Regents Road Bridge : an inferior alternative

1. Poor congestion relief : Traffic forecasts project that the bridge would be a poor congestion reliever for Genesee Avenue traffic. The bridge would, at best, relieve Genesee of about 9,000 ADT (trips per day). At the same time, the bridge would draw about 15,000 ADT of regional traffic from the freeways.

2. High cost : The bridge is the most expensive single structural project under consideration. The city's most recent (2004) cost estimate for the project is $36 million.

3. Environmental damage : The basic bridge plan calls for a 600' cut-and-fill roadway extending north into Rose Canyon from the southern terminus of Regents Road, joining with an 860' bridge over the railroad tracks. The project would degrade our Rose Canyon Open Space Park with concrete viewscapes, trash, noise, air pollution, and graffiti.

4. Safety : Doyle Elementary School, with some 800 students, lies just off Regents Road at Berino Court. School dropoff coincides with the morning commuter peak. Just north of the school, along Regents Road, lies Doyle Park and Recreation Center, which is heavily utilized by children. Another elementary school, Spreckels Magnet School, is located on Governor Drive two blocks east of Regents Road. The residence area for Spreckels Elementary is bisected by Regents Road.

5. Better alternatives exist : Traffic studies have repeatedly shown that the bridge alone would not result in acceptable service levels for Genesee Avenue traffic. Genesee Avenue widening, which is sufficient, is more effective, vastly less expensive, and carries less environmental impact than the bridge. Properly designed, the Genesee Avenue underpass would be better still.