by Barton-Aschman and Associates, Pasadena consultants specializing in traffic management.

Wilson, an engineer with the consulting firm, said Glendale is one of dozens of cities across the nation that are utilizing the transportation modeling system as a key planning tool.

He said cities such as Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Chicago and Dallas have been using the computer technology for years.

“This is not something new,” Wilson said. “It is used by all the big guys who know this is the only way to come up with the right answers.”

He said smaller cities only now are beginning to use the system because they are suddenly having to deal with growing traffic congestion arising out of rapid, major development in the suburbs. Until now, many cities considered the system too costly and lacked the technology to utilize such a program.

Part of the funds allocated by Glendale this week will be used to hire a professional transportation planner to operate the program, Miller said. However, the bulk of the money will be paid to outside consultants who will set up data bases establishing a model for Glendale.

Eventually, Glendale’s program can be geared to tie in with similar programs in adjoining cities. Wilson said Pasadena, for instance, is “looking at the system very, very carefully.”

He said cities can no longer ignore the regional impacts of development. “What happens in Burbank affects Glendale. Cities have to plan in advance.”