INSIDE CITY HALL WHAT HAPPENED: The City...

INSIDE CITY HALL

WHAT HAPPENED:

The City Council approved plans for nine highway projects.

WHAT IT MEANS:

The city was awarded a $1.3 million grant for 14 street

rehabilitation projects scheduled over the next three years.

Funding will come from the Orange County Transportation

Authority’s Arterial Highway Rehabilitation Program. The city will

match that grant with $1.4 million for the projects.

Streets that will be repaired include sections of Warner Avenue,

Springdale Avenue, McFadden Avenue, Magnolia Boulevard, Gothard

Street, Hamilton Avenue, Yorktown Avenue and Graham Street.

Repairs generally include pavement crack sealing, pavement

reconstruction and asphalt overlay. Also included will be new curb

access ramps, signs and striping and traffic detection loops.

Officials say the work will increase the life of these streets by

10 years.

The estimated cost for all nine projects is $2.7 million. The

project will be advertised for bids as soon as Caltrans approves the

plans.

Councilman Gil Coerper was absent.

WHAT HAPPENED:

The council approved the 2003-04 Traffic Installation Priority

List.

WHAT IT MEANS:

At the City Council’s direction, staff prepared a list of 111

intersections within the city that could use traffic signals.

The top four identified were Ellis Avenue at Delaware Street,

Beach Boulevard at Taylor Drive, Adams Avenue at Ranger and Beach

Boulevard at Sea Bridge/Memphis Avenue.

Those that qualified are either controlled all-way stops, have

crossing guards but no traffic signals, have been on previous traffic

signal priority lists or are primary entrances to residential tracts

from major roadways.

Other criteria were three or more accidents at the intersection or

a high volume of traffic or pedestrians.

At Councilwoman Debbie Cook’s suggestion, Ellis Avenue at Delaware

Street, which was identified as the No. 1 location, was dropped to

No. 4.

Other intersections where the city plans to construct signals are

Palm Avenue and 17th Street, Heil Avenue and Graham Street, Hamilton

Avenue and Newland Street and Slater Avenue and Nichols Street.

WHAT HAPPENED:

An extra trash collection point will be added Downtown from June

until December at the cost of $18,000 to the city.

WHAT IT MEANS:

Rainbow Disposal, the company in charge of the city’s trash

collection, offered to add an additional trash receptacle Downtown

for weekend pickup between now and next December free of charge.

At the urging of Councilwoman Pam Julien Houchen, the City Council

voted to extend the additional pickup to weekday collections between

now and December. Increased weekday service will cost $18,000.

The council also approved $6,000 to increase the frequency of

sidewalk cleaning services Downtown during summer months.

WHAT WAS SAID:

“Ice cream cones, frappuccinos, lattes -- they simply stay on the

sidewalks, and your feet stick,” Houchen said.