FOUNTAIN VALLEY : Consultant to Study Euclid Street Traffic

A consultant has been hired to suggest improvements for an already heavily traveled stretch of Euclid Street to accommodate increasing traffic on the roadway.

Councilwoman LaurannCook said traffic on Euclid Street is only expected to grow worse in coming years. “Fountain Valley seems to be a thoroughfare for a number of commuters,” she said.

The City Council last week agreed to spend nearly $300,000 in Measure M and city redevelopment money to hire the engineering firm of NBS/Lowry Inc. of Irvine. The company will study a 2 1/2-mile portion of Euclid Street from Ellis Avenue near the San Diego Freeway to just north of Edinger Avenue, the city’s northern border. Residents expressed some opposition to hiring the consultant. One said the large expenditure is not justified.

But Wayne S. Osborne, director of public works, said that the consultant’s services are necessary and will focus on specific improvements that could be made to accommodate existing traffic as well as future traffic increases.

Council members said the study will provide them with the information they need to make decisions about improvements to Euclid Street.

About 30,000 vehicles use Euclid Street each day, Osborne said. However, he said, the street is currently below capacity for a four-lane thoroughfare, he said.

There has been past discussion of widening the street to six lanes to handle additional traffic expected in coming years. But some public opposition has accompanied the idea.

Euclid Street’s intersections with Talbert and Warner avenues are currently plagued by heavy traffic that delay motorists’ progress, Osborne said.

Public meetings with residents who live along Euclid Street will be held during the study process, Cook said.

The first half of the study, which will include public comments and recommendations to the council, is expected to be completed in late December. An environmental impact report will be required if the council adopts any of the recommended improvements.

Then remaining portion of the study by NBS/Lowry Inc., including plans for reconstruction of the street and right-of-way acquisition, would follow and be completed by July, 1995, Osborne said.