Santa Ana : Trial of Traffic Plan Starts in Superior Court

The city’s North Central Traffic Plan went on trial in Superior Court on Thursday with opponents hoping to convince a judge to rescind measures implemented last April that were designed to reduce the amount of commuter traffic in the area.

The measures affecting the area, north of 17th Street between Bristol Street and the Santa Ana Freeway, include a ban on right turns to Flower Street for eastbound motorists on Memory Lane, concrete diverters that prevent vehicles from traveling north on Ross or Flowers streets past 17th Street, and a plan to close the Santa Ana Freeway off-ramp to Flower.

Jim Lowman, a spokesman for the plan’s opponents, who have formed a group called Concerned Residents of Santa Ana, said they also hope to have the city pay $100 to everyone who received $52 tickets for violating the “no right turn” provision.

Attorney Milo DeArmey, representing the traffic plan opponents, argued Thursday that the diverted traffic has pushed traffic onto surrounding streets and that the new traffic plan was implemented at the request of Flower Street residents.

Joe Foust, who conducted a study of traffic in the neighborhood before the plan went into effect, said he believes that the city’s intention was to redirect commuter traffic onto surrounding “commuter routes” and that the City Council had heard complaints from residents for several years.