Street Wise

Beach Boulevard has always been popular. Now, after nearly a decade of work and $38 million, it is also being called “smart”--the first street in Orange County to earn the designation.

How do you improve a street’s intelligence? Traffic planners added a lane in each direction, widened key intersections and banned parking along a 16-mile stretch from Ellis Avenue north to Imperial Highway.

And--this is where the “smart” comes in--traffic lights are now timed to keep traffic moving, made possible by the cooperation of all eight cities the road cuts through. The goal is to boost speeds to about 45 mph, making the road a viable alternative to congested freeways.

“From the [Santa Ana Freeway] south it was just such a mess,” said Art Brown, a Buena Park councilman. “It was stop and go to Knott’s Berry Farm and just as bad all the way to the ocean. Everyone who lived around here knew to stay off [Beach] in the summer.”

Brown is master of ceremonies at today’s party celebrating the project’s completion.

For Pattie Davidson, managing director of the Buena Park Convention and Visitors Center, it is an exciting day.

“We’re jumping up and down,” she said. “Beach Boulevard is our lifeline to the beach. The way it used to be was a deterrent to visitors. All of us would have to admit to changing our plans because traffic is bad.”

Relief has been a long time coming.

The “Smart Street” concept was first considered by county transit officials more than two decades ago. In the early 1980s, they called them “Super Streets” and even planned elevated interchanges at the busiest intersections.

But some residents and business owners thought that sounded too much like a freeway--something Beach Boulevard had originally been slated to become. So the name and plans changed.

The historic road, once one of the only routes to the ocean for north Orange County residents, has been overburdened for years. The improvements--the last completed just this month between Lincoln Avenue and the Artesia Freeway--should make life a little easier for the tens of thousands of motorists who make their way down the street every day.

“This closes the last gap,” said John Standiford, spokesman for the Orange County Transportation Authority.

Standiford said the road’s capacity was increased about 30% through the addition of lanes and the reconfiguring of important intersections.

Drive times should improve in the next several years on Katella Avenue, Imperial Highway and Moulton Parkway, where work is already underway to make the busy thoroughfares just as “intelligent” as Beach Boulevard.

Not everyone is a fan of the effort. Changes to Imperial Highway were opposed by some Yorba Linda residents who said they didn’t want motorists rushing through their city. A ballot measure to block the project failed last year.

The improvements are estimated to cost about $176 million. The money will come from Measure M, the half-cent sales tax passed by county voters in 1990 for transportation improvements. About half of the $38 million price tag for Beach Boulevard came from Measure M funds, the rest from local state and federal sources, transit officials said.

Today’s party is open to the public and will be held at the Knott’s Berry Farm corporate picnic area, next to Independence Hall. The Anaheim High School band is scheduled to perform, and food and beverages donated by local businesses will be served. The event begins at 11 a.m.

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Get Smart

Traffic planners transformed Beach Boulevard into Orange County’s first “smart” street by adding a lane in each direction, widening key intersections and coordinating traffic lights.

Timing Traffic Signals

How a typical 130-second cycle works:

54 seconds: For main street traffic.

16 seconds: For left-turn traffic from cross street.

44 seconds: For cross street traffic.

16 seconds: For left-turn traffic from main street.

Source:

Orange County Transportation Authority; Graphics reporting by BRADY MacDONALD / Los Angeles Times