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<br />8-10 <br /> <br />CECA requires that cumulative traffic impacts be addressed through either a list-based or <br />plan-based approach. Redwood City, because it is located in San Mateo County, has <br />access to the regional travel demand model developed by the C/CAG. By using this model <br />as the basis for developing traffic projections, the EIR takes into account the total <br />anticipated traffic load associated with regional development planned to occur in the area <br />as a result of regional employment and household growth (documented in projections <br />published by the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG». <br /> <br />The model uses the ABAG employment and household projections to generate traffic and <br />distribute it to each of the Traffic Analysis Zones (TAZ's) in the model. Subsequent to the <br />traffic distribution, the model assigns traffic volumes to the road network taking into account <br />vehicle speeds, roadway capacity and travel distance. The model always assigns traffic <br />volumes by the "shortest-travel-time" method. As the model assigns traffic to each road, <br />the calculated vehicle speed is reduced, thereby increasing the travel time. As travel times <br />on various links increase, the model accounts for the implications of cumulative traffic <br />congestion on the road system by shifting traffic from more congested road corridors to <br />less congested corridors. The end result forecast takes into consideration the whole traffic <br />load, its relationship to multiple directional movements, and driver behavior in choosing the <br />quickest route. <br /> <br />As indicated in the EIR and acknowledged by the appellant, there will be more traffic <br />congestion in the future. Each of these impacts is identified (Impact B3, 84, B5, B7, B8 and <br />89). For some of these traffic impacts, there is no practical mitigation and this was noted <br />in the EIR as significant and unavoidable. For other of the adverse impacts mitigation <br />measures were crafted that reduce what was otherwise a significant change in the LOS <br />to less than significant (see, for example, Impact B5 and Mitigation measures 85a & b). <br />The purpose of the EIR is to identify the traffic impacts and define mitigation measures if <br />available. The EIR meets this mandate. <br /> <br />The EIR conservatively overstates the cumulative traffic impacts for the downtown area. <br />As indicated in the EIR, many of the road corridors (e.g., EI Camino Real, Woodside Road, <br />US 101) are anticipated to operate at unacceptable levels. This regional effect will cause <br />drivers to adjust their driving behavior (e.g., leave work early, tele-commute, and patronize <br />mixed-use destinations) to avoid the peak hour traffic congestion. Current best practices <br />cannot accurately model these behavior changes and therefore these changes are not <br />considered in the EIR analysis. <br /> <br />With regard to the contention that the cumulative traffic impact on emergency response <br />was not considered, attention is directed to pages 199-201 of the DEIR. The discussion <br />of cumulative traffic impacts and the effect on emergency response time points out that <br />due to the close proximity of two fire stations (one within 2.5 to 3 minutes from the project <br />site and the other within 4 to 4.5 minutes), along with multiple access routes into the <br />downtown area and normal traffic preemption for emergencies, no adverse impacts on the <br />Fire Department's ability to respond were identified. <br /> <br />Additionally, on page 68 of the FEIR, in response to a comment (Paul Mendelowitz, <br />Comment 1) it is noted that delays at the intersections with the least satisfactory operations <br /> <br />5 <br />