Duarte : Raiders Traffic Predicted

A preliminary traffic study shows that the Mount Olive Drive-Huntington Drive-605 Freeway intersection will be jammed by football fans going to the proposed Raiders stadium in Irwindale.

The congestion will extend west to Huntington Drive and Buena Vista Street for the one Monday night football game that is anticipated per season, the report says.

The report, presented to the Duarte City Council by Barton-Aschman Associates of Pasadena, is part of an environmental impact report on the stadium.

It shows that half of the estimated 22,000 vehicles headed to the stadium would approach from the west, most on the Foothill Freeway.

To alleviate congestion on surface streets before the games, the report suggests providing three eastbound lanes on Huntington Drive at Mount Olive by using the parking lane for through traffic.

On the northbound approach, right turns should be allowed from all three lanes of the 605 Freeway, the report says.

Duarte City Manager Jesse Duff said the original traffic management plan called for building off-ramps to the stadium between the 605-Foothill freeway interchange and Irwindale Avenue, but new ramps are no longer being proposed. Caltrans is reluctant to add freeway ramps because the existing ramps are only a mile apart, he said.

Duff said many cars would use on- and off-ramps at Buena Vista and Mount Olive and take Huntington Drive to reach the stadium.