Torrance Truck Traffic Rerouted

In an effort to divert truck traffic cutting through a residential area along Maricopa Street, the City Council has approved a new truck route that will send commercial traffic along Prairie Avenue, Del Amo Boulevard and Maple Avenue.

“For many years, truck traffic has plagued the residential area along the south side of Maricopa Street between Maple Avenue and Crenshaw Boulevard,” said City Traffic Engineer Daniel Collins.

Trucks have used Maricopa as a shortcut off Crenshaw Boulevard to gain access to the city’s central manufacturing area, even though the street is not a truck route, Collins said.

Rick Hamilton, who lives on Maricopa, told the council that large trucks “start rolling at 6 a.m.” and “keep rolling until 2 a.m. We have to keep our windows closed. You can’t have a normal conversation day or night.”

Maricopa resident Kathleen Coombs, addressing the Planning Commission on Nov. 3, said she had counted 29 large trucks driving on Maricopa Street within a 40-minute period one Tuesday morning.

Residents of Mediterranean Villas, which is located near the southwest corner of Prairie Avenue and Del Amo Boulevard, objected that the plan would send new traffic into their neighborhood.