Task force hopes to find solutions for traffic woes

June Casagrande

Corona del Mar High School keeps growing. And with it grows the

number of cars crowding to get in. Neighboring Our Lady Queen of

Angels Church wants to grow, too.

To stop the ever-growing congestion around the school, Vice Mayor

Gary Adams has created a task force. The new group includes

representatives of the school administration, the PTA, the student

body, the city, the police department, Our Lady Queen of Angels

Church and several nearby homeowners’ associations.

“It occurred to me it would be a good idea to get all the parties

together to work on solutions as a group rather than working on them

individually,” said Adams, whose district includes the school.

The church is required to incorporate into its plans ways to

compensate for any added traffic. At the same time, the city is

charged with dealing with traffic problems within its borders, school

administrators must deal with the effects on campus and parents and

students are responsible for getting students to school on time.

By pooling their resources and responsibility, Adams hopes to find

solid solutions.

The task force’s first meeting took place earlier this month and

dealt mainly with procedural issues. When the group reconvenes in

about two weeks, they’ll be able to get to the heart of the issue:

coming up with solutions to a daunting problem.

Once a clear plan is in place, the group will look for funding

sources. It’s possible that developer fees for the Our Lady Queen of

Angels project and possibly school district funds could contribute.

The school was designed on the assumption that buses would be the

main conveyance for students. Now that cars carry most of the

students to school, the roads simply can’t handle the traffic, Adams

said.

“I don’t know how to describe it other than a mess,” said PTA

Co-President Linda Roberts, a member of the task force who used to

drive her son to the school until he became old enough to drive this

year. “I’m hoping this will be a start to solving the problem.

Obviously, the school district can’t do it on its own, Queen of

Angels can’t do it on its own, and it’s going to take more than a

stop sign and a crossing guard to correct the problem.”