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11 <br />Caroll Mortensen <br />January 13, 2012 <br />Page 8 <br />potential to pose a significant safety risk to these bicyclists, yet these impacts have not <br />been analyzed.3 <br />Mariposa Road is an east -west two-lane collector that runs between <br />downtown Stockton and Escalon. The posted speed limit along the roadway is 50 miles <br />per hour ("mph") within the vicinity of the landfill. 2010 DEIR at IV.B-1. French Camp <br />Road is an east -west two-lane rural road that connects I-5 in south Stockton to SR 120 <br />near the City of Escalon. The posted speed limit along this roadway is 45 mph within the <br />vicinity of the landfill. Id. at IV.13-3. According to the 2010 DEIR, 25 percent of <br />landfill -related trips travel on French Camp Road and 20 percent use Mariposa Road. Id. <br />at IV.B-11. <br />Assuming 1,240 landfill -related trucks per day would travel on area <br />roadways, the SWFP Revision would generate over 300 truck trips per day on French <br />Camp Road and almost 250 trips on Mariposa Road. These truck trips are likely to occur <br />throughout the day since, according to the 2010 DEIR, more than 80 percent of the <br />landfill's existing truck trips occur outside peak hours .4 Sharing a lane with heavy-duty <br />trucks, especially when they are traveling at high speeds, is extraordinarily dangerous for <br />bicyclists. The risk of bicycle accidents would be elevated further by car traffic as <br />motorists are apt to try to avoid heavy-duty trucks by swerving around or passing a truck <br />altogether. <br />Moreover, the landfill's truck trip volumes will increase substantially if the <br />proposed Landfill Expansion Project is approved. The applicant proposes to increase the <br />number of trucks accessing the landfill from 1,240 to 1,920 daily trips. 2010 DEIR at <br />IV.B-11. This would result in a total increase in landfill -generated truck traffic of almost <br />500 daily truck trips on French Camp Road and almost 400 daily truck trips on Mariposa <br />Road, again posing a significant safety risk to bicyclists.s <br />' Even if the 2003 EIR analyzed impacts relating to Sunday operations, this analysis is <br />entirely outdated and must be revised to reflect current traffic volumes and typical bicycle use on <br />area roadways. <br />According to the traffic counts taken at the Landfill driveway, approximately 10 <br />percent of the landfill's total daily trips occur during the a.m. peak hour and approximately 6 <br />percent occur during the p.m. peak hour. Id. at IV.B-11. <br />5 It is important to note that bicyclists are not the only entities that would experience an <br />increased risk of accidents from the landfill's increased operations. Any time that heavy-duty <br />(footnote continued) <br />SHUTE, MIHALY <br />��--WEINBERGERu_e <br />