Missed Opportunities
City planners say there are two diametrically opposed schools of thought about distributing traffic.
One method is to classify streets as local streets, collectors, and arterials. Local streets feed into collectors, which feed into arterials. This ensures traffic on local streets will always be light, but it limits routes between one destination and another, so collectors and arterials will tend to be busier.
The second method is to use more interconnected street patterns, such as grid patterns. With higher connectivity, there's more than one way to get from Point A to Point B, which means traffic doesn't need to be funneled to collectors. Although traffic is distributed along more streets, it will also move a bit more slowly.
Each concept has advantages and disadvantages, and specific situations may favor one or the other.
At the time in which this project was originally conceptualized, the second method (grid pattern) was becoming very popular in the city planning community. At that time, the idea was for Doherty Drive Extension to extend further south to meet up with Fell Road. Also, Fell Road would extend eastward to intersect with Dairy. You can see that plan as a limited kind of grid:
However, that plan was abandoned by the city. The council decided not retain the right-of-way to extend Doherty south to Fell Road, so the circulation objective can't be realized. The bottom line is that all of the eastbound traffic on the new road from the Heritage Oaks subdivisions and from Minton Road will be funneled into the intersection of Doherty/Henry, a school crossing. Also, this could create more traffic on Henry, which already is so heavy at times that it blocks access to five side streets.
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It is not possible now to revert to the original plan. Though aware of the consequences, the city failed to retain the right of way that would be required. (See History page for details.)
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The manager for this project politely explained this failure to the city council in 2018:
Translation into more direct language:
The planners had a plan for improving traffic circulation. They advised the council to retain the right of way south to Fell Road, but the council took no action. So don't blame the planners for this ineffective plan! I am not recommending it, but if you so direct, I will implement it.
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(Apologies if that is too direct; that is how I interpreted it!)
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Residents have also made comments to the effect that the Eastwood Two developer should have been required to provide an outlet to the east, to connect with Fell Road, as an emergency exit. Apparently, the city took no action to accomplish this.