Rush-Hour Blues : 30 Residents of De Soto Avenue Complain About City’s Parking Ban

A group of Canoga Park residents appears to be fighting a losing battle against a plan by Mayor Tom Bradley to ease traffic congestion by imposing a rush-hour parking ban in front of their homes on De Soto Avenue.

“All I see is a backup of more stalled traffic and standing fumes,” resident Richard Kasso said Thursday night at a meeting of the North Canoga Park Residents Assn.

About 30 residents who live on De Soto Avenue between Victory and Roscoe boulevards met with City Councilwoman Joy Picus last week, arguing that parked cars protect their homes from high-speed traffic. They complained about having to move their cars more than a block away during the restricted periods and said additional traffic allowed by the parking ban would increase air pollution.

Picus told the residents Thursday night that she has asked the mayor to rescind the De Soto Avenue parking ban. The ban is part of a broader plan, which includes peak-hour restrictions on parking along Ventura, Balboa and Topanga Canyon boulevards and re-striping part of Ventura Boulevard to add an extra westbound lane.

But William E. Bicker, the mayor’s transportation coordinator, said Friday that although he is willing to meet with residents next week, he doubts the ban will be rescinded.

‘Classic Trade-Off’

“This is an unfortunate situation,” Bicker said. “It’s a classic trade-off that people are going to have to understand and recognize. The real question is: Do people want to be able to use arterials to get a free flow of traffic to and from work, and we’re doing this all over the city, or are parking needs of local residents to predominate?”

The parking ban, expected to be enforced at the end of the month, prohibits parking on the west side of De Soto Avenue from 6 to 9:30 a.m. from Devonshire Street to Lassen Street, from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. between Lassen and Nordhoff streets and from 7 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. from Nordhoff Street to Victory Boulevard.

On the east side of the avenue, parking will be banned from 3 to 7 p.m. between Devonshire Street and Victory Boulevard.

Bradley announced the plans for De Soto Avenue and the other streets at a news conference last month, saying that the measures would increase traffic flow by 25% to 35% and reduce the number of cars using residential side streets during peak hours. Pollution will be reduced because cars will not be caught in stop-and-go traffic, according to city transportation officials.

The residents also say the Winnetka Avenue off-ramp from the Simi Valley Freeway should be opened to relieve De Soto Avenue traffic. Between the freeway and Devonshire Street, Winnetka Avenue is a private street through wealthy Monteria Estates. Residents of the estates have vigorously opposed proposals to make it public.

“We feel now it’s time that the Winnetka ramp and the people there share this traffic,” Beverly Kasso said.

Picus made that suggestion to Bradley in a letter last week, saying, “It’s hardly fair for the people who live on De Soto to bear the burden of traffic which should be using Winnetka Avenue.”

Idea Too Costly

But Councilman Hal Bernson, who represents Monteria Estates, said the idea is too costly because the city would have to condemn expensive Monteria Estates land. Instead, he said, the Winnetka ramp should eventually be opened to the north only, allowing traffic to use future extensions of Rinaldi Street and Corbin and Mason avenues.

“The people who live on De Soto have to recognize that they live on a major highway,” Bernson added. “. . . The streets were not intended for parking. They were intended for traffic.”