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City studies traffic circulation
By Steve Enders
When the city's circulation element was last updated, Highway 85 didn't exist. Actually it did, but Highway 85 was also called Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road.
Also, Saratoga Avenue north of Cox Avenue, one of the most heavily traveled streets in the city, only received about 27,500 cars per day. That number is thought to have gone up quite a bit since 1979-81 traffic counts.
The entire city has changed drastically since 1983, the last time the city wrote a master document for its roads, and the city says the time has come to take another look at traffic patterns and the ways the city deals with its streets.
It's asking for the community's help. The Community Development Department will begin the process of updating the city's circulation element with a kickoff meeting on Sept. 23 at 7 p.m. in the Community Center. It will hold two other meetings in October and early November to get direct input from residents on traffic concerns.
The circulation element, as it exists now, is a 30-page document that covers all aspects of the city's roads. It helps the City Council and other city commissions make decisions on development issues and prioritizes levels of service for city streets.
The new document will seek to update everything in the old one, and will provide the city with much of the same information.
The process has already begun, as traffic counting has started in the Prides Crossing neighborhood of Saratoga, off Cox Avenue. Since school started back up and residents began driving their normal routes, counters have been out checking just how many people use the roads.
Eventually, the data collected will be used to initiate traffic-calming measures and to create guidelines the city can use to help ease traffic throughout the city, since backed-up traffic is something nobody likes.
"Obviously, traffic impacts are a concern to all Saratoga residents," Community Development director James Walgren said. "We want the community to get involved, and we at least want to hear all the various concerns people have."
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Saratoga, California Since 1955
