LA HABRA : Imperial Highway Plan Is Debated

Plans for speeding the flow of traffic on Imperial Highway by designating the thoroughfare a “super street” may be running into a major roadblock in this city.

City Council members say that when the Orange County Transportation Commission presents a draft of the final proposal later this summer they are likely to oppose any widening of Imperial to eight lanes, and also the plan to end the project at the western city limits.

“I don’t object to moving traffic,” Councilman William D. Mahoney said last week. “But we could lose several businesses in town.”

Mahoney also said that ending the project at Beach Boulevard, as proposed, would result in a bottleneck and back up traffic into western La Habra.

Arya Rohani, OCTC special projects manager, said traffic studies indicate that congestion levels do not require extension of the project west beyond Beach Boulevard. The eastern end of the proposed project is at Santa Ana Canyon Road.

Rohani told the council that other changes being considered include removing on-street parking, creating turnouts for buses, and reducing the number of driveways and opportunities for left turns between intersections.

La Habra City Manager Lee Risner said he was “very concerned about the amount of increased through-traffic on Imperial. By through traffic, I mean traffic that begins outside the city and ends outside the city.”

The study is expected to be completed within four months. The OCTC then will decide whether to proceed with the project.