Baker Street Block to Be Closed at School’s Request

The City Council on Tuesday approved the shutdown of one block of Baker Street during the hours that Mater Dei High School is in session.

The council voted 6 to 1 to approve the request, which was made by Mater Dei officials because they will be using a building on the east side of Baker Street as an administrative office and anticipate heavy pedestrian traffic across the street during school hours.

As a result of the council’s action, the street will be closed to all cars, including those of residents, between Edinger Avenue and Stanford Street from 6:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. on school days.

School officials will be responsible for installing and removing temporary barricades on the street each day, said T.C. Sutaria, the city’s traffic engineer.

Councilman John Acosta voted against the proposal. He said he had received calls from neighbors who were concerned about a public street being closed for a private school. He also expressed concern about the barricades being vandalized.

Resident Kim McPeck, chairman of the Bristol Manor Neighborhood Assn., said many of his neighbors weren’t notified about the school’s request.

“We’re not against anything being done for the benefit of Mater Dei because we think it’s the best school west of the Mississippi,” McPeck said. “Our concern is that there has been no traffic data collected at this point, and we feel there needs to be some kind of traffic study done.”

City Manager David N. Ream said the city will be monitoring the street closure for any problems.

“If it does cause unforeseen problems, we can terminate it,” Ream said. “We’re not trying to cause problems for the neighborhood.”