Highway onramp has residents concerned

Torus Tammer

FOUNTAIN VALLEY -- Residents and the California Department of

Transportation are one step closer to resolving a dispute over highway

construction.

After meeting last month with residents who live near the Warner

Avenue onramp to the San Diego Freeway, Caltrans has agreed to put up a

concrete safety barrier. The agency also will stop working at night, said

Beth Beeman, Caltrans’ spokeswoman. The residents had been concerned

about noise and loss of privacy since Caltrans began widening the ramp in

July.

Duane Kasulka, whose backyard faces the ramp, was one of the residents

unhappy with the project. He took action when a Caltrans bulldozer began

removing foliage from behind his house that had served as a privacy

shield and noise barrier between his home and the freeway. Kasulka said

he jumped a fence, approached a contractor and insisted that the work

stop until he could meet with Caltrans officials.

“He got two cuts at it before I got over the fence to talk to him,”

Kasulka recalled.

Residents enlisted the help of Councilwoman Laurann Cook, who

contacted Caltrans District 12 Manager Ken Nelson and informed him of the

residents’ concerns.

“I relayed the concerns of Kasulka and other citizens who felt that

they hadn’t been sufficiently notified about the project and its

magnitude,” Cook said. “Mr. Nelson stopped everything and promised that

no further vegetation removal would occur until a meeting took place.”

Despite the Caltrans concessions after the Aug. 10 meeting, the

residents say they would like to see more changes.

“We want the ramp further away from our houses, but Caltrans had

planned for them to be closer,” Kasulka said.

Cook said she and her city colleagues agree with the residents.

“We have a good dialogue with Caltrans,” she said. “Mr. Nelson has

agreed to use two impartial engineers to look at the redesign of the ramp

and has expressed hopes of finding a solution within the next few weeks.”

Beeman has also met with city officials and residents about their

concerns.

“We have two customers to consider here,” she said. “The users and the

neighbors.”