YORBA LINDA : Design Contract OKd for Imperial Highway

Plans to ease congestion and bottlenecks on Imperial Highway through Yorba Linda took a step forward with the approval of an $800,000 design contract.

“Traffic is going to flow a lot better. The street’s going to be a lot more attractive,” Councilman Gene Wisner said.

The Orange County Transportation Authority has designated $20 million in Measure M money through its “smart streets” program to widen and beautify Imperial Highway, Councilman John M. Gullixson said.

The city contracted the design firm of McLean and Schultz Inc. to work out the plan’s details, including curbs, gutters, walls and medians. The firm’s design will be presented for residents’ comments at a future public hearing.

The city also instructed staff to seek a contractor to conduct an environmental impact report on the crossing of Imperial Highway and Esperanza Road at the railroad tracks.

The intersection currently is the site of daily auto traffic bottlenecks as trains pass. Four lanes of traffic narrow to two at the intersection, and in the future, six lanes will funnel into it, Wisner said.

“What good are those improvements . . . if at that intersection they come right smack dab into a roadblock,” he said.