Residents fret over number of truck crashes

Marisa O’Neil

Construction continues booming in this hilly section of town, perched

high above the sparkling Pacific Ocean.

But to the dismay of many residents, so does the number of

heavy-duty construction vehicles thundering through its streets --

enough that the city is exploring ways to limit construction traffic.

“Local construction traffic is inevitable,” said Steve Badum,

Newport Beach public works director. “But there has been some

discussion about limiting trucks on that particular part of roadway

by the elementary school.”

On Friday, a cement truck that police believe was overloaded and

had faulty brakes overturned on Ridge Park Road, just across Newport

Coast Road from Newport Coast Elementary School. It was the third

such accident in the area in less than a year.

A cement pumper truck overturned in January while turning from the

Ridge Park Road downgrade onto Newport Coast Road.

In July, a cement truck going down the hill on Newport Coast Road

toppled over as it turned onto Pelican Hill Road. That truck landed

on an SUV stopped at a red light.

So far nobody has been seriously injured. But that may be nothing

more than luck, parents worry.

The truck in Friday’s 11 a.m. accident ran off the road in an area

where parents often wait to pick up their children, said PTA member

Dana Schonwit.

“If any of these incidents had happened during drop-off or pickup

times [at the school] someone would have got hurt,” she said.

Many parents are pushing for the city to limit the construction

traffic on Ridge Park Road, where the school sits near the

intersection with busy Newport Coast Road, down a steep hill from new

home construction sites. But last year, residents on Vista Ridge

Road, the other route down to Newport Coast Road, objected to more

traffic on their street, too.

City engineers recently did a study of traffic on both streets,

city traffic engineer Rich Edmonston said.

They counted 3,900 cars a day traveling on Vista Ridge Road, 80 of

those construction vehicles. Ridge Park Road carried 6,000 cars a

day, 280 of which were heavy trucks, he said.

Engineers are investigating different ways to limit the

construction traffic on Ridge Park Road, Badum said.

“If a truck is going to lose its brakes, it’s going to lose its

brakes on either street,” Schonwit said. “Ours has a school on it.”

The next step is to discuss the subject at the next Newport Coast

Advisory Committee meeting, Edmonston said. Based on the outcome of

that, the matter could come before the City Council, he added.

Until then, the Newport Beach Police Department is working with

the California Highway Patrol to monitor construction traffic in the

area, Newport Beach Lt. Tom Gazsi said. Members of the CHP’s

commercial enforcement detail will weigh construction vehicles and do

mechanical inspections to ensure they are complying with the law and

following traffic laws.

“It’s a question of obeying the laws,” Badum said of construction

vehicles. “They’re not supposed to have overloaded trucks ... It’s a

steep roadway and needs extra caution.”

Schonwit said that safety of students needs to be at the top of

everyone’s mind.

“I pray no one gets hit,” she said. “Sometimes I think it will

take something like that to make things change.”