Smart Stoplights Cap Street Improvements
Beach Boulevard has always been popular. Now, after nearly a decade of work and $38 million, it is also being called “smart.”
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 traffic lights are now timed to keep vehicles moving through the six cities on the boulevard.
A celebration Wednesday marked the project’s completion, one of four efforts to improve traffic flow in the county.
The “smart street” concept was first considered more than two decades ago, when transit officials called them “super streets” and even planned overpasses at the busiest intersections. But that sounded too much like a freeway--something Beach Boulevard had originally been slated to become--and the name and plans changed.
Similar work is underway on Katella Avenue, Imperial Highway and Moulton Parkway at a cost of $176 million.
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