LA HABRA : Traffic Noise Making Residents Unhappy

Becky Maffucci and her neighbor, Barbara Kays, say traffic noise and fumes have made their back yards useless.

Ever since an extension of Harbor Boulevard in Los Angeles County was completed about two years ago, residents in the La Habra North Hills community, bordering La Habra Heights, have been complaining that the noise from cars and trucks has transformed their formerly tranquil neighborhood.

Both Maffucci and Kays say their families cannot enjoy the grassy knoll behind their Rockinghorse Lane homes.

Over the years, they have demanded a lower speed limit, a marked crosswalk at Carmela Lane and stop signs to slow traffic. Those demands were rejected by a city study in 1992, but officials did step up police patrols in the area.

The residents also called for three separate sound studies, which the city agreed to conduct. The studies concluded that although the noise levels may not be desirable, they are “acceptable and not unusual.”

City officials agreed that traffic has increased because commuters turned to Harbor when it was extended; it allows them to bypass Fullerton Road in Los Angeles County.

“The thing that gets to us is that when we bought our homes, no one told us that this road was going to affect us,” Maffucci said.

Before building the road, Los Angeles County concluded in an environmental impact report that La Habra residents would not be adversely affected by the added traffic.

“We did not have the right to deny the building of the road,” Mayor David M. Cheverton said. “I wish I could say we could solve the problem, but I don’t have the financial resources to do it, and if I had, I wouldn’t know what to do with it.”

Maffucci and her neighbors have suggested that the city replace trees facing Harbor behind their homes that were cut down recently. The trees used to serve as buffers, she said. To further reduce noise levels, residents have asked to be allowed to build eight-foot walls behind their homes.

City Manager Lee Risner said the council will consider the recommendations at a meeting in March. However, he said, “the city does not have a financial or legal responsibility” to plant trees or build tall walls for the residents.

Meanwhile, Maffucci said she is awakened every day at 4 a.m. by the sound of traffic zooming by and hates coming home in the afternoons because she feels trapped inside--unable to open her windows because of the noise.

“I come home with a knot in my stomach everyday,” she said. “It’s just no fun living here anymore. I’m very depressed.”

To help cut the noise, she said, she spent about $1,000 installing double-paned windows. Kays said she spent nearly $10,000 installing double-paned windows and insulation but still hears the traffic.

“We’re so upset,” Kays said. “We want assurances that anything that’s possible is going to be done to slow traffic, increase safety and lower noise levels.”