19 Projects Planned to Reduce Traffic Problems

Motorists who get stuck in traffic around the Anaheim Convention Center may find some relief in a five-year, $11-million plan that officials hope will alleviate parking and traffic problems in the heavily congested area.

The 19 projects proposed in the five-year plan include computerized signal systems, reconstruction and widening of some medians and a reciprocal agreement between the convention center and Disneyland on how to handle overflow parking.

The first project, reconstruction of the Katella Avenue median between West Street and Harbor Boulevard, is already under way. It will include new landscaping, provide dual left turns and eliminate median signals, traffic engineering associate Shirley Land said.

Representatives from the city, the Stadium and Convention Center, the Police Department and area businesses began meeting in March, 1984, to keep “a pulse on what’s going on,” Land said.

“The reason we’re looking to more (improvements) is because there’s more buildup. It’s not stagnant out there,” Land said.

The construction of a second bridge for traffic approaching the intersection of Ball Road and Harbor Boulevard is the most expensive of the proposed projects. The $6-million cost of the bridge, to be paid by the state, would include the widening of an existing bridge on Harbor Boulevard, according to a report released by the city’s engineering division.