Briardale Avenue Traffic Detour OKd

Despite the qualms of some business owners, city workers will soon be posting signs in the Briardale Avenue neighborhood to discourage fast-moving traffic from using residential streets.

The diversion, approved by the City Council for a six-month trial, was a compromise measure. The plan is meant to satisfy residents who were upset in April when the city agreed to let a senior citizens facility be built on nearby Taft Avenue.

At the time, neighbors had protested that traffic in the area was already too heavy and that the senior center would only compound the problem.

The council commissioned a study that showed traffic to be fast and heavy, with much of the volume attributed to commuters as well as those driving to a nearby high school and elementary school.

City traffic engineers say the compromise will detour drivers at the intersection of Briardale Avenue, Tustin Street and Taft Avenue.

Drivers heading east on Briardale will have to turn left or right at Tustin Street instead of being able to drive straight through to Taft. Those heading west on Taft will be prohibited from crossing Tustin to Briardale.

New signs and traffic signals will be posted by late August, city traffic engineer Hamid Bahadori said.

Engineers said that shopping areas at the intersection should not be affected because they have alternative entrances. But some merchants disagreed.

“There will be 10 businesses that will be highly impacted,” said Martha Tighe, who owns a sporting goods store nearby.

Public Works Director Harry Thomas said: “There are no perfect solutions. It’s a question of trade-offs. . . . That’s why this has a six-month trial period.”