Safety of Magnolia St. Exit on Garden Grove Freeway Questioned

Dear Street Smart:

I am becoming increasingly concerned regarding the safety of the Magnolia Street exit on the eastbound Garden Grove Freeway. During peak traffic hours, the queue of cars backs up to the slow lane of the freeway!

I have seen many close calls when a car exiting barely misses hitting the last car waiting to exit onto Magnolia. The issue is compounded by a signal with a short “green” period and the proximity of the Trask Avenue/Magnolia Street intersection, which blocks the exit of these cars.

Nola Burns, Garden Grove

Caltrans engineers conducted two field investigations, one two months ago and one on Oct. 16. On both occasions, Caltrans spokeswoman Rose Orem said, there was no queue during peak hours.

The signal at the eastbound Magnolia exit is controlled by the city of Garden Grove. But Caltrans does not relinquish full control, because ultimately it is responsible for ensuring proper traffic flow entering and exiting the freeway.

The California Department of Transportation will continue to work with Garden Grove traffic officials and to monitor the traffic at this intersection, Orem said.

*

Dear Street Smart:

Has anything been done about the stop signs on Avenida Empresa, which connects Santa Margarita Parkway with Antonio Parkway in Rancho Santa Margarita? I wrote to you in May and you wrote in your column that a county traffic engineer would investigate. I wonder what happened.

Jack Lowell, Coto de Caza

As a refresher for everyone else, your May 21 letter questioned the need for stop signs at each of the five intersections on Avenida Empresa even though there was little traffic on this route. At the time, Ignacio Ochoa, chief traffic engineer for Orange County, said the stop signs had been erected as an interim measure to allow traffic patterns to establish themselves in the newly developing area and to determine if traffic signals would be needed.

However, when the economy took a downturn, homes and businesses were not developed as anticipated, Ochoa explained in May. The plan for traffic signals was shelved for the time being and the stop signs remained.

Since that column, a field investigation was conducted on Avenida Empresa to see if the stop signs should come down, Ochoa said. There is no history of accidents at any of the intersections along that stretch and, as you pointed out, traffic is relatively light.

Nevertheless, the stop signs stay, Ochoa said.

“My staff feels we have conditioned people driving on Empresa to stop at these intersections and we’ve got the people on the side streets of Empresa used to the fact that people on Empresa will stop, so it’s safer to leave it as is,” he said.

His office will “await the development of parcels in that area, and then build traffic signals when they’re needed.”

*

The Orange County Transportation Authority will provide shuttle service from two locations for the Times Holiday Parade in Santa Ana on Saturday.

Parade-goers can catch the OCTA shuttle from the Santa Ana Transit Terminal at 5th and Ross streets in Santa Ana or from the Automobile Club of Southern California’s facility at Sunflower Avenue and Fairview Street.

Service begins at 7:30 a.m. with the last bus departing at 8:30 a.m. from both locations. Buses will return immediately after the parade and will continue providing rides until noon. The parade begins at 9 a.m. and will continue until 10:30 a.m.

The fare for the shuttle service is $1 each way. For more information on the Times Holiday Parade shuttle service, call OCTA at (714) 636-RIDE.

*

Caltrans will activate several ramp meters beginning today in San Clemente and beginning Nov. 22 in San Juan Capistrano. The ramp meters will operate from 6 to 9 a.m. Monday through Friday and are intended to regulate the flow of traffic entering the freeway from local streets.

In San Clemente, early-morning commuters will encounter ramp meters when entering northbound Interstate 5 at Avenida Magdalena, El Camino Real, Avenida Presidio, Avenida Palizada, Avenida Pico and Camino de Estrella.

In San Juan Capistrano, ramp meters will be activated at the northbound Interstate 5 on-ramps at Camino Las Ramblas, Camino Capistrano, San Juan Creek Road, Ortega Highway and Junipero Serra Road.

The ramp meters will be monitored so that necessary adjustments can be made.