Council addresses local traffic
Ben Godar
City Council members meeting this week to discuss traffic issues said
they would be willing to consider a policy to limit development that
contributes significantly to street congestion.
The proposal was raised Tuesday during the first of two scheduled
traffic study sessions designed to provide the council with an
overview of traffic issues facing the city as well as projections for
future road use.
The amount of traffic congestion is measured on a scale of A
through F, with A representing free-flowing traffic and F categorized
by long stoppages. During peak times, Traffic Engineer Ken Johnson
told the council the level of service in Burbank ranks in the D
range.
City officials expect development of commercial and industrial
space to grow at a net pace of 648,000 square feet per year through
2015. That would mean an additional 8,000 to 10,000 cars per year on
the road, Johnson said.
Despite the continuing growth, Johnson said improvements such as
traffic signal interconnection would help mitigate congestion.
“We will never get back to the 1950s or even get back to the
1970s, but we will be able to handle the traffic as efficiently as we
can and be in the same spot as every other city in this part of the
world,” he said.
Several council members expressed interest in drafting a policy
that would put a cap on how much increased traffic a new development
could generate.
Mayor Stacey Murphy said one reason she did not support the Platt
Project, a large mixed-use project the council denied in April, was
because it would have decreased the traffic flow to a level of F.
City officials also said developments near the so-called “five
points” intersection have increased traffic there. Of the 55,000 cars
that cross there daily, city officials said 20,000 are generated by
Costco and the Empire Center.
“Development has proceeded at a pace that is more rapid than our
ability to mitigate the impact,” Councilman Dave Golonski said.
Despite the congestion that exists in Burbank, Murphy said traffic
in the city is still in better shape than neighboring parts of the
San Fernando Valley.
“We live in L.A. and people are still very car-dependent,” she
said.