LOS ALAMITOS : City Studies Options for Katella Widening

In an effort to avoid court fights with property owners, the City Council is seeking ways to minimize right-of-way acquisitions for the proposed widening of Katella Avenue, officials said.

“We’re looking at alternatives, checking improvement designs that can be done without using right of way,” City Manager Robert C. Dunek said Monday.

Dunek said the council has scheduled a joint study session with the city’s Traffic Commission for Sept. 29 at 6:15 p.m. in the council chambers to look at initial designs of the project. A team from the Orange County Transportation Authority, which will fund the project with Measure M sales tax money, will present a draft of the environmental impact report for council review.

In 1984, the County Transportation Commission approved a plan to create a network of 21 so-called “super-streets” covering 220 miles. The project is to be funded by Measure M, the half-cent sales tax approved by voters in 1990.

Improvements to Katella Avenue, between the San Gabriel Freeway in Los Alamitos and Tustin Avenue in Orange, will be among the first of the super-street projects. Construction, though, is not expected to start for two years, officials said.

Under the plan, one lane would be added in each direction of Katella Avenue. Other improvements will include the addition of turn lanes and bus turn-outs, removal of on-street parking, reconstruction of some intersections and consolidation of driveways.

In addition, traffic lights along the thoroughfare would be synchronized so that travel time is expected to be cut by 20%, proponents of the project say.

However, some Los Alamitos property owners, particularly those near the intersection of Katella Avenue and Los Alamitos Boulevard, say the super-street project will not solve traffic problems.

Virgil Bagstad, branch manager of Hawthorne Savings & Loan, one of the Los Alamitos businesses that would be affected by the project, said that adding two lanes won’t ease traffic along Katella Avenue. “It’s nothing more than an invitation for more cars into the area,” he said.

A better solution, he said, would be to improve the streets around Katella Avenue and Los Alamitos Boulevard so there is less strain on the city’s main arteries.

Bagstad manages a two-level building on a half-acre lot at 3502 Katella Ave. If Katella is widened, he said, his building, which houses five other tenants, may have to be demolished.

“We want to keep our property if we can do it,” he said.

According to community development analyst Bob Barrette, at least 10 businesses would be affected by the widening project, including Oshman’s Sporting Goods, which has been at 3555 Katella Ave. for 15 years.

Barrette said that although the city approved the super-street project in concept last year, “it may choose not to implement it at all.

“The city can choose not to do anything,” he said. “It’s important to note that we can’t go forward unless the council desires it.”