Group Says Vote Due on Highway Plan

Members of a citizens watchdog group say they have enough signatures to secure a spot on a special election ballot early next year that would allow residents a say in the city’s plan to expand and improve Imperial Highway.

At City Hall on Tuesday, more than 50 residents turned in petitions along with the Organization of Unified Concerned Homeowners or OUCH!, a group that says it is dedicated to preserving a rural lifestyle in Yorba Linda. More than 5,500 signatures were gathered, the group says.

OUCH! members say the city’s plans, which include widening Imperial Highway from one to two lanes in both directions along a 2 1/2-mile stretch, will damage their quality of life by bringing in noise, traffic and smog.

The battle over Imperial Highway has been hard fought. OUCH! members regularly attend council meetings and accuse council members of building a freeway through residential neighborhoods.

“The last thing we need in our city is more traffic and noise past our homes and elementary schools along Imperial,” said Tom Martin, a group spokesman.

For their part, City Council members say the changes to Imperial will be minor. Medians and new turn lanes will ensure safety along the road and landscaping will beautify the area, they say.

Some sections of Imperial between Yorba Linda Boulevard and Orangethorpe Avenue are two lanes in both directions and some are one lane, a situation city officials say is hazardous when lanes merge. All would be converted to two lanes.

Four members of the council--Barbara Kiley, Gene Wisner, John M. Gullixson and Daniel T. Welch--who support the plans say a poll conducted two years ago showed that the majority of the city’s residents support the project.

Gullixson, the city’s mayor, called OUCH! a divisive force in the town because it consistently spreads false information about the project.

“It is a tempest in a teapot,” he said. “It is an emotional little issue for a small group of people and they are trying to scare the other residents of the city.”

OUCH! needs approximately 4,500 valid signatures, approved by the Orange County registrar of voters office, before the initiative will go on the ballot. City Clerk Carolyn Wallace said it might take up to six weeks to verify all the signatures.