For years, it took resident Janice Schultz several minutes to back her car out of her Ocean Avenue garage when the narrow street became thick with commuters trying to avoid southbound Highland Avenue traffic.
When she moved to 40th Street five years ago, she had to wait again as traffic from the El Porto parking lot drove up the street to exit the sand section neighborhood.
“There was a time when I couldn’t cross my street without waiting five minutes,” she told the City Council Tuesday night before it unanimously approved a pilot program to remove some traffic restrictions at the intersection of Ocean and 40th.
In 2000, the city implemented turn restrictions at the intersection on weekdays between 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. to alleviate eastbound traffic on 40th and to discourage commuters from using Ocean to bypass Highland traffic.
Restrictions require drivers headed southbound on Ocean to turn eastbound left onto 40th. Other restrictions force drivers exiting the El Porto parking lot to turn left onto northbound Ocean Avenue.
Since the restrictions were put in place, much of the diverted traffic moves up Kelp Street — the first street north of 40th — where Ed Skebe lives.
“These streets were not designed for high traffic volumes and pose safety concerns,” Skebe wrote in an email to council prior to the meeting. “An accident has already occurred from a diverted car speeding up Kelp.”
“I’m here with a plea for safety,” he said Tuesday.
A 2008 petition from residents who complained that the restrictions increased traffic in other areas of the neighborhood prompted the council to launch a traffic study. Roughly 25 percent of drivers were found to not follow the restrictions, according to city Traffic Engineer Jack Rydell.
The six-month pilot program will remove one of the turn restrictions and allow drivers exiting the parking lot to turn right onto Ocean. Council hopes the move will reduce the number of cars on Kelp and other streets impacted by the diverted traffic, as motorists will have more routes to exit the neighborhood.
“It seems to be the fair way of distributing traffic,” Councilmember Mitch Ward said.
Many residents expressed concern that removing the restriction will result in southbound Highland commuters cutting through the parking lot.
“My fear is that if we open up the turn to go southbound on Ocean, we open up the loop [to by-pass traffic],” Schultz said.
Other residents suggested that the city close the 40th St. exit from the parking lot and turn the 45th St. entrance into a combined entrance and exit.
The pilot program will begin in May and will continue for six months.
“I think this gives us the opportunity to put up numbers and study it with hard data,” said Mayor Pro Tem Nick Tell. “The goal is still the same: to abandon cut-through traffic.” ER
