Brentwood Press - Index

Brentwood Press - OakleyPress_05.09.08 - Index

PRESORTED
STANDARD
U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
PERMIT #5
Most Oakley residents are
happy living in a small, quiet
city with good schools and a rural
feel, but they would like the
downtown area improved, more
police, a cleaner community and
more stores and businesses.
Those are some of the more
signifi cant results of a survey
that was placed on the city Web
site and mailed to 450 randomly
selected registered voters in early
February. A total of 208 surveys
were fi lled out. The survey has a
confi dence level of pus-or-minus
six percent.
“The survey does indicate
some areas where the feeling is
that we need to do a lot better,
such as economic development
and code enforcement, but generally
it shows that residents are
YOUR HOMETOWN WEEKLY NEWSPAPER
Vol. 8, No.19 Including Surrounding Communities www.thepress.net May 9, 2008
Survey
says:
Oakley
is OK
by Dave Roberts
Staff Writer
Best of the best
happy with Oakley as a place to
live,” wrote City Manager Bryan
Montgomery in an e-mail.
“The positive results about
the city and other agencies is
particularly reassuring because
there is a ‘self-selection’ process
in a survey such as this, in that
many who take the time to fi ll it
out are not positively disposed.”
Photo by Columbus Ledger-Enquirer photographer Shannon Szwarc
East County native Staff Sgt. Michael Broussard, left, and his teammate Staff
Sgt. Shayne Cherry, hold up Colt 45 pistols they were awarded after winning
the Army’s Best Ranger competition at Ft. Benning, Ga. on April 21. For more
on this story, see page 4A.
When asked what areas
more city time and money should
be devoted to, the top response
(garnering 70 percent of the
votes) was downtown improvement,
followed by more police
(58 percent), community cleanup
(56 percent) and economic
development (53 percent).
The top categories that the
survey respondents are OK with
remaining at the same level are
parks (55 percent), streets (52
percent) and recreation (50 percent).
Perhaps the best news for city
offi cials is that 86 percent of the
respondents say they are satisfi ed
Congestion to continue for decades
by Rick Lemyre
Staff Writer
Traffi c congestion on Highway 4, Vasco
Road and many other major thoroughfares in
East County will continue for decades, despite
the best efforts of local leaders and more than
a billion dollars being spent on improvements.
That’s one of the conclusions of a new
study entitled “East County Action Plan for
Routes of Regional Signifi cance.” The study
was done for Transplan, the East County
transportation planning agency, as one of the
requirements for receiving a share of $3 billion
in half-cent sales tax funds for road improvements.
The congestion will continue because the
current pattern of East County residents commuting
elsewhere to work will continue, despite
an expected infl ux of businesses and jobs into
this area, according to the study.
Currently, only a third of East County
residents work in East County. About 87,000
workers commute elsewhere each day, half of
them using Highway 4 to get to work. Onequarter
of East County residents drive more
than an hour to get to their jobs and another
quarter need 30 minutes to an hour to arrive at
work or get home from there.
The bad news in terms of road traffi c is
that East County’s population is expected to
grow by 34 percent by 2030 – an additional
94,000 residents. The good news, however, is
that the number of jobs in East County is expected
to nearly double – an additional 58,000
new jobs.
The bad news: by 2030, there will still be
71,000 fewer jobs in East County than employed
residents.
As a result, the volume of traffi c between
now and 2030 is expected to increase 49 percent
on the freeway portion of Highway 4, in-
see Survey page 25A
crease by 108 percent on Marsh Creek Road,
by 82 percent on the surface street portion of
Highway 4 through Oakley and Brentwood,
by 145 percent on Highway 160, by 22 percent
on Vasco Road and by 66 percent on Kirker
Pass Road.
To help head off some of this congestion,
the action plan outlines several goals:
• Widen Highway 4 from Loveridge Road to
the Highway 4 Bypass; complete the Highway
4 Bypass; extend James Donlon Boulevard
west to Kirker Pass Road; widen Highway 4
through Oakley, Brentwood, Byron and Discovery
Bay; complete Highway 84 and build
Highway 239.
• Manage future development in East County
so that it minimizes impacts on regional roads
and encourages the use of non-automobile
transportation.
see Congestion page 25A
National Award Winning Newspapers
THIS WEEK
Band of
brothers
Tired of waiting in line at the
car wash? Watch these guys
go to work in your driveway.
Page 5A
Your average
wiz kid
Freedom’s valedictorian has her
feet firmly on the ground and
her head filled with thoughts
of ... summer fun.
Page 10A
Inventing
victories
The Falcons manufactured
only one run in a classic pitchers’
duel – but that’s all they
needed.
Page 1B
INSIDE
Calendar ........................27B
Classifieds ......................20B
Community .................... 3A
Education ....................... 9A
Entertainment ..............15B
Food ...............................14B
Health & Beauty ...........10B
Home & Garden .............8B
Milestones .....................25B
Opinion ........................18A
Public Notices ................21B