FOUNTAIN VALLEY : Residents Want Drivers to Slow

Regina Wills says it’s about time the brakes were put on motorists who speed through her neighborhood.

Wills said she is concerned for the safety of children in the neighborhood.

“For one thing, if a car is going 40 m.p.h., and if a child darts out in the street, they’re not going to have time to stop,” said Wills, 35, a mother of two toddlers who provides day care to four other children. “It’s a very long stretch, and it’s very hard to stay at 25 m.p.h.”

Wills and her neighbors recently aired the speeding problem on Mariposa Avenue before the City Council.

Last week, city officials and traffic officers were in the neighborhood to monitor speeding cars.

Police Chief Elvin G. Miali said a radar device also was set up to alert speeders.

“We have not written any citations, so it looks like people are complying,” Miali said.

Miali and city officials said the problem of speeding is not unique to Wills’ neighborhood.

“We’ve had problems in various neighborhoods with people complaining about fast traffic,” the police chief said.

Mayor Laurann Cook said speeding on residential streets is of major concern to city officials.

“It’s an issue that every resident is confronted with sometime or another in their neighborhood,” Cook said. “I’ve reported speeders on my street.”

Cook said the city wants to work with residents if they are experiencing similar problems.

“We need citizens to report to us when it is a problem,” she said.

Miali said that in most cases it is residents of the neighborhood who are violating the speed limit.

“We try to get voluntary compliance and get people aware they’re speeding in these areas and that they have to slow down for the safety of the community and children in the neighborhood,” he said.

Wills said that in her neighborhood non-residents use Mariposa Avenue as a shortcut from Brookhurst Street to Bushard Street instead of using Warner Avenue.

To curb motorists from using the street, she and her husband, Jim, plan to ask the city to block the street between Redwood Circle and Silktree Street and build a park-like area with grass and trees.

“We’re planning on writing up a proposal and drawings and send them to the city,” Regina Wills said, adding that her husband is a mechanical engineer and plans to do the work.

Jim Wills, 38, said that if the city approves their idea, they hope to reduce the costs through donated materials and volunteer help.