Traffic Plan Proposed for North-Central Area

The city’s Traffic Advisory Committee has recommended a major neighborhood protection plan for the north-central residential neighborhood, an area heavily affected by motorists seeking shortcuts to downtown.

The area is generally bordered by the Santa Ana River on the west, the Santa Ana Freeway on the east, 17th Street on the south and the north city limits.

The plan recommends 27 strategies that would be implemented in two phases, said David Grosse, the city’s public services director.

Among the recommended actions are widening certain streets, reopening the Broadway off-ramp from the southbound Santa Ana Freeway, closing the freeway’s Flower Street off-ramp, implementing turn restrictions and installing stop signs at various locations.

The purpose is to reroute traffic along designated thoroughfares.

The plan is similar to one adopted in 1982 for the city’s northeast neighborhood. The earlier plan resulted in a reduction of about 30% of the total traffic volume in the area, Grosse said. He projected a like result for the north-central community.

“We’re enthusiastic about it,” Grosse said. “The plan is the result of hundreds of hours of work on the part of residents, staff and a traffic consultant. Particularly in morning and evening hours, commuter-oriented traffic has made the neighborhood somewhat intolerable,” he said.

The cost of the plan is as yet unknown. A public hearing before the Planning Commission is set for 7:30 p.m. March 25. The meeting will be televised over cable channel 3.