East County : Residents Renew Fight Against 6-Lane Freeway

Residents of Orange and Anaheim Hills, who lost a 1985 battle to kill plans for a six-lane freeway from Villa Park to Imperial Highway, are trying again to persuade Orange city officials to postpone construction of that freeway.

A spokesman for the homeowners’ group named ROAR (Residents Opposing Arterial Roads) said they will ask the City Council to halt the planning process of the Imperial Highway connection until the Eastern Freeway and an extension of Weir Canyon Road are completed.

All three roadways would be parallel, according to Ed Nies, the group’s chairman, and the Imperial Highway connection may not be needed when the others are built. ROAR also argues that 40,000 cars would travel the connection route daily, causing noise and pollution.

Since the City Council approved the Imperial Highway connection in October, 1985, the project has been stalled because city officials have been waiting to see how the area would be developed, Public Works Director Frank Page said.

Both the Eastern Freeway and the Weir Canyon Road extension are under study by various county and city agencies, but no starting date has been set for either.