Most highway projects make good sense. Others are nothing but head scratchers.
One causing a lot of head scratching is OC Public Works’ project to widen less than two miles of Brea Canyon Road (Brea Boulevard turns into Brea Canyon) from two lanes to four lanes.
The widening project would go from Canyondale Drive to the county line, replace and widen three old bridges and install a traffic signal at the three-way intersection of Brea Canyon Road and Tonner Canyon Road.
The OCPW says adding the lanes will improve traffic flow. Officials also said the projectwill reduce potential motorist conflicts.
That signal would be a good idea right now, since the speed limit on Brea Canyon Road is 55 mph. A lot of us remember when the speed limit on that curvy canyon road was only 35 mph.
An additional lane in both directions may sound like a great idea for folks who use the Brea Canyon Road to access the northbound 57 Freeway. The only problem is the widening plan ends at the border of Orange County and Los Angeles County, beyond Tonner Canyon Road. Then it would go back down to two lanes, which seems to make for the potential for a huge bottleneck of traffic at the county line.
It seems like a good scene for auto accidents. Just imagine folks in two lanes going 55 mph, and then suddenly having to slow down and merge into one lane. And then there’s the lead footers going well above 55 mph, like they do on the freeways. Is that a safe scenario for lane merging?
OCPW will also install a new wildlife overpass-land bridge.
“They have planned mitigations like wider passage under the bridges and an overpass just west of where Tonner Canyon comes in, but our biologists haven’t looked closely enough yet to see if they will work,” said Claire Schlotterbeck, executive director of Hills for Everyone.
Hills for Everyone is also hiring its long-term law firm, Shute Mihaly Weinberger, the powerhouse firm that helped defeat the Madrona housing project once proposed for Brea Canyon.
In 2019, the OCPW held a community meeting at Mariposa Elementary School to present the project to the public and get their input. Well, they got a lot of people speaking in opposition to the project and only a couple people speaking in favor of it that night.
The Draft Environmental Impact Report is now under review by the Brea City Council and the public. The public comment period started Dec. 1, and was to conclude Jan. 20, but Mayor Marty Simonoff sent a request to the county requesting the comment period be extended to Feb. 3, due to the winter holidays, including the city being closed Dec. 23 until Jan. 2. The request was granted.
Now there is plenty of time to comment on this project, but don’t put it off. If you have input on the Brea Canyon Road widening project, the new bridges, maybe a 40-foot sound wall, new traffic signals and an 8-foot shoulder for a Class III bicycle lane, do it now. An overview of the project is on the city’s website.
To comment on the DEIR, send them to: Kevin Shannon, Consultant-Environmental Planner, OC Development Services/Planning, 601 N. Ross Street, Santa Ana, 92701. Or via email: [email protected].
Once the Lambert Road/57 Freeway obstruction, I mean construction, is completed, the Lambert on-off ramps will be the best way to access Brea.
Terri Daxon is a freelance writer and the owner of Daxon Marketing Communications. She gives her perspective on Brea issues twice a month. Contact her at [email protected].