Willow Glen Resident

News

Traffic issues top the list of concerns as neighbors consider ballpark EIR

By Monica Heger

Talk of baseball in downtown San Jose is proceeding despite neighbors' concerns over the impact of traffic, parking and noise, and despite the fact Fremont is emerging as a likely candidate for the relocation of the Oakland A's.

On April 19, the city held the third of four planned public meetings about the proposed ballpark's environmental impact report.

Traffic and parking dominated the public's questions. Martin Avenue resident Marc Morris, along with a Georgetown neighborhood resident, said illegal parking on their streets by Sharks fans is already a problem, which they believe would only get worse with a 45,000-seat baseball stadium. Both said their attempts at notifying code enforcement had gone unanswered and produced no results.

Morris also pointed out the EIR's traffic analysis didn't take into account people exiting the freeway to avoid backup.

"The freeway congestion identified by the draft EIR and the widely dispersed parking lots to be used by baseball fans will cause people to use alternate routes as they approach the stadium, putting much more traffic onto local streets in the surrounding neighborhoods," Morris said.

For example, Morris said people using I-280 might exit at Meridian Avenue, which would affect traffic on Meridian, Race, San Carlos and neighboring streets.

Others expressed concern about possible changes to bus routes. Principal planner Akoni Danielson said the Valley Transportation Authority will submit a letter detailing how bus routes and schedules would be affected.

The goal of the public meetings was to give people ample time to review and comment on the 365-page EIR and to allow them to ask questions directly to city staff.

As a result, the public comment time has been extended, making the proposal not viable for the June ballot. Voters would need to approve a stadium before the city could use tax money on the project. The city is also preparing an economic impact report, since many of the public and council members' questions have centered on the economic effects of the stadium. Not having the proposal on the June ballot also makes the relocation of the Oakland A's to San Jose less likely, as owner Lewis Wolff has said he wants to have a new location by the end of the season.

The EIR can be viewed online at http://www.sanjoseca.gov/planning/eir/eir.asp or in hard copy at the public library. Comments and suggestions about the EIR should be submitted to environmental project manager Michael Rhoades at michael.rhoades@sanjoseca.gov by May 4. For more information about the ballpark proposal, visit www.sjredevelopment.org/ballpark.htm.