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MOUNTAIN HOUSE NEIGHBORHOOD' 'PROJECT INITIAL STUDY F. TRANSPORTATION/TRAFFIC Status of Traffic Models The traffic assessment for the Master Plan EIR(San Joaquin County, 1994)was conducted during 1993. To assess project impacts,three forecast years were considered at that time: 1) 1993 for existing conditions; 2)year 2000 for short-term impacts; and 3)year 2010 for cumulative impacts. The 2000 and 2010 travel demand models used for the 1993 Master Plan EIR, were not available for this assessment. Rather, a more current year 2010 model, developed for San Joaquin County, was used to determine any changes in the cumulative traffic impacts. Existing Traffic Operations and Conditions Most local roadway conditions that existed in 1993 remain(see Figure 1). No improvements have been made to I-580 or most of the other roadways near the site. The one exception is I-205 east of 1-580, which has been widened from two for three lanes. Traffic data for the existing conditions near the site were obtained from two sources. Caltrans District 10 was contacted to obtain the most current traffic counts on I-580 and 1-205 near Mountain House Parkway. Only limited data were available for these segments, subsequent to the expanded capacity of the I-205 corridor. As a result, the existing traffic data for the current year could not be updated. Optrans, as part of the annual traffic-monitoring program, conducted traffic counts on local roadways and at selected local intersections during 1998 and 1999. Optrans found that traffic conditions changed markedly between 1998 and 1999. The primary reason was the construction of a third travel lane on I-205 between 1-580 and the 11'' Street ramps. This improvement mitigated the bottleneck which existed on I- 205 when the Master Plan EIR was conducted and thus improved the level of service on I-205 east of the junction with 1-580. This new lane expansion also resulted in a diversion of traffic back to I-205 from Grant Line Road and other east-west arterial roadways used as alternative routes when I-205 was congested. Tables V-1 and V-2 highlight the daily traffic conditions on the local arterial street system and on the freeway segments near the site. The level of service standards used in the report shown below were taken from the San Joaquin County General Plan, Mountain House Master Plan, City of Tracy General Plan and the San Joaquin Congestion Management Plan. 1) Community Gateway Roads within Mountain House including Byron Road, Grant Line Road, Mountain House Parkway—LOS D. 2) Roads in City of Tracy Planning Area within 1/4 mile of I-205 —LOS D. 3) Grant Line Road in Alameda County—LOS D. 4) Freeways- LOS E. 5) Other roads— LOS C. Table V-3 details the existing peak hour levels of service along Mountain House Parkway. All intersections on Mountain House Parkway are operating at level of service(LOS)C or better. Byron Road at Grant Line Road west operates at LOS A while Byron Road at Grant Line Road east operates at LOS C during the AM and PM peak hours. C:UOBSSICUNITIAL M1JDYTNALRNI71USNDY.PARTI.D0C(7/20/00) 53 V.F. TRANSPORTATIONn?,AFFIC