Dear Save The Bay Supporter, 

DMB's own ad shows Redwood City roads clogged with traffic

Have you heard the claim by Cargill's developers that building a new city of 32,000 people on a San Francisco Bay salt pond -- east of Highway 101 at the jammed Woodside and Marsh Road exits, and with no easy access to transit -- would reduce traffic and air pollution?

Join Save The Bay and the Sierra Club Cool Cities Redwood City Team to make clear that you don't buy Cargill's spin -- and help document the terrible traffic by sharing your worst commute experience. Click here to tell your traffic horror story.

Cargill and their developers know that residents won’t stand for the worsening of already intolerable traffic, so they have chosen the path of misinformation yet again. But city reports, traffic experts, and even DMB’s own studies illustrate the folly of permitting this massive car-centered development:

• The former Chair of the San Mateo County Transportation Authority warns that the development will be a "traffic nightmare,"citing thousands of new car trips at rush hour (Almanac, Apr. 2010)
• Cargill/DMB's own study shows that almost a third of total spending by future salt pond residents -- $115 million a year -- would be on cars and gas stations. (EPS, Apr. 2010, page 4)
• Redwood City has found that the project could result in significant and unavoidable impacts on at least 23 area roads, doubling traffic on some – including multiple segments of Hwys 101, 280 and 84, Woodside Rd., Seaport Blvd., Main St., Broadway, Blomquist, E. Bayshore, Brewster, Edgewood, El Camino Real, Middlefield, Whipple, Alameda de las Pulgas, and more.
• Redwood City also reports that Cargill’s massive development could generate as many as 87,000 new daily car trips -- 8,000 an hour at peak times -- while "the existing interchanges on US 101 are operating near or at capacity and the freeway is currently at capacity near the Saltworks site." (Fehr & Peers, Jan. 2010, pages ii, 9, 11)
• The Pacific Merchant Shipping Association, concerned about the development's impact on the Port of Redwood City, warns that the project could add thousands of additional trucks onto our roadways (PDF). (Daily News, Sept. 2009)

We think these facts matter. And we know your personal experience with traffic in and around Redwood City can help counter this misinformation from Cargill/DMB, because in the end it doesn’t matter what the developers say -- it only matters what the city decides to do.

Let Redwood City know about your experience driving on regional roadways – and how 32,000 new residents would impact your commute.

Thanks for your help,

Stephen Knight
Save The Bay Political Director

P.S. Cargill/DMB's tactics aren't anything new. If you missed our last email, 'Do Facts Matter,' be sure to read about the wildlife habitat provided by the salt ponds.

Share this action with your friends and neighbors!