Visitors to Trinitas face hazardous conditions on seriously inadequate roads. Primary access to the property from the west is from Highway 26 to Ospital Road and from Highway 12 to Southworth Road, which merges into Ospital. Both are mostly narrow, shoulderless roads, with few turn-outs, many blind hills and curves, patched or rutted surfaces and places where the pavement drops off abruptly past the “fog line.”
If the Ridge at Trinitas proposal is approved:
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Daily traffic along the Ospital and Southworth Roads corridor and alternative routes to Trinitas will increase significantly. Trinitas will generate traffic from new residents, golfers, visitors to the clubhouse, restaurant, bar, banquet facilities, retail shops and 30-unit lodge/day spa/motel, and “special events.” While the RDEIR claims the project will allow only 12,000 rounds of golf annually, the traffic studies analyze the impacts of 24,000 and 36,000 rounds. The difference is significant. With REC zoning, no limits apply. (See RDEIR Table 3-13.18)
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Local residents can expect year-round “event” traffic. The proposal calls for 24 special events of up to 500 people per year, one event of up to 1,000 people, and unlimited events of up to 250 people. Any one “event” can last for several days, as tournaments often do. This could result in nearly constant events, which will route much more traffic through our neighborhoods. If the Recreation zoning adjustment is approved, county code would allow events of greater than 1,000 people. What would prevent attendance of greater than the allowed number? How are these limits enforced? Or will they be enforced?
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Traffic won’t just impact residents on the two main roads and the small rural roads feeding onto them. Local residents along Olive Orchard, Burson, Warren, Pettinger and Messing Roads – alternative routes for travelers east of the project – will also experience significant increases in traffic (and traffic noise) if the full proposal is approved. Traffic and congestion will worsen during special events. Drivers making left turns at Highways 26 and 12 will experience longer delays, as will those trying to pass cars waiting to turn left off the highway - especially when event attendees are arriving or departing Trinitas. Local homeowners may even find it more difficult to move on or off Ospital or Southworth Roads to reach home or carry on normal activities during such times. This will extend travel times and increase gasoline expenses for everyone, including commuters and those just passing through.
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More traffic on dangerous roads will mean more accidents. Residents relate near-miss experiences on Ospital and Southworth Roads, even with current traffic levels. During the golf course construction, many survived hair-raising encounters with large vehicles topping a hill or rounding a curve across the center line. Others are concerned for their family’s future safety from drivers under the influence of alcohol consumed at Trinitas, or even from sober visitors to the project who are unfamiliar with the roads, driving them at night, or in the rain or fog.
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Local road surfaces will degrade at a faster pace, causing higher automobile maintenance and repair costs, from wear and tear from potholes, cracked and bumpy surfaces, or damage caused by chunks of loose asphalt or flying road debris.
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Trinitas access roads on Ospital Road have limited sight distances, making left turns dangerous both entering and exiting the property. Larger vehicles – such as tour buses or motor homes, that must move slowly into a 90 degree turn – will create a special hazard. Vehicles driving south on Ospital at normal speed will have little warning that an obstacle may be blocking the lane.
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An on-site road to the proposed home sites poses additional driving hazards. Because it runs parallel to Ospital Road, with very little separation, a driver going north on Ospital at night could be confused by headlights on the right, leading to unnecessary corrections and accidents.
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Trinitas event traffic congestion could hamper fire, ambulance or law enforcement personnel from responding effectively to an emergency. What if an accident along Ospital or Southworth Roads locks vehicles in place, with no way for emergency vehicles to pass?
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Trinitas impacts require road improvements. Who’s going to pay the bill? The sidebar mentions required mitigation measures to lessen the harmful impacts on the community. But unless the developers pay the full cost to construct them upon project approval, will they ever be built? RDEIR Table 3.13-10 addresses the cost of long-term Planned Circulation System Improvements, none of which will be in place any time soon. The cost of the left turn pocket at SR 12/Southworth Road is $412,000. Improvements to Ospital and Southworth roads could cost up to $3 million per mile. Will taxpayers subsidize road improvements necessitated by Trinitas?
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Trinitas lacks adequate parking for large events. The tentative subdivision tract map shows roughly 5 acres of parking spaces for the clubhouse, motel, and all commercial facilities associated with the project. How many parking spaces will be required for an event of 1,000 people, plus “ordinary” visitors? If Trinitas really intends to bring PGA tournaments on site – or even concerts on the scale seen at Ironstone Vineyards – attendance could far outweigh available on-site parking. Will visitors park along the adjacent roads and walk a mile or more along narrow roads to Trinitas, further compromising both pedestrian and vehicle traffic?
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Table 3.13-18 Total Project Trip Generation by Study Scenario