ANAHEIM : Closure of 2 Avenues Prompts New Policy

Residents on Julianna and Victor avenues, who have been working since last fall to close their streets to vehicles, have helped create a new city policy for future street closures.

Under the new policy enacted this week, only 85% of the property owners on a street need to support closing the street. The previous policy required 100% support.

“The 100% requirement was too severe and made it difficult for any neighborhood to solve a traffic problem with this solution,” said Chris Dahl, a city traffic engineer who drafted the new policy. “Theoretically, one neighbor could have held up the plan.”

The closure of Julianna and Victor avenues, which are just west of Harbor Boulevard, was approved as a pilot project before the new policy went into effect. But the new city policy was prompted because even though 100% of the property owners favored closure, some apartment renters did not and complained that they were not consulted.

Last month, the City Council approved spending about $15,000 in federal grant money to finance the closure, although initially council members had said the residents would have to foot the bill.

Concrete stumps and iron gates will prevent vehicular traffic from entering the two streets. They will be temporarily closed until city departments have reviewed the project’s effectiveness, which will take about six months.