CACC Meeting Review

At our last meeting,  we were pleased to be able to announce some good news about prospective use of the Dollar per Ticket Fund which was set up in 1997 and has been accumulating funds ever since. The fund, which was established to mitigate the impact of San Diego State University's Viejas Arena, receives one dollar from every ticket sold for a major event at the Arena. At present, there is approximately $550,000 in the fund. In 2017, the three-way agreement between San Diego State University, the City of San Diego, and the College Area Community Council will expire, at which time all unused funds will return to SDSU. In the meantime, any use of the funds must be approved by all three parties to the agreement, and it is not always easy to reach consensus. 

In light of the impending expiration of the agreement, the CACC in January, made three recommendations to the City and SDSU for use of the funds. After careful review, San Diego State University has now responded to the CACC regarding these recommendations. 

While University staff felt that several of the recommendations would not be in line with the intent of the Dollar per Ticket fund, President Hirshman, in a letter dated March 7, wrote that "It is the recommendation of San Diego State University that Option 2, the transportation improvement project, be pursued with the City of San Diego and that it include the immediate installation of pedestrian countdown timers." 

The letter refers to a proposal by the City of San Diego to install a transportation monitoring system which would improve traffic flow around the University during major events, along with eleven pedestrian countdown timers which will improve pedestrian safety. 

As anyone who has ever tried to use College Avenue during a Lady Gaga appearance at the Arena will attest, any improvement in traffic flow around the University will be very welcome. The pedestrian countdown timers will improve walkability in the College Area, a goal shared by the University, the City, and the CACC.

Pedestrian countdown timers will be installed at the following locations: 54th & Montezuma, 55th & Montezuma, 55th & Hardy, 55th & Aztec Walk, 55th & Peterson Gym/Viejas Arena, 55th & Remington, Campanile & Montezuma, Campanile & Lindo Paseo, College & Montezuma, College & Lindo Paseo, and Montezuma & East Campus Drive. Projected cost is about $30,000.

Because of its complexity, installation of the traffic monitoring system may take a bit longer. There are many details to work out, but when completed, the project would allow City traffic engineers and/or SDSU police or Special Events coordinators to remotely monitor road conditions, queues, and traffic congestion in real time, and respond accordingly.

 
The project would consist of six pan/tilt/zoom video camera installations, nine traffic signal controller replacements, and a video server and network equipment, all connected by fiber optic cable to a county-wide project called "3-C's" which is establishing high capacity data networks between critical facilities around the county. During high traffic events, City and/or SDSU personnel would be able to remotely view and adjust traffic signal timing on Montezuma Road from Collwood to E. Campus Road; on College Avenue from south of Montezuma to north of I-5; and on 55th Street from west of Rockford to Montezuma Road. The ability to remotely improve traffic flow during peak times, detect signal malfunctions and collect vehicle volume information will be tremendously helpful in restoring free flowing traffic around SDSU. The project is expected to cost around $320,000.

Also at our March meeting, the College Area Community Planning Board voted to request a change in municipal code so that multi-unit student apartment projects provide adequate parking for their inhabitants. Provision of adequate parking within these developments will reduce instances of over-flow parking spilling into surrounding single family neighborhoods in the College Area.

Our next meeting will be on Wednesday, April 9 at 7:00 p.m. in the Community Room of the College-Rolando Library, 6600 Montezuma Road. To learn more about the CACC or CACPB, check out our website, www.CollegeArea.org.