AgdaPkt 2020-11-09 Joint SA PFA - Laserfiche WebLink

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Ms. Lindy Chan, Principal Planner City of Redwood City, Planning Services February 28, 2020 Page 4 pedestrian movement, school transportation, and busing activities to and from Sequoia High School. 3. Estimate travel demand and trip generation, trip distribution and trip assignment by including consideration of school sites and home -to -school travel. 4. Assess cumulative impacts on schools and the community in general resulting from increased vehicular movement and volumes expected from additional development already approved or pending. 5. Discuss the direct, indirect, and cumulative impacts on the circulation and traffic patterns in the community as a result of traffic generated by the transportation needs of students to and from the Project and schools throughout the District during the Project build -out. 6. Assess the impacts on the routes and safety of students traveling to school by vehicle, bus, walking, and bicycles. The District has significant concerns about the traffic, transportation, and circulation impacts that the Project may have on the District, including the District's staff, parents, and students that attend Sequoia High School. The foregoing categories of information are critical for determining the extent of those impacts on the District, none of which were adequately identified or discussed in the Initial Study. A. City Must Consider All Traffic and Related Impacts, Including Impacts of Traffic on Student Safety, Caused by the Project. Any environmental analysis related to the proposed Project must address potential effects related to traffic, noise, air quality, and any other issues affecting schools. (Pub. Resources Code, §§ 21000, et seq.; Cal. Code Regs., tit. 14, §§ 15000, et seq.; Chawanakee Unified School District v. County of Madera, et al., (2011) 196 Cal.AppAth 1016.) Additionally, specifically related to traffic, there must be an analysis of safety issues related to traffic impacts, such as reduced pedestrian safety, particularly as to students walking or bicycling to and from Sequoia High School; potentially reduced response times for emergency services and first responders traveling to these schools; and increased potential for accidents due to gridlock during school drop-off and pick up hours. (See, Journal of Planning Education and Research, "Planning for Safe Schools: Impacts of School Siting and Surrounding Environments on Traffic Safety," November 2015, Chia -Yuan Yu and Xuemei Zhu, pg. 8 [Study of traffic accidents near Austin, Texas schools found that "[a] higher percentage of commercial uses was associated with more motorist and pedestrian crashes" around schools].) The State Office of Planning and Research has developed new CEQA Guidelines which set forth new criteria for the assessment of traffic impacts, and now encourages the use of metrics such as vehicle miles traveled (VMT), rather than level -of -service (LOS), to analyze project impacts on traffic. (14 Cal. Code Regs. § 15064.3.) However, local agencies may still consider impacts on