HUNTINGTON BEACH : City May Reconsider Street Barricades

In response to 150 petition signers who oppose new barricades approved by the City Council to ease traffic on Cascade Lane, Mayor Jim Silva on Monday will propose that council members reconsider their action.

Silva, after considering the petition, said he will call on council members to hold a public hearing on April 20 to reconsider the barricades.

After more than a year of debate and analysis on Cascade Lane’s traffic problem, the council on March 3 agreed to install two barricades in the residential tract for a six-month trial period.

Motorists in recent years have discovered Cascade Lane as a shortcut route between Bolsa and McFadden avenues, thus avoiding the often congested Beach Boulevard and Golden West Street. As a consequence, traffic and speeding increased dramatically along the residential street, and homeowners organized an effort lobbying for barricades.

The move to install the barricades appeared to strike a workable compromise, satisfying--though not entirely pleasing--Cascade Lane residents as well as fire officials.

The residents had hoped for a different alignment of the barricades that would reduce traffic even further. Fire officials said blocking the streets would make emergency response through the area inconvenient, but acceptable.

But now, a new group of opponents are enraged by recent developments. Residents living on the streets adjoining Cascade Lane protest that the barricades will simply transfer the traffic problems to their streets.

City officials say that will not be the case, noting that motorists would have to snake their way along an arduous, S-shaped route through the tract to travel between Bolsa and McFadden avenues.

But the opponents remained concerned that the problem would persist at their expense and circulated the petition, which was presented recently to the city clerk’s office.

Silva said he does not necessarily oppose the approved barricades, but added that he believes residents throughout the tract did not have a chance to have their say on the issue before the barricades were approved.

The council was originally scheduled to take up the barricade issue in June, but moved that decision up to March. Consequently, Silva said he believes that many of the residents on streets other than Cascade Lane were not aware of the date change.

“I just believe these residents should have their say, and then we should rethink the issue,” Silva said Friday.