The Agoura Village Specific Plan
http://stagea11.visioninternet.net/home/showdocument?id=13167
Agoura Road and Kanan Road TRAFFIC
While the AVSP may have been viable in 2008, The Plan will create significant traffic and safety issues if introduced today into the already overwhelmed and bottlenecked traffic at the intersection of Kanan & Agoura Roads and Kanan Road & the 101 Freeway. To the City's credit, a new traffic study is being conducted.
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AGOURA ROAD TRAFFIC
Agoura Road will serve as the heart of Agoura Village. The AVSP emphasizes a "pedestrian- friendly" vision and, thus, deliberately plans to slow traffic movement on Agoura Road. Page 3-27 of The Plan discusses restricting Agoura Road to two, 12 foot wide travel lanes in order to slow traffic. Diagonal parking and trees will be added to make the lanes seem more narrow for the same purpose. There are plans to add trees to Kanan Road to slow traffic there, as well. The standard "level of service" (measurement of traffic flow)or LOS for the entire City of Agoura Hills is no higher than a level "C". However, The stretch of Agoura Road east of Kanan Road, by design, will have be an anticipated LOS of D, E & F which predicts to impede emergency services and/or evacuation in the event of disaster.

Page 3-26 of the AVSP states that pedestrian circulation along Agoura Road should take higher priority than traffic flow.


Page 3-26 suggests planting trees to create the impression of narrower lanes in order to slow traffic. There are plans to plant trees on Kanan Road for the same purpose.
Page 3-27 of the AVSP calls for narrow traffic lanes on Agoura Road to slow traffic to increase pedestrian use of The Village.

Page 3-27 clearly states that diagonal parking will increase delay on Agoura Road, the purpose of which is to deliberately slow traffic and encourage pedestrian use.

Above, illustration on first page of Chapter 3 of the AVSP emphasizing narrow travel lanes to deliberately slow flow of traffic on Agoura Road.
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KANAN ROAD TRAFFIC
The City of Agoura Hills has extensive plans to monetize the intersection of Kanan and Agoura Roads as the“Gateway to the Santa Monica Mountains”. The act of permanently altering the efficient function of this critical intersection for the sole benefit of the City of Agoura Hills comes with a highly elevated responsibility to insure that commercialization of this important entrance to the Santa Monica Mountains does not imperil the wild lands and residents that lie beyond.
Kanan Road is a county designated Disaster Route (to bring emergency personnel, equipment & supplies into the Santa Monica Mountains), and simultaneously must serve as the primary evacuation route for 5000+ residents of the unincorporated area, designated at Very High Risk for wildfires. Thousands from neighboring areas use Kanan Road for daily commute, and tens of thousands use Kanan to access the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. The intersection is already burdened, and the updated North Area plan states that Kanan Road will not be widened. The City of Agoura Hills is overdeveloping an enormous bottleneck into this already poorly functioning intersection. The potential for this project, combined with the acceptable LOS ratings of D, E & F on Agoura Road east of Kanan to which this project will enormously contribute, predicts to impede emergency services and/or evacuation in the event of disaster.
Due to the effect this lucrative development will have upon traffic congestion at this essential intersection, the City’s responsibility not to endanger local residents does not stop at the City’s border. The City and potential developers bear the utmost obligation to be duly diligent to give safety matters the highest priority. They must be thoroughly and objectively studied in the EIR, and all pertinent agencies must be contacted for oversight and input.