UPDATE
The news on the Hillbrook issue is that there isn’t any news. I contacted our planning associate Jennifer Savage three times in January and early February to see if anything was happening. I asked whether additional environmental review was going to happen, when there would be a Planning Commission hearing, whether there were deadlines or schedules for the process to move forward, and how long any additional environmental review might take. Jennifer’s response was always the same: “This has not yet been determined.”
Meanwhile We’ve Been Counting Vehicles
A group of us have been counting vehicles going up and down Marchmont, heading to and from Hillbrook. The numbers substantiate our general recognition that traffic is as heavy or heavier than it has ever been. Here are some before and after numbers for total daily traffic.
2011, 2012 : BEFORE TRAFFIC MITIGATION MEASURES IN EFFECT
DATE TOWARD HILLBROOK AWAY FROM HILLBROOK DAY TOTAL SOURCE
5/18/2011 459 465 924 2011 TJKM Traffic Study
5/19/2011 469 464 933 2011 TJKM Traffic Study
5/23/2011 426 435 861 2011 TJKM Traffic Study
5/24/2011 395 405 800 2011 TJKM Traffic Study
5/14/2012 533 537 1070 Campbell Traffic Engineer
5/15/2012 489 492 981 Campbell Traffic Engineer
5/16/2012 501 500 1001 Campbell Traffic Engineer
2012: AFTER TRAFFIC MITIGATION MEASURES IN EFFECT
DATE TOWARD HILLBROOK AWAY FROM HILLBROOK DAY TOTAL SOURCE
10/25/2012 462 466 928 Neighbors
1/10/2013 525 498 1023 Neighbors
1/14/2013 534 535 1049 Neighbors
1/15/2013 554 549 1103 Neighbors
The numbers gathered by TJKM in May 2011 (for the town-mandated traffic study paid for by Hillbrook) look low to some of us. The counting device was out in the open, and the school may have alerted parents that a count was going on. Regardless of that, the TJKM numbers support our contention that traffic is now much heavier than it was in 2011.
It appears that the Nelson\Nygaard traffic mitigation measures as implemented by Hillbrook have had no effect on Hillbrook’s overall traffic. Hillbrook is able to claim that it has reduced peak period traffic, but a close look at overall traffic, particularly afternoon traffic, shows that Hillbrook has simply spread its traffic so that traffic is heavy for far longer periods than ever before. The table below shows how afternoon traffic has been spread out.
AFTERNOON TRAFFIC: HOW IT HAS BEEN SPREAD OUT
Date 2:30-3:45 toward/away 3:46-5:00 toward/away 5:01-6:00 toward/away
1/10/2013 152/129 84/109 24/65
1/14/2013 144/115 81/117 15/62
1/15/2013 148/121 68/110 29/48
1/24/2013 161/137 61/108 9 /22
1/25/2013 166/151 60/77 27/41
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