San Jose Officials Incorrectly Blamed VTA for Error

By Tracy Seipel, San Jose Mercury News, Calif.

Oct. 29--By Tracy Seipel

tseipel@mercurynews.com

San Jose officials on Wednesday conceded that they incorrectly blamed the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority for a mistake in a 2006 report about freeway traffic that city planners had used to prepare an environmental impact report for a downtown baseball stadium.

Hans Larsen, acting director of the city"s transportation department, said the mistake was actually made by a San Jose consulting firm the city had hired, Hexagon Transportation Consultants.

Larsen added that he has apologized to the county for the incorrect information that city staff cited during a city council committee meeting on Monday. The information was repeated in new reports, including a Wednesday story in the Mercury News.

In 2006, city planners had analyzed the traffic impact on freeways and local streets from what was then proposed as a 45,000-seat stadium. Their analysis showed significant congestion would occur on Interstate 280 and Highway 87.

While updating the report to reflect the current proposal for a 32,000-seat facility, planners wanted to know if the traffic impact would be as significant as previously projected. Updated 2008 data from the VTA revealed that even though the planned stadium now is 30 percent smaller, congestion on a segment of I-280 between Highway 87

and 10th Street would be worse than what the original data from Hexagon had indicated.

"I take full responsiblity for this error,-- said Hexagon President Gary Black on Wednesday.

As a result, city planners will have to correct a portion of the environmental impact report for the proposed downtown ballpark. The revised report should be released by late December or early January for public comment. Larsen said the delay would not interfere with the city"s plans to place the stadium proposal on the ballot next year.

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