SANTA ANA : Floral Park Traffic Barriers Made Permanent

After hearing from dozens of residents at a four-hour public hearing Monday, the City Council voted to divert traffic permanently from the Floral Park neighborhood.

Traffic barricades were placed at two key Floral Park intersections in July, 1993, just days before the nearby Main Street bridge, a main thoroughfare, was closed for repairs.

The barricades, each of which consists of raised asphalt curbs painted yellow, were to prevent commuters from using the neighborhood as a detour while the bridge was closed. The barriers were supposed to be removed after last week’s reopening of the bridge.

The barrier at Santa Clara Avenue and Broadway prevents cars from entering Floral Park, or traveling west on Santa Clara. Traffic still may exit, however, at Santa Clara.

Another barrier three blocks south, at 19th Street and Broadway, prevents traffic from leaving Floral Park, or traveling east. But traffic at that corner may enter the neighborhood.

As the time approached to remove the barricades, a number of Floral Park residents lobbied the City Council to make them permanent. Residents of the core Floral Park area overwhelmingly praised the barriers for reducing traffic, which they said has cut down on crime, made the area safer for children and may even have boosted home values.

“The issue before you tonight is real simple: the traffic diverters work,” said Bruce Nicholson, president of the Floral Park Neighborhood Assn., which lobbied to make the barriers permanent.

Opponents, many from surrounding areas, said they had become the recipients of overflow traffic, however, and were unfairly shut out.

“Wouldn’t you be upset if you were intentionally gerrymandered out of the decision-making process?” asked Tom Osborn, who said that many people affected by the closure were not surveyed for a recommendation that went to the council.

Other barrier opponents, such as Victoria Drive resident Alice Stauffer, live on Floral Park streets that they said experienced a traffic increase. In her case, Stauffer said, other Floral Park residents use Victoria as a detour.

Only Councilman Ted R. Moreno voted against making the barricades permanent. Now that the Main Street bridge is open, he said, the city should remove the barriers and conduct a traffic count to see if the barriers are still needed.

Councilman Robert L. Richardson countered that different traffic engineers will offer different opinions.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Permanent Detours Two traffic barriers in Santa Ana’s Floral Park neighborhood will become permanent.