Nyes Place getting attention

Mike Swanson

Residents on lower Nyes Place thanked the City Council on Dec. 2 for

addressing their concerns about heavy speeding trucks on their street

so quickly after a major accident last month brought them angrily to

the Nov. 18 meeting.

A cement truck tipped on its side on Nov. 14 while coming down the

hill, hitting four houses on lower Nyes Place. On Nov. 19, a day

after several residents asked the City Council to do something about

the problem, a truck carrying a full load of rocks lost control but

hit a hillside before it could reach the same houses.

Chief of Police Jim Spreine and Director of Public Works Steve May

presented the council with a long list of solutions that might make

an area residents have called a “war zone” more safe. Spreine cited

large vehicles coming down the hill and speeding vehicles of all

sizes that fail to stop at the stop sign as the area’s most major

traffic problems.

“A high percentage of people police stop are those who live in the

area and feel comfortable coming down the hill going well over the

speed limit,” Spreine said.

Prohibiting large trucks from using Nyes Place and establishing a

weight limit aren’t options, according to the California vehicle

code, Spreine said, because truck drivers wouldn’t have any

alternative route. Councilman Steve Dicterow said he could think of

only Summit Drive and Alta Vista Way as alternatives for construction

trucks heading to and from Arch Beach Heights, but he called both

routes “more dangerous than Nyes.”

Spreine said he didn’t think decreasing the load size of trucks

would help much anyway.

“When you recommend smaller trucks, you’re recommending more

trips,” Spreine said. “If you have 1,200 trucks going up and down the

hill instead of 400, you’ll probably have more accidents.”

Both trucks that crashed last month were part of a city street

resurfacing project in the Arch Beach Heights and Portofina

neighborhoods.

“There’s an inherent need for those vehicles to be up there,”

Dicterow said.

City staff members are looking into reducing the speed limit for

trucks to 15 mph, posting more signs warning drivers of the grade and

to use low gears, putting dividers in the middle of the street to

force slower speeds, building a runaway ramp for trucks, eliminating

parking at the curve in the road and increasing the size of the stop

sign.

The police and public works departments will report back to

council on Jan. 20 with results from their studies and costs of

additions. In the meantime, police sent letters to 700 residents in

the area last week warning that they’re taking a zero-tolerance

approach to speeding on Nyes Place.

“We’ve been putting more officers in the area lately, and we’ve

already written a lot of tickets,” Sgt. Jason Kravetz said. “People

driving in the area should be aware that we’re watching.”

No further additions will be made without consent from the City

Council, Kravetz said.

Monica Simpson, whose house sustained the most damage in the Nov.

14 accident, said increased enforcement is the key.

“I would love to have an officer there 24/7,” Simpson said. “I can

watch from my deck, and if I see people stopping [at the stop sign],

I know an officer’s down there.”

Sam Alessi, a Laguna Beach resident and longtime truck driver,

said hauling in Laguna requires different habits by truck drivers,

adding that the average truck driver isn’t prepared for Laguna Beach.

He said he drives 8 to 10 mph coming down Laguna’s hills regardless

of the speed limit.

“The feeling that I get working those hills is probably like the

feeling you get before a tough test you have to take the next day,”

Alessi said. “I never look forward to it, but I take precautions.”

A resident whose house wasn’t hit but who saw the most recent

accidents stressed to the City Council that the issue shouldn’t only

be a concern because it’s fresh.

“We would like to see this as something that doesn’t go away

[without solutions],” Andrew Hollinshead said.