Possible traffic flow fix at City Hall causes worry among La Cañada Elementary officials, parents
Good fences might make good neighbors, but in the case of a recent disagreement between La Cañada Elementary School and City Hall over school traffic, a more nuanced approach may be in order.
On Jan. 20 the Public Works and Traffic Commission considered, at the request of the city, the feasibility of prohibiting vehicles from making a right-hand turn from Lasheart Drive onto Salisbury Road on school days, between 1:30 and 3:15 p.m.
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City traffic engineer Steve Libring also asked commissioners to consider removing the current “No Parking” restriction on Lasheart south of Salisbury — where cars attempting to access City Hall typically park when the lot is full — during the same hours.
In an interview Monday, Commission Chair Daniel Drugan said he believed city officials requested the changes to accommodate a growing number of City Hall visitors.
“As business grows in the city, and things are starting to pick up with the economy, they’re seeing more people come in,” he said. He noted the rush coincides with school traffic and the parking restriction on Lasheart. “It’s difficult for people who do business at City Hall to access it during the day.”
But parents and administrators of the LCE community, several of whom turned out Jan. 20 in opposition to the city’s recommendations, claim the changes might force more dangerous driving behaviors that could put pedestrians and small children at risk.
La Cañada Elementary School Principal Emily Blaney could not attend last week’s meeting but prepared a letter that was read by Mark Evans, La Cañada Unified’s chief business and operations officer.
Blaney said she’s had several talks with Libring and has consequently made efforts with parents to improve the flow of traffic at drop-off and pick-up times since she came to the helm in July, including bringing on more volunteers to man stations at Encinas Drive and La Cañada Boulevard.
Additionally, Blaney wrote, PTA members and carline volunteers regularly communicate with parents, directing them to access Salisbury by way of Loma Vista Drive, west of Lasheart off Foothill Boulevard.
She called Libring’s past suggestions to parents that they simply arrive closer to dismissal time and make more of an effort to walk children to school “impractical.”
“At this time, for safety and security concerns, it is unwise to encourage more students to walk to school when there is a lack of both sidewalks and crossing guards on the Encinas side of the campus,” wrote Blaney.
Annette Dominguez O’Hair, who coordinates 27 volunteers as LCE carline chair, said the school community is making great efforts to keep cars moving and would appreciate a more collaborative, less unilateral approach to identifying a fix.
She asked why City Hall employees couldn’t free up their own lot by parking across Foothill Boulevard, at the recently renovated Caltrans parking lot, during business hours.
“We don’t have a lot of land here, and we don’t have a lot of space,” Dominguez O’Hair said. “We can find solutions if we all work together as a team.”
Drugan said a committee could be one way to reach consensus. Those talks could become moot, however, if city officials identify an alternative City Hall location, something that has been the subject of closed session council meetings in recent months.
“We heard a lot of great commentary. I think it’s going to help us make a decision to do something if City Hall stays there for the long term,” Drugan said of the meeting. “(But) if this becomes more of an issue in the future, we’re going to have to come together in a committee approach.”
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Sara Cardine, sara.cardine@latimes.com
Twitter: @SaraCardine
