Yorba Linda Blvd. Stop Signs Inconvenient, but Boon to Safety

Dear Street Smart:

This letter is to inquire about the new (August, 1993) stop signs on Yorba Linda Boulevard just before the Riverside Freeway interchange.

I travel this road daily from Weir Canyon Road to California State University, Fullerton. I understood this rationale for placing some kind of traffic control along Yorba Linda Boulevard, due to cross traffic from the Riverside Freeway, but these two stop signs have added 15 minutes each way to my daily drive. Often there are evenings when traffic is backed from the signal at La Palma Avenue all the way to Santa Ana Canyon Road. This commute can often take more than the entire time it takes me to drive all the way to CSUF.

Incidentally, the signal at Santa Ana Canyon and Weir Canyon roads in 25 out of 26 days will be red when approached from Weir Canyon going south, regardless of whether anyone is coming off the Riverside Freeway or coming from Yorba Linda Boulevard / Weir Canyon. Can this be explained?

Janet Evans Emery

Anaheim Hills

Welcome to the ranks of several Street Smart readers who have also complained about the long delays created by those stop signs. Not to worry. Traffic signals are on the way.

The stop signs were erected last year as an interim safety measure by Caltrans with the agreement of Anaheim city officials, said Russ Maguire, deputy city engineer for Anaheim. Caltrans was in charge of the work because a freeway interchange was involved.

“We certainly don’t disagree that it has caused some inconvenience, but it has been a tremendous boon to safety,” Maguire said. “The safety issues so outweighed any other issues that we concurred with Caltrans’ idea to install the stop signs on an interim basis.”

Traffic signals should be installed in late May or early June of this year, Maguire said.

As for the seemingly constant red traffic light on southbound Weir Canyon Road at Santa Ana Canyon Road, it’s intentional.

At each intersection with a traffic light in Anaheim, one direction is designated “main phase,” which means the the signal rests in green, and the other direction is designated for the signal to rest in red.

Santa Ana Canyon Road, which runs east and west, is on a main phase, which means the signal generally will be green, Jim Paral, principal traffic engineer of systems for Anaheim, said. Weir Canyon Road is the opposite.

When a car traveling on Weir Canyon Road approaches the Santa Ana Canyon Road intersection, a sensor loop under the pavement will send a signal to the traffic light and it will turn green at an appropriate time allowing the vehicle to make its move, Paral said.

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Beginning next Monday, Orange County commuters will be able to choose from three daily commuter trains that will run between Oceanside and Los Angeles with stops in San Juan Capistrano, Irvine, Santa Ana, Orange, Anaheim and Fullerton. The trains will be part of the five-county Metrolink commuter train system.

There will be three round trips each day in new, double-deck trains operated by the Southern California Regional Rail Authority. The last four days of March are a good time for potential train commuters to give Metrolink trains a firsthand look. Travel on all Orange County Metrolink trains will be free next Monday through March 21.

Train riders can also take advantage of Orange County shuttle buses, which link every Orange County train station to major employment areas. Shuttle service is free to those who transfer to or from a Metrolink train.

Once the free-ride period ends, riders can buy train tickets from automated ticket machines at each station starting April 1. The machines accept cash, credit cards and ATM cards and dispense tickets for one-way and round-trip travel as well as monthly passes and 10-trip tickets, which allow a person to ride 10 times within a 90-day period.

Fares depend on the length of the trip and vary from $6 to $18 per round trip. For example, traveling between San Juan Capistrano and Los Angeles is $14 for a round-trip ticket, while the round trip between San Juan Capistrano and Santa Ana is $10. People 65 and over and people with disabilities ride for half price.

Riding Metrolink is done on the honor system because tickets are not collected or stamped. Passengers are required to have their tickets in their possession while riding the train and must show them to a conductor if asked. Those failing to produce a ticket can be fined up to $250.

Metrolink operations began in Los Angeles and Ventura counties on Oct. 26, 1992. The Orange County Metrolink line will be the fifth and longest corridor in the system, with service extending 87.3 miles between Oceanside and Los Angeles.

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OCTA, Caltrans and the South Orange County Chambers of Commerce will host a community open house to provide information on the reconstruction of the El Toro Y interchange. The open house will be held from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Hot Spring Dance Hall, 32506 Paseo Adelanto, San Juan Capistrano.

The OCTA / Caltrans Y Team will provide an overview of the 2 1/2-year construction project, which will improve one of the most congested interchanges in Orange County. The reconstruction is a $105-million project funded primarily by Measure M, the half-cent sales tax approved by Orange County voters in 1990 to improve transportation.

OCTA officials will be on hand to answer questions and offer suggestions on how residents and businesses can manage during the project. A 12-minute video will also provide an overview.