Steering Clear of Gridlock : Anaheim’s High-Tech Center Tracks, Guides Traffic to Avoid Crises

The California Angels are playing the Oakland A’s at Anaheim Stadium. Next door, the Mighty Ducks are facing off against the Toronto Maple Leafs at The Pond. The result: Thousands of cars are heading toward the county’s two most-popular sporting venues, creating a potential traffic nightmare.

Several miles away, Curt Breusing sits inside the city’s Traffic Management Center, scanning the eight video screens before him as he tries to prevent a crisis.

“Gridlock is the enemy,” Breusing said Wednesday as he sat before a semicircular bank of computers in the control room, a futuristic-looking place not unlike the bridge of the Star Ship Enterprise.

The $12-million center, which is linked to the Police Department and Caltrans to coordinate traffic problems, opened its doors in 1988 to help cope with the thousands of cars drawn to the city by Disneyland, the Anaheim Convention Center and Anaheim Stadium.

Here, operators use computers, interactive graphics and video monitors to control how long a traffic light stays green, direct cars to certain streets or off-ramps with message boards and alert police officers about traffic problems.

The opening of The Pond two years ago has made the role of the center even more critical because more than 100 events are held there each year, some of which coincide with events at the stadium.

“Things have changed and given us new traffic challenges,” Breusing said. “And I’m sure that once we get all the kinks ironed out, something else will come along and change all of the rules.”

With the city and the Angels in negotiations to build a new baseball-only stadium before the turn of the century, Breusing could be right.

“That will create a different environment and we’ll have to deal with another challenge,” he said.

The city’s traffic management system was started seven years ago as a demonstration project for the Federal Highway Administration, a division of the Department of Transportation. It has since been used as a model for similar systems now being used in other cities with major venues including Pasadena and San Jose.

The center is staffed during the daytime to monitor traffic throughout the city. There are 18 closed-circuit cameras in the busiest tourist areas, enabling operators to view the traffic flow.

At night, when there is an event with high attendance anticipated, the center will be staffed by one or more operators who stay until cars are cleared from the parking lot.

With their computers, operators can tell whether all of the signal lights at more than 200 intersections around the city are working. A 72-inch graphic screen, which can zoom in on a particular area of the city, will indicate the status of each traffic light.

But the center is only a part of the city’s traffic management efforts, which include weekly meetings with representatives from the major venues. There, they discuss attendance estimates to prepare for anticipated traffic.

Traffic statistics also are gathered through the use of loop sensors in the streets which count the number of cars that pass through.

“There are some extraordinary traffic demands,” said Jim Paral, the city’s principal traffic engineer. “We can’t eliminate congestion but our goal is to eliminate it as much as possible.”

In all, an estimated 30 million visitors come to Anaheim each year--most of whom are attracted by Disneyland or events at Anaheim Convention Center, The Pond or Anaheim Stadium.

Each event also takes on a personality of its own, operators say.

For Barbra Streisand’s series of sold-out performances at The Pond last summer, there were an extraordinary number of limousines among the traffic. The concerts also drew a large number of people who were not familiar with the area, which caused further congestion.

“For a Ducks game, you have an experienced audience who knows their way out,” Paral said. “Angel fans are also very knowledgeable. But at a onetime concert, you will have everyone taking Katella Avenue, the most common route.”

The center faced a major challenge just two weeks ago when more than 68,000 people attempted to funnel into either The Pond or the Big A.

It was opening day for the Angels, and a record crowd of 51,000 took advantage of $1 tickets. Meanwhile, the Mighty Ducks still were battling for a spot in the National Hockey League playoffs and had their 47th consecutive sellout, which meant more than 17,000 tickets were sold.

“It could be ranked as one of our busiest nights ever,” Paral said. “We had some congestion but traffic was always moving. We have quite a bit of experience handling these events. It’s a coordination effort between our personnel, police in the field and CalTrans.”

Paral said a traffic disaster on that particularly busy night was averted by advance publicity encouraging fans to arrive early and take alternative routes to the venues. The city regularly uses cable television, a computer bulletin board service, changeable message signs and highway advisory radio to disseminate traffic information.

Other big draws are motocross events at the stadium, which typically draw more than 60,000, Los Angeles Clippers games at The Pond, which usually sell out, and the Fourth of July at Disneyland.

Last week, Anaheim received a 1995 Clean Air Award from the South Coast Air Quality Management District in the category of innovative transportation projects.

The city was recognized for its efforts to reduce traffic congestion and delays, which have resulted in a reduction in vehicle emissions estimated at between 800,000 to 1.4 million gallons annually.