YORBA LINDA : Opponents Could Stall Super Street

Plans to turn Imperial Highway into a “super street” could be stalled by several Yorba Linda City Council members and business owners who say the project might simply invite more traffic and divide the city.

The $23-million project, planned by the Orange County Transportation Commission, would widen and restripe portions of Imperial Highway, add new turnout lanes and synchronize traffic signals. In addition, a $69-million, long-term proposal calls for adding bus turnout lanes and widening the entire stretch of Imperial Highway from Beach Boulevard and the Riverside Freeway to eight lanes.

In Yorba Linda, plans are to widen Imperial Highway to eight lanes between Rose Drive and Lemon Avenue. A freeway section, which runs from Yorba Linda Boulevard to Orangethorpe Avenue, would be widened to four lanes. Parking would be restricted from Prospect Avenue to Los Angeles Street, in addition to the current no-parking zones.

Critics argue that the upgrade will only worsen traffic on the highway, which often is used as a short-cut for rush-hour commuters so they can avoid traffic on the Riverside and Orange freeways.

“My attitude is fix the freeways first,” Councilman Henry W. Wedaa said. “Don’t turn Imperial Highway into a mini-freeway. . . . If we make it an eight-lane road, we will have even more cars on it.”

Harry Elliott, the president of the Yorba Linda Chamber of Commerce, said he fears that the plan will make Yorba Linda a “dumping ground” to alleviate freeway gridlock.

He said that while the area needs another thoroughfare, it shouldn’t bisect Yorba Linda.

“My personal opinion is that it should not be Imperial Highway,” he said. “It would just cut down the middle of Yorba Linda.”

Fears that the excess traffic will divide the city and hurt businesses also were raised in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when residents successfully fought a plan to turn Imperial Highway into a freeway, to be called the Richard M. Nixon Freeway.

Last week, the Yorba Linda City Council voted to delay a public hearing on the proposal until it was reviewed by the Yorba Linda Traffic Commission. A public hearing before the City Council is expected to be conducted in mid-November.

Dean Delgado, a transportation analyst for the Orange County Transportation Commission, said that while the improvements could mean more people will want to use the street, “I really don’t see that happening too much. It will not be a freeway.”

“The goal of the super street is to make it more efficient,” he said. “It is designed to make traffic flow much more freely.”

He added that no traffic signals would be removed and that the speed limits would stay the same.

Yorba Linda is the only city on the route which has yet to approve the super-street proposal. Fullerton agreed to it last week, and Brea, Placentia, Anaheim and La Habra agreed earlier this year.

The project is in competition with two other super-street proposals, including Katella Avenue and Moulton Parkway. Delgado said Yorba Linda’s approval and unified city support will weigh heavily when the County Transportation Commission decides which thoroughfare will become a “super street.”

A decision is expected early next year.

Councilman Roland E. Bigonger said he sees the proposal as a potential solution to getting commuters off quiet residential streets.

“If we were to hide our heads in the sand like ostriches, we could lose out on something that could really benefit us,” he said. “ . . . It would be wrong to say ‘Let’s not do anything, and the problem will go away.’ Imperial Highway has a lot of problems. At least this time they’re thinking ahead before it becomes a crisis.”