School officials expect smooth ride on first day

Jessica Garrison

NEWPORT-MESA -- Even before the school year officially begins this

morning, some neighbors near the newly opened Eastbluff Elementary School

are already rumbling about traffic congestion.

Across town, parents at Davis Elementary School worry that their

school, which has limited parking in the school lot and no parking on

adjacent streets, is difficult to access.

At Andersen Elementary School last spring, parents voiced concerns

about the increasingly crowded parking lot around that school.

But despite these ongoing concerns, school and city officials said

they are certain that traffic today, the first day of school, will flow

smoothly.

“At this point, we think it’s going to be OK, but it’s really hard to

tell until after the first week of school,” said Ed Hayes, Newport-Mesa’s

head of facilities.

In Eastbluff, traffic problems in the neighborhoods surrounding the

new elementary school and Corona del Mar High were part of what prompted

the city to permanently install restrictions at the intersection of Bison

and Jamboree roads. But motorists’ inability to cross Jamboree on Bison

or turn left onto Bison from northbound Jamboree has residents concerned

about more problems on other streets.

Hayes said school and city officials were particularly concerned about

traffic crunches at Eastbluff and Davis, but that they would address any

problems that arose today.

“People should allow extra time to get to school the first few weeks,”

he said. “Especially because everyone likes to bring their kids to school

the first few weeks.”

Costa Mesa Police Sgt. Marty Carver, who is in charge of traffic in

Costa Mesa today, said he does not anticipate any problems.

The city plans to post 15 crossing guards around the city, but so far

only 12 have been hired.

Police also will be on the lookout for cars that do not stop for

school buses, he said.

More than 2,600 students take school buses to school each day, said

Nancy Malone, the district’s director of transportation.

And for reasons the police do not understand, motorists commit more

school bus violations near Paularino Elementary School than anywhere else

in the city, Carver said.