ROSSMOOR, CA – As many Rossmoor residents are familiar with the outbreak of e-bikers and wild school traffic, so is the Orange County Public Works engineering team. After much collaboration with the community, Wei Zhu, a professional traffic engineer, thoughtfully brought recommendations to Rossmoor’s busy table.
Samarie Cliche, a sophomore at Los Alamitos High School, referred to her father in an interview about her neighborhood’s street proposals.
“He’s angry and always yelling at people in front of him, always honking his horn. He probably thinks it’s unneeded because he can just take alternate routes to avoid traffic. I think [the street changes] are pointless,” Cliche said.
The process leading up to the following recommendations did not happen overnight. In fact, the OC traffic engineering team has been studying parking data and traffic flow since last year.
According to the Event-News Enterprise newspaper, the following recommendations are:
Montecito mini roundabouts will be on:
- Shakespeare Drive
- Bostonian Drive
- Bradbury Road
Bradbury Road
- Radar feedback signs
- 25 mph stencils (one in each direction)
- Raised medians
Montecito Road – South
- One lane per direction, bike lanes, parallel parking, a center turn lane
Shakespeare and Bostonian School Area
- One lane per direction, bike lanes, parallel parking, a center turn lane
Montecito Road – North
- One lane per direction, bike lanes, parallel parking, a center turn lane
“I am not excited about the changes,” said Chelsea Mack, a 40-year-old Rossmoor resident. “I know the streets are busy in the school areas and it causes congestion, but I think the solution is not for us to suffer through road construction for a year but rather to incentivize people to walk or bike to reduce the car traffic.”
Revealing their deep concern for the safety of Rossmoor, the RCSD weighed their opinions against more than 100 residents’ opinions in a town hall meeting to prove changes can only be made with community consensus.
Peggy Wilkins, teacher at Rossmoor Elementary School, acknowledged the parking predicament with apartment complexes and on Montecito Road, suggesting the solution of parking permits. Wilkins has lived in the neighborhood for 28 years, so Zhu’s efforts greatly impacted her. Disagreeing with the investigation for one lane going each way on Montecito, another speaker at the town hall meeting recalled that solution as “disastrous” in the Event-News Enterprise newspaper.
Overall, most Rossmoor residents are unable to see the rationale in the investigations. However, the RCSD’s attentiveness to the safety of everyone in the community is still appreciated.
