Santa Ana : Action to Cut Traffic Postponed for 2 Weeks

Implementation of a plan that city officials say will reduce traffic in north-central Santa Ana has been delayed to allow two absent City Council members to vote on it.

The two-week postponement came Tuesday after many of about 200 people who jammed the council chambers gave their opinions on the issue.

The plan, implemented on a trial basis last April, includes a “no right turn” from Memory Lane to Flower Street during peak hours, installation of stop signs at three intersections and denial of a request by residents of Greenleaf Street to block that street at its southern end. The council will reconsider the proposal Sept. 17.

Most residents who spoke said they support the plan but feel it does not go far enough, especially in light of downtown projects such as the proposed Westdome Arena and the approved Centerpointe office-hotel complex. They said the projects will bring more cars through the area.

Flower Street resident Barbara Taylor urged the council to consider installing traffic diverters on Flower and Ross streets and to construct the Greenleaf wall. “It may also win you the support of our neighborhoods for the Westdome,” she said.

Dan C. Dutcher, a Municipal Court judge who lives in the area, said the city is showing favoritism to north-central neighborhood residents. He said city policy is paradoxical, with its aggressive approach to development on the one hand and its desire to lessen traffic on the other.