Road-Widening Plan Sparks Petition Drive

In move that has drawn the ire of the mayor, members of a group called OUCH have started a petition drive to prevent the city from widening Imperial Highway.

The group, whose full name is the Organization of Unified and Concerned Homeowners, opposes the city’s proposed expansion of the highway from one lane in each direction to two or three lanes each in some locations. They fear it would would increase traffic and require unsightly sound walls in the city.

“We are not satisfied with the council’s assurances” that it will delay action on the road work until late March, by which time a survey of local sentiment will be complete, said the group’s vice president, Tom Martin. If the organization is able to gather 3,500 to 5,000 signatures by a June deadline, an initiative forcing the city to stop widening work would be placed on the ballot in the next special election.

The contested plan would expand the highway to two lanes in each direction from Yorba Linda Boulevard to Esperanza Road. It would make the portion from Rose Drive to Yorba Linda Boulevard three lanes in each direction and would add storm drains and gutters as well as landscaping to the highway.

Mayor John M. Gullixson expressed frustration with the group’s actions and advertisements on local cable television, saying OUCH has overblown the nature of the changes to the road.

“We are not talking about an eight-lane highway,” Gullixson said. “We are talking about adding storm drains and gutters” and making the number of lanes on both sides equal, he said. Gullixson said he believes the city’s poll will confirm that a majority of city residents agree that the highway is “an eyesore, it’s blighted and it needs to be finished.”

A design of the proposed work will be available for public view in late March, Gullixson said.