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Loss of Agricultural Land According to the San Joaquin Important Farmland Map of (Dept. of Conservation), the majority of the land proposed for development is classified as Prime Farmland. The loss of sixty-three (63) acres of land may have significant project related impacts and cumulatively significant impacts on agricultural land. Traffic The Department of Public Works and the Department of Transportation have expressed concern over potential cumulatively significant traffic impacts that may be generated as a result of the proposed project. • Department of Public Works: The department has determined that the conversion of 63 acres from limited commercial use and agricultural use to a more intense commercial use could result in significant traffic impacts to the Level of Service on Greenwood Road and possibly McCracken Road. • The Department of Transportation (Caltrans): Caltrans has determined that the Level of Service on State Route 132 will be significantly impacted as a result of the proposed project. Specifically, Caltrans is in the process of conducting environmental review for the Vernalis Expressway (VE) project. The VE project presently includes the portion of State Route 132 between Interstate 580 and State Route 33/132 separation and is an expressway with partial access control. From that point, State Route 132 is a two land conventional highway with no access control. According to the VE proposal/study, the project would continue the freeway and expressway system to the San Joaquin River where a section of the expressway was previously built and rights-of-ways were purchased for a four lane freeway. As a note, Caltrans mentioned that Greenwood Road, the main access point for the northern portion of the project site, may be realigned as a result of the Vernalis Expressway project. The proposal/study was originally conducted in 1993 and is now being revised to reflect current projects proposed for the State Route 132 corridor between 1-580 and State Route 99. According to the proposal/study document, the Stanislaus Area Association of Governments is currently developing a Major Investment Study for the State Route 132 corridor. The proposal/study also states that the Average Annual Daily Traffic (AADT) in 1996 ranged from 14,000 to 15,000 vehicles. Within the project limits, State Route 132 currently operates at Level of Service (LOS) "E" (using 1996 ADT's), which is considered unstable traffic flow. The proposal/study forecasted 2020 ADT's for State Route 132 within the project at 25,000 vehicles. Recently, Caltrans indicated that the current volume on State Route 132 at the proposed project location, is approximately 2000 peak hour trips (2-way), with an ADT of approximately 21,000. As a result, it is expected that an increase in development in the area could potentially have cumulative traffic impacts. In addition, the project has the potential to increase commuting to and from local areas including Tracy and other communities within Stanislaus County. New jobs will require employees and because Vernalis is residentially undeveloped, commuting to and from