Lower Roadblocks for ‘Super Streets’ : * Communities’ Objections to Smoothing the Flow of Traffic Don’t Hold Water

Traffic congestion in Orange County is not limited to the freeways. Local streets increasingly are used by commuters as alternative routes, and more and more they too are becoming clogged.

The passage of Measure M in November was a help; $120 million from the newly approved sales tax increase is earmarked to eventually transform 21 major thoroughfares into “super streets” designed to move traffic efficiently on 220 miles of local roads.

But designated local arteries also need the approval of local communities to become transformed. And some communities have been balking at approving the changes within their municipal boundaries because they fear local businesses will suffer from traffic speeding by, a lack of parking spaces and difficulty for local residents in getting across town. Some of these communities, such as Stanton and Garden Grove, already have made their peace with the idea. But Yorba Linda is scheduled to consider it early next year and there are complaints already about a freeway running through town and disrupting community life. Laguna Beach is likely to balk at a proposal to widen Laguna Canyon Road.

The benefits of super streets are obvious enough. Commuting time can double because of improperly timed lights, the lack of lanes for turning right on red, and a lack of turnouts for buses to load and unload passengers without blocking traffic.

But the arguments thrown up against the super streets don’t much hold up on scrutiny. For example, the preservation of parking spaces along a major artery is hardly a good-enough reason to hold up a street-widening project. Thoroughfares shouldn’t double as parking lots. Synchronized lights will move traffic along the main artery, but it doesn’t necessarily follow that motorists crossing town will sit longer in traffic. It doesn’t follow that local business will be lost because traffic is moving.

The Orange County Transportation Commission, which is spearheading the effort, says communities that don’t want super streets won’t have to have them. But they’re a good idea, to everybody’s benefit.