Coto de Caza Residents Will Have to Live With the Signs

Dear Street Smart:

The extension of Oso Parkway to the south entrance of Coto de Caza was opened last October. Oso dead-ends at Coto de Caza Drive and the intersection is an “L” type--inbound traffic can only turn left and outbound can only turn right.

The county placed a stop sign on Coto de Caza private property at the outbound intersection of Coto de Caza Drive, a private street, and Oso. They also placed a stop sign on Oso for inbound traffic.

Both signs are ignored by the residents in that a full, complete stop is not made. They make a “California rolling stop.” The reasoning behind this is obvious--the residents feel these stop signs in the wilderness are completely irrelevant.

The Orange County Sheriff’s Department, however, is using this intersection as a fund-raiser by randomly issuing tickets to residents who do not make a full stop.

Is this outbound stop sign legal and enforceable since it is placed on private property?

What purpose are these stop signs serving since there is no cross traffic?

How do the citizens of Coto get these signs removed and clearance of all citations that have been issued?

Forrest K. English Coto de Caza Those signs seemingly in the middle of nowhere are actually well planned, said Ignacio Ochoa, county traffic engineer.

Ochoa noted that Oso Parkway, being a country road, is an inviting speedway for some drivers who might be surprised by the sudden dead-end that awaits them at the private entrance to Coto de Caza. Without the oversized stop sign to warn these drivers, he said, they might not be able to maneuver the sharp left turn into Coto de Caza.

It is also important to keep the stop sign that halts cars leaving Coto de Caza, Ochoa said, so they will yield the right of way to motorists who reach the end of Oso Parkway and must make a U-turn. Many motorists out for a pleasure drive or who miss the nearby entrance to Thomas F. Riley Regional Park find they must turn around, and they can’t turn into Coto de Caza because the entrance road is off-limits to the public.

As for those traffic tickets, they are unquestionably legitimate, Ochoa said. When the subdivision map for Coto de Caza was approved by the county, he said, the traffic department took control of about 25 feet of the roadway at the community’s entrance, enough so that the county would own the land on which the outbound stop sign stands and turnaround space for public motorists.

Dear Street Smart:

Driving on Barranca Parkway in Irvine, one often encounters a long red light where the [Santa Ana] Freeway traffic empties out--except very often there isn’t a single car exiting the freeway.

One-half block further on, there’s another long red light at Irvine Center Drive--at hours of the day when cross traffic is sporadic or nonexistent. On a clear day you can see forever, with nary a car to block “forever” and a long time to contemplate the view.

Can these lights be made responsive to reality?

Blanche Thoma Lake Forest In response to your complaint, the city of Irvine has shortened the traffic light at Barranca Parkway and Irvine Center Drive during off-peak hours.

The nearby light at Barranca Parkway and the Santa Ana Freeway that you also found unduly delayed belongs to the California Department of Transportation. Because of your letter, Caltrans plans to send its maintenance crew to check out the signal, which may be turning red because of malfunctioning electronic detectors along the roadside.

These detectors are intended to be activated only by traffic seeking to get on or off the freeway, said Caltrans spokeswoman Rose Orem. Otherwise, she said, “this signal is programmed to rest on green.”

Irvine traffic engineers said that, furthermore, they believe that it would be a good idea to coordinate these two signals, but they said state traffic signals are not technically able to interact with the city’s signals.

But Caltrans traffic specialists disagree that installing the necessary electronic links would help motorists.

“Coordination is possible but not practical in this location,” Orem said. Traffic is much heavier at the Barranca and Irvine Center Drive intersection than at the intersection of Barranca and the Santa Ana Freeway.

It would be unfair, Orem said, to make traffic wait the same length of time at both lights. It is far less inconvenient, she said, for a motorist to put up with the possibility of stopping at two red lights within a short distance.

However, Irvine City Engineer Conrad Lapinski said if the two signals could communicate, the system would know when the light at Irvine Center Drive turns green and those cars arriving at the freeway intersection wouldn’t have to stop for one vehicle coming off the freeway.

Dear Street Smart:

I would be interested in finding out why a new light was recently installed at Fairhaven Avenue and Yorba Street in the county area (in North Tustin).

It had previously been a four-way stop, and seemed to work quite well.

If the light is thought necessary, why could it not be changed to a four-way stop during non-rush hours? Also, why is there a left-turn light on Yorba and not on Fairhaven, which is a much more heavily traveled street?

Joyce R. Hostetler Santa Ana The intersection you are talking about is jointly owned by the city of Orange and the county. Traffic engineers in both jurisdictions studied the intersection and determined that because of long peak-hour delays of traffic there, motorists would benefit from the installation of a traffic signal.

Ochoa, county traffic engineer, said since the light was put in about two months ago, “the intersection works much more efficiently.” He also said that the length of the signal automatically shortens in off-peak hours so you shouldn’t have to wait too long. Ochoa also said the left-turn arrow on Yorba Street at Fairhaven Avenue has nothing to do with the amount of traffic on Yorba but everything to do with that street’s unusual configuration.

South of the intersection, he said, Yorba narrows to one lane, leaving no space for left-turn pockets. Thus, he said, special signal phasing is required to allow unimpeded traffic flow.

By contrast, he said, Fairhaven is wide enough to provide separate through lanes and left-turn lanes, eliminating the need for a left-turn signal.

Street Smart appears Mondays in The Times Orange County Edition.