YORBA LINDA : Plan for Highway Irks Some Residents

First, Caltrans called it a Super Street, then a Smart Street.

Now some residents and local business owners say the planned widening of Imperial Highway will result in nothing more than a freeway that will cut through the center of town.

“Don’t be fooled!” proclaimed a flyer posted around town. “The people at Caltrans are talking about a 55-m.p.h. speed limit.

There will be six lanes from Los Angeles to Lakeview (Avenue), four lanes from Orangethorpe and eight lanes to Anaheim Hills. That’s a freeway.”

Several City Council members complained at a recent meeting that Caltrans and the city’s engineering department were nearing completion of preliminary plans without guidance from the council or input from residents and business owners in the area.

“The train has already left the station on this, and the council wasn’t on board,” Councilman Mark Schwing said.

City Engineer Roy Stephenson said the road project will not be a freeway and that he has worked aggressively with Caltrans to ensure that the project receives as much funding as possible.

“There’s not enough money for all the Smart Street projects,” Stephenson said. “Those agencies that are most aggressive will most likely get the money they need to get the project they want.”

Merchants on Main Street don’t want any project that includes widening Imperial Highway and increasing speeds to 55 m.p.h. Motorists traveling that fast are not likely to turn down their street, business owners there say.

“Even with the speed limit (on Imperial) at 40 miles per hour, many people in Yorba Linda don’t know we are here,” said Forrest Holdeman, whose wife is a partner in a gift and antiques store on Main Street. “Imagine what it will be like when it’s 55 miles per hour.”

The City Council is expected to schedule a public hearing on the project. The hearing will be next month at the Yorba Linda Community Center, 4501 Casa Loma Ave.