The Council's 4 year "interim" "solution" to a problem they created.
10/7 update: Last night the Council voted unanimously to move ahead with construction the permanent concrete median, motivated by both safety concerns and possibly a different negotiating strategy with Cypress. I suggested authorizing the work to begin in four months, allowing a window to commence negotiations with Cypress about a broad variety of traffic issues.
Some of those whose views differ from mine on this issue, including Mayor Parker and Council Member Driscoll, have far more experience than I working on traffic issues with Cypress. If the earlier Council majority, including Marilyn Poe, had focused more on traffic mitigation and less on the pool at the base, we might be in a much better negotiating position today. Sadly, as I point out in item # 3 below, I’m told it was Marilyn Poe’s swing vote that cancelled the work on the median about 6 years ago, when the entire cost would have been borne by Measure M funds. If that Council majority had seriously considered the warnings of the minority at that time, the median would have been built to the current standards way back then, and those ugly yellow pylons would never have been needed at all.
Another example of the need for mutual respect and teamwork on Los Alamitos’ City Council.
I can think of at least four things.
How many can you find?
Please note: This problem was created four years ago, when the only one of our current Council Members was on the Council. Over the last month, at least, the current Council has been attempting to expedite a solution to at least one of the problems I see. Pictured is the intersection of Katella and Siboney, also known as the entrance to the Race Track and to New Dutch Haven.
OK, time’s up. Here’s 4 problems I see with the above situation:
1. Obviously, the plastic pylons are ugly.
2. Four years and counting isn’t very temporary. Seems to me a permanent median could have been built a lot faster.
3. The original plan back when the current median was installed called for the current median to extend all the way to Siboney in the first place. It’s my understanding that it was changed unilaterally, without council approval, by a former city manager. One the “Citizens for the Preservation of Los Alamitos” apparently wanted kept.
4. A left turn pocket into the western entrance to the gym and businesses on the north side of Katella would have eliminated the need for the ugly pylons. They were added after construction to stop people from making illegal left turns to get into the gym and businesses.
The plans originally approved by our Council over four years ago made no provision for a legal left turn pocket into that shopping center. Yes, the businesses on the north are in Cypress, but a lot of the customers and members are coming from Los Alamitos. Regardless, the current system results in hundreds of cars idle at the Siboney/Katella light, spewing polution and burning gas, then holding up traffic as they make a U-turn or left turn to backtrack to the shopping center, burning more gas & spewing more fumes & adding to traffic in the process.
There’s still room to build a left turn pocket from eastbound Katella into shopping center. A long enough, wide enough pocket to avoid unnecessarily slowing traffic on Katella. People could still make a U-turn at Siboney if they preferred, but they could also save gas and time and reduce traffic by turning directly into the complex. It should have been included in the original design over four years ago.
Seal Beach used that sort approach at the northernmost entrance to the Old Ranch Town Center, & in my experience it works very well and does help reduce traffic. (I think synchronizing signals and adding some double left turn lanes would help a lot more, but I’ll save that for another post.)
For the sake of fairness, I should point out that the original design was approved prior to the current majority taking control of the Council, and I believe it was supported by both “sides.” At the time, there was considerable ill will towards Cypress, and this was considered “payback” by some. To me, it’s counterproductive–a good example of what my mother used to call “biting off your nose to spite your face.”
We need to improve the working relationship with our neighboring communities, and this provides an opportunity. Concerns of the residents on the service road on the north side of Katella need to be addressed, but there are ways to mitigate those concerns and still reduce traffic.
As I said at the last Council meeting, hopefully this issue can be taken up with the city of Cypress in the context of the broader issue of reducing congestion even as Cypress continues to oversee development of the land around the racetrack. Thousands of Cypress residents use Katella to get to the 605 freeway everyday, so we do have some common interests to build upon.
I guess I’ve got just enough of a libertarian streak in me to say, “If the people want to save gas and time by turning directly into and out of a popular business, maybe we should let them.”
There’s room for discussion here, and we won’t all agree. I make my living getting people with oposing viewpoints to work together, and I think there’s room for a win-win solution here. What do you think?
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Yes, let’s get rid of those ugly pylons and quickly! I’d have thought that more than enougth time has passed for a median to be built. And, it is especially hard to see exactly where they are in the dark.
Another thought was, I’ve noticed an increase in bicycle traffic along Katella. To encourage citizens to ride–for their health, for the environment, for their wallets–I believe we should have bike lanes, especially around the residential offshoots of Katella.
Dave–
I’m confused regarding the median construction–does this mean I will no longer be able to make a left turn out of the center? That is, coming out of the center, crossing westbound traffic on Katella to make a left onto eastbound Katella? How will I get back home–New Dutch Haven? Should I be avoiding the center altogether?
Dee–
You got it. That’s one reason I opposed to the median, but it’s a complex issue and there were valid arguments for moving ahead, so I understand why the decision to do so was made, even thought I disagree with it.
New Dutch Haven residents who use the center will have several choices, none of the good. Easiest is probably to stop at the “24 hour fitness” center on your way to someplace to the west of it, turn right on Katella when you’re done, and continue to your other destinations. If you want to return directly home your choices include:
1. Turn right onto Katella, then take your first or second left turn into Carrier Row and then make a “U” or “Y” turn inside the tract and go back to Katella and turn right to get back to Siboney. The obvious problem with this is further congestion in Carrier Row.
2. Make an illegal “U” turn at one of those same two intersections. A possible solution, if it meets with the approval of Carrier Row residents, would be to allow U turns at the second street, Midway, and possibly also the third, Enterprise. Ticonderoga, the first entrance to Carrier Row west of the center is already more congested because it’s the exit for the four easternmost streets in Carrier Row.
3. Turn left into Carrier Row, go down to Howard, then cut back to Dutch Haven. I really don’t like this because it just puts more “cut-through” traffic into Carrier Row, making the neighborhood more congested and less safe for kids.
4. Go back to the race track entrance and go straight, ignoring the sign that indicates you must turn right or left. Some have suggested that the city allow traffic to go straight here, but I fear that would lead to even more cut-through traffic exiting the race track and the center, especially at rush hour. Howard’s already it’s own race track at certain times, including just after closing at the Starting Gate. I personally think a way must be found to install several “speed humps” there.
5. Go back to the race track entrance but keep going across the parking lot, exiting onto Winners Circle just before Costco (look carefully for the driveway–it’s easy to drive off the curb, following the tracks of many who’ve done that before you). From there you can turn right (west) onto Katella and then turn left at Siboney into New Dutch Haven. This is probably the best option if you don’t mind getting some dust on your car.
6. Just don’t use the center. Of course, if you’re like me & you bought a life membership to the gym while it was still in Los Alamitos, that’s not a great option. If, however, you can find a business in Los Alamitos that can meet your needs, you’ll be giving a small rebate back to yourself in the form of a sales tax credit.
By boycotting the Cypress Race Track stores we may be sending a small message to Cypress to work with us on traffic mitigation. Unfortunately, those issues were not well addressed by the Council ten years ago, but it’s always easy to be a “Monday morning quarterback.”
Long answer to a short question, but traffic is one of my passions, especially in regard to reducing people cutting through our residential neighborhoods. Local streets are designed for the residents. The new median certainly makes things more difficult for New Dutch Haven residents. The challenge now is to find ways to work with (or, if necessary, against) Cypress before the next phase of Race Track Development unleashes even more congestion on Katella and more cut-through traffic on Howard & Farquhar.