VILLA PARK : Road Project Uproar Spurs Examination

Because a number of residents have expressed fear that the Loma Street extension will bring unwanted traffic through the streets of Villa Park, city officials are studying the project, which will link Imperial Highway in Anaheim Hills to Mesa Drive in Orange.

Construction crews are at work building the 1.6-mile street extension, which is scheduled for completion in May. It will provide an alternate route to the Riverside and Costa Mesa freeway interchange and become a major north-south highway capable of handling 35,000 vehicles a day, according to officials in Orange.

Villa Park residents argue that the traffic it will generate will spill onto their residential streets, causing “hazardous” situations.

Residents said they fear that commuters will turn onto Taft Avenue, the first street along the highway, which cuts through the city, posing danger to children who walk to and from school.

“I’d like to see a way to keep the (commuters) out,” said Don Weber, a longtime Taft Avenue homeowner. “I think the thing to do is keep them out.”

City Manager Fred Maley said the City Council, which has been besieged with calls and letters concerning the project, will discuss what to do to deter traffic from flowing through Villa Park at its Sept. 28 meeting.

Maley said traffic engineers are preparing recommendations for action in keeping traffic off residential streets.

Alternatives being studied include prohibiting turns onto Taft Avenue during peak rush-hour traffic, converting Taft into a one-way street, installing street bumps, and closing the east end of Taft by turning it into a cul-de-sac, Maley said.

Council members said they are determined to take action that will keep commuters on Loma Street and off the city’s residential streets.

“It’s important that we take a very, very aggressive posture now,” Councilman Barry L. Denes said at last month’s City Council meeting.