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Mohaddes Associates July 17, 2006 Mr. Andres L. Soto Planning Manager City of Colton 659 N. La Cadena Drive Colton, CA 92324 o badness unit oflWs, W. Re: Responses to Additional Comments on the Pacific Rail Project J05-1685 Dear Mr. Soto: We are in receipt of a copy of a letter prepared by Linscott, Law & Greenspan, Engineers, dated July 11, 2006, regarding "Review of Responses to Comments Associated with the Revised Draft Environmental Report for the Pacific Rail Industries Metal Shredding Operation in the City of Colton" (the "LLG letter"). We understand that the LLG letter has been submitted to the Colton City Council for their consideration. Provided below are response to the comments in that letter. Paragraph 1 on page 2 of the LLG letter asserts that prior LLG comments document that prior level of service (LOS) calculations show the intersections of Mount Vernon Avenue at Valley Boulevard/I-10 Westbound Ramps, I-10 Eastbound Ramps, and M Street to be operating at LOS D and E. As noted in the response to comments on the Revised Draft Environmental Impact Report (RDEIR), the prior LLG comments do not actually document any LOS calculations at the fust of these intersections, and the Traffic Study in the RDEIR contains a detailed explanation of why the prior LOS calculations at the remaining two intersections were incorrect. The comparison of the photographs shown in Figures A, B, and C of the LLG letter to the photographs provided by the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) is simply misleading. The IDOT photographs illustrate the LOS concept as applied to afreeway, where it is expected that traffic flow is uninterrupted and queues of stopped vehicles indicate unacceptable congestion. In the context of a signalized intersection, queuing is to be expected, even at relatively good levels of service. It is simply the nature of traffic signals that they cause vehicles to stop. LOS at a signalized intersection is based on the average delay experienced by all vehicles traveling through the intersection. Some vehicles experience no delay, while others experience substantially more than the average. Paragraph 2 on page 2 of the LLG letter asserts that prior LLG comments "speculated" that the RDEIR used "theoretical" [quotes in original] assumptions regarding signal timing (referring to the use of optimized signal timing in the LOS analyses. However, there was no need for speculation. The RDEIR's Traffic Study states on page 1 that the methodologies of the San Bernardino County 707 lilshire Boulevard, Suite 4810 • Los Angeles, California 90017 • Phone (213) 488-0345 • Fax (213) 488-9440