TUSTIN : No Closure in Works for La Colina Drive

In spite of lobbying by residents to close a part of La Colina Drive because of what they say is excessive traffic, the Orange County Traffic Committee has decided not to recommend closure of the road but instead to support modifications on La Colina and surrounding streets.

“Everybody wishes they didn’t have traffic on their street and could ride on everybody else’s street,” said Councilman Thomas R. Saltarelli, who supports keeping La Colina open. “It’s not possible.”

The County Board of Supervisors will review the Traffic Committee’s recommendations at its Nov. 17 meeting.

Residents who live along the part of La Colina that connects Tustin to unincorporated North Tustin have been fighting to get that portion of the road closed for more than a year. They say the two-lane road along the boundary of the Tustin Ranch property line, which was extended to connect the city to the county in 1990, was never meant for heavy traffic, and is disruptive to their once quiet neighborhoods.

“There is a lot of noise, traffic, cars speeding through formerly primarily residential neighborhoods,” said Dale Kiken, a La Colina resident and advocate of closing the road.

But the City Council opposes any modifications to the road, saying it would siphon off too much traffic to surrounding streets.

At a public hearing last week, the County Traffic Committee heard recommendations from consultant Rock E. Miller of Tustin, as well as testimony from dozens of residents both for and against the closure, said County Traffic Engineer Ignacio Ocoa.

The committee’s decision supports the adoption of only some of Miller’s suggestions. In addition, the committee recommends two major changes: Implement improvements on Irvine and Newport boulevards, which would induce drivers onto those streets and off of La Colina; and modify La Colina itself to inhibit heavy traffic.

Specific plans would include widening Irvine Boulevard to six lanes and modifying La Colina to prohibit passing, as well as restricting trucks over seven tons on the road, Ocoa said.

“The Traffic Committee tried to come up with a solution that is reasonable, that provides safe, efficient movement of people and use of roadways,” Ocoa said. “I thought the recommendations accomplished those goals.”

Though proponents of the road closure were happy with some of the recommendations, they did not feel it would be enough.

“It’s something we’re willing to live with, and I’m happy the consultant’s report looked at the situation from several perspectives,” Kiken said. “But we’ll continue pressing forward.”

Kiken said that according to a county report, La Colina will carry 18,000 cars by the year 2000. In the three years he has lived on La Colina, he said traffic has gotten substantially worse, and that 1,200 to 7,800 cars go through the area each day.

“Many of us moved in with young children,” Kiken said. “To increase traffic is to sentence (the neighborhood) to death.”

City officials argue that cutting off La Colina would create more traffic on Browning Avenue, and thus pose a hazard to students at Tustin Memorial School. The Fire Department also testified that the closure would slow their vehicles.

“If La Colina is cut off, traffic has got to go somewhere,” Ocoa said. “It’s not going to just disappear.”