HUNTINGTON BEACH : Barriers Approved for Cascade Lane

To reduce heavy traffic in the Cascade Lane area, the City Council by a 6-1 vote has agreed to put up two barricades at street intersections in the neighborhood.

City public works officials say it will take about a month to erect the barricades. They will be situated on Shasta Lane south of Cascade Lane and on Whitney Drive at Cascade Lane.

Residents of the area, which is near the San Diego Freeway, have complained that commuter traffic has long been a problem. Motorists use Cascade Lane, which is a residential street, as a north-south shortcut, rather than using Golden West Street or Beach Boulevard.

A recent traffic survey found that 2,100 cars a day use Cascade Lane, often at high speeds.

For months, some residents of Cascade have pleaded for barricades that would make their street a cul de sac rather than a through street.

But residents of nearby residential streets have pleaded that the council not erect barricades. Residents of other streets argued that barricades would make it difficult for them to drive in or out of their neighborhoods. Some residents also said that barricades would be ugly and would become places where criminals would lurk.

But council members who voted for the barricades Monday night did not agree. Councilwoman Linda Moulton Patterson on Wednesday said: “I don’t agree that those problems will occur. I think the barricades will help the people on Cascade Lane without putting public safety at risk.”

Councilman Don MacAllister cast the lone vote against the barricades.

“I feel that putting up the barriers will create traffic congestion and cause an inconvenience to everyone in that area,” he said in an interview Wednesday. “Not everyone on Cascade Lane wanted a barrier; some wanted it and some did not. Also, I think something like this could spread. The council could be faced with hearing people from all over the city who want to put barriers on their streets.”