Whole Foods: Bad for traffic?

Burbank officials are debating whether to approve a Whole Foods Market in the city's horse-loving district near Griffith Park. One Burbank planning board member wrote a column in the Burbank Leader raising questions about the amount of traffic the upscale market would generation:

The real impact of this development can be judged by the experience of other California cities. The city of San Rafael conducted a traffic count at an existing Whole Foods in reviewing a request for a 3,700-square-foot expansion. That showed Whole Foods generated three-times more a.m. peak trips, and two times more p.m. peak-hour trips than predicted by the same data Burbank is relying on. The city engineer's study found that noon-hour trip generation was higher than either the a.m. or p.m. trips. On the basis of this study, the San Rafael City Council rejected the request. In Santa Monica, the neighbors of the only Whole Foods Market in the area with an underground garage petitioned their City Council for additional parking restrictions because patrons don't park in the garage.

The developer of the project wrote his own commentary, saying traffic concerns have been addressed:

Traffic engineers measure the level of traffic at an intersection and assign a letter grade, which ranges from an "A," the best, to an "F," the worst. The levels of service are then observed for the busiest times in the morning and evening, known as the a.m. peak and p.m. peak. The current levels of service at Alameda Avenue and Main Street are an "A" in the morning and a "B" in the afternoon. We felt it was important to maintain these levels of service. In order to do that we have agreed to dedicate land and widen Main Street. This substantial expenditure was not recommended in the traffic study. After these improvements are made, Main Street in the project area will be four lanes: a dedicated right-turn lane, two through lanes and a center merge/left-turn lane.