Second study set for intersection

City will reevaluate area near Eastbluff Elementary School; parents say it’s unsafe for children.The Newport Beach traffic affairs committee has agreed to conduct a second study of an area near Eastbluff Elementary School, responding to parents’ ongoing concerns about pedestrian safety.

At the committee’s monthly meeting Wednesday, with two Eastbluff parents in attendance, city traffic engineer Rich Edmonston announced that his department would conduct studies of two major intersections near the school to see if they warranted crossing guards. The parents, who are currently petitioning the city to install guards after school, were pleased by Edmonston’s decision.

“I think it’s great,” said Jennifer Mannon, who wrote the petition. “I’m pleasantly surprised. They know it’s an issue.”

Last week, the traffic affairs committee ran a study of one of the intersections near Eastbluff -- at Eastbluff Drive and Bixia Street -- and found that not enough elementary school children passed through it to meet the state requirement for a crossing guard. According to state law, a stop-sign-controlled crossing must have 500 vehicles and 40 children during an hour to warrant adult supervision.

When the committee studied two sides of the intersection of Eastbluff and Bixia last week, it counted only 20 children walking without an adult. However, in the new study, the committee plans to monitor all four sides of the intersection and also to inspect the crossing of Vista del Oro and Vista del Sol, located right outside the school. In addition, Edmonston said the officials would tally cars, which they did not do in the previous survey.

Assistant city manager Dave Kiff, a member of the Traffic Affairs Committee, said the group would consider the new results at its November meeting, and possibly make an official recommendation if they saw enough need.

“If there’s enough enthusiasm for it, I imagine we could get it on the next City Council meeting” agenda, Kiff said.

Early this month, a group of Eastbluff parents began serving as volunteer crossing guards at the two intersections, wearing orange vests and leading children across the street with stop signs. The Newport Beach Police Department ordered the parents to end their shifts because they were not trained to direct traffic.

The parents willingly put away their signs but have continued the petition drive, collecting signatures door-to-door in the Eastbluff neighborhood. Along with the elementary school, Corona del Mar High School and Our Lady Queen of Angels private school are also in the area.

Edmonston said he did not know if the new study would meet state standards, but he acknowledged that the Eastbluff area had safety problems.

“Of the locations in the city that don’t have crossing guards, this is probably the hairiest,” he said.20051013inyq7nknDON LEACH / DAILY PILOT(LA)A boy skates across the road near Eastbluff Drive and Bixia Street as a car stops a few feet away.