Much-Anticipated Imperial Highway Extension to Open Soon

Dear Street Smart:

I am writing about the extension of Imperial Highway in Anaheim Hills that goes over the hill and connects to Loma Street and Santiago Canyon Road in the city of Orange.

This extension has been built for the last three to six months and yet has not opened.

I hear that a political official is stalling the opening of this road for some reason.

My husband and I have great need of this road and would like to see it open.

Gloria S. Noble

Anaheim Hills

You and everyone else! For all the people who wrote letters to Street Smart or called the city of Orange inquiring about the opening of the Imperial Highway extension, your wait is almost over.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony and the extension opening are tentatively scheduled for mid-December, said Jim Devore, associate civil engineer for the city of Orange. Any last-minute snags in construction or rain could push the opening date back to Jan. 1 at the latest, he said.

Even though the road looks ready, a small section still requires some finishing touches. A lack of funding, not a politician, was part of the reason behind the delay in completing the extension, Devore said.

Coordinating the project between the cities of Anaheim and Orange also took time, as did the actual construction, done in three phases by three different entities: Southern California Edison, the city of Anaheim and Standard Pacific, a developer, he said.

The largest segment of 1.5 miles, owned by Southern California Edison, involved considerable land grading, building a bridge and improvements on Loma Street. Also, Anaheim originally did not have the funding needed for its 500-foot portion, Devore said.

When the extension opens, it will stretch from the current end of Imperial Highway in Anaheim to Santiago Canyon Road in Orange.

Dear Street Smart:

At West Street and southbound Coast Highway in South Laguna, there is a left-turn signal, but no left-turn signal going north. There is also a crosswalk on the south side of Coast Highway.

I can’t see why the left-turn signal couldn’t be on at the same time the crosswalk signal is on. This would speed up traffic going both ways on Coast Highway.

Carol Thompson

South Laguna

You first need to know that West Street is a one-way street that only runs east. That is why there is no left-turn signal for northbound traffic on Coast Highway.

According to Caltrans, allowing pedestrians to cross Highway at the same time southbound motorists make a left-turn onto West Street would actually slow things for both north and southbound Coast Highway traffic. Here’s why: The signals on Coast Highway are set so northbound and southbound motorists always have top priority, said Rose Orem, a Caltrans spokeswoman. When the southbound Coast Highway left-turn signal is on, southbound drivers can make a left turn onto West Street or continue traveling south. Northbound traffic has a red light during this time.

If pedestrians were allowed to cross Coast Highway at the same time drivers were making their left turns onto West Street, southbound through traffic would have to stop. To avoid having south and north through traffic stopped at the same time, pedestrians must wait their turn.

Pedestrians crossing Coast Highway west to east must wait for their green light. I hope that clears up any confusion.

Dear Street Smart:

What can be done about the street flooding at the intersection of Harbor Boulevard and Sunflower Avenue in Costa Mesa? This happens every single time there is even a little bit of rain.

Dixie Flint

Huntington Beach

Street flooding could be eliminated if the existing storm drain line were extended from South Coast Drive to the Harbor Boulevard/Sunflower Avenue intersection. But there are no plans for this.

Costa Mesa and Santa Ana share this intersection and have explored many options for alleviating storm runoff, including re-sloping the streets, said Bill Morris, city engineer for Costa Mesa. Both cities agree that an extended storm drain line would do the trick, but neither city has the money to pay for this project, he said.

Storm drains that receive funding priority are the ones that could prevent flood damage to property, Morris said. Although there can be significant flooding at Sunflower and Harbor, there isn’t any real danger of water damage to buildings, he said.

The storm drain system, installed about 15 years ago, just isn’t long enough to reach the intersection. To extend that storm drain the needed 3,800 feet could cost $100 per linear foot or more, he said.

So, for the foreseeable future at least, you might consider avoiding the intersection during a rainstorm.

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Just a reminder that the Orange County Transit Authority buses will operate on a limited schedule Thursday, which is Thanksgiving Day. Regular service will resume the next day. There will be no Dial-A-Ride service either, but ACCESS service for people with disabilities will operate for those who reserve a ride by 12:30 p.m. Tuesday. For information on this holiday schedule, call OCTA’s Customer Relations office at (714) 636-RIDE.

Street Smart appears Mondays in The Times Orange County Edition. Readers are invited to submit comments and questions about traffic, commuting and what makes it difficult to get around in Orange County. Include simple sketches if helpful. Letters may be published in upcoming columns. Please write to Caroline Lemke, c/o Street Smart, The Times Orange County, P.O. Box 2008, Costa Mesa, Calif. 92626. Include your full name, address and day and evening phone numbers. Letters may be edited, and no anonymous letters will be accepted.