NEWPORT BEACH : Council Votes Down Stop Signs Proposal

After occasionally angry public testimony both for and against the idea of putting six new stop signs along Balboa Boulevard, the City Council voted 5 to 2 against it Monday night.

Instead, the council voted to accept a motion by Councilman Donald A. Strauss to install reflective plastic strips at all existing crosswalks and add six new crosswalks.

Approximately 50 people turned out for the meeting, and audience members appeared nearly split on the issue. Some residents argued that speeds on the boulevard are too high, making it difficult and dangerous to cross the street. Other homeowners said that more stop signs would exacerbate already serious weekend traffic problems and called for stricter enforcement of existing speed limits instead.

“Presently, I have eight stops to make; to add six more is just totally ludicrous,” peninsula resident Richard Voit told the council. “I’m sick of having to spend my summers in traffic.”

Monday’s proposal for more stop signs came out of a series of meetings by a committee of residents, council members and city traffic staff. Residents and homeowners’ associations along the peninsula have been asking the city to slow traffic along the main street for years and have strongly opposed the suggestions of a city consultant to eliminate crosswalks in favor of fewer, lighted pedestrian crossings.

There are now seven traffic signals and one stop sign on Balboa Boulevard. Monday’s decision means that the city will not establish signs at the intersections of Balboa and G Street, Island Avenue and 10th, 18th, 35th and 42nd streets.

But the council approved the installation of high-visibility crosswalks at all current crosswalk locations on Balboa as well as at new walkways at 34th, 35th, 36th, 40th, 42nd and 44th streets at a total cost of $38,000.