2007 Transportation Survey Results
Laderians Seek More Traffic
Patrols to Deter Speeding
Laderians Seek More Traffic
Patrols to Deter Speeding
Speeding and disregard for traffic and parking laws are top traffic safety issues in Ladera Ranch, according to an annual survey of residents conducted by the Ladera Ranch Transportation Club and LARCS. Residents see increased traffic law enforcement as the best solution to these problems. School zones and major streets such as O’Neill Road, Sienna Parkway, Crown Valley Parkway, and Antonio Parkway are seen as highest priority for enforcement.
“The strongest message we received again this year from the survey is that there is an immediate need for more traffic and parking enforcement in Ladera Ranch,” said Chuck Gibson, President of the Transportation Club. “This survey had the highest level of resident involvement to date with over 360 people responding, including a representative sample from every area of the community.”
The open-ended respon-ses elicited hundreds of additional comments and many useful ideas, including specific areas where further traffic control studies may be needed. “Residents of Ladera Ranch are not sitting back waiting for tragic accidents to happen. We are planning to prevent accidents,” said Gibson.
“The residents gave us lots to think about – including many ideas from open-ended responses. Community leaders will be mining this information for insights for some time to come.” Gibson told the Ladera Times a majority of safety concerns could be addressed with an increase of law enforcement patrols.
“Even though the Highway Patrol has been diligent and attentive to our community, it has been clear for some time we need more traffic enforcement patrols.”
Since last year, the Sheriff helps the CHP in traffic enforcement on occasion, according to Gibson. Prior to repeal of a county ordinance last January, Sheriff’s deputies could issue a ticket only if a violation of traffic law was detected incidental to crime patrols. “Interagency cooperation is key.
We have an outstanding CHP Community Enforcement Officer and a community oriented command staff. A more visible traffic patrol is a proven method to reduce speeding and to minimize accidents. The current assignment of one officer to cover the entire unincorporated South County community is insufficient,” said Gibson.
“Given the rapid growth of unincorporated South County, proactive patrolling by CHP deputies has not kept pace, though the Sheriffs deputies and CHP have been working diligently together to patch together some increased patrol presence.”
Though residents said parking enforcement is an area that needs to be addressed, this remains a very low priority of CHP. Gibson noted that enforcement of parking is essential to the health and safety of the community. It supports an effective street sweeping program, which helps control water pollution and parking enforcement is essential to ensure fire lanes are clear for emergency vehicles, he said. “This is apparent during school rush hours when parents park to drop of their children, creating congestion and line of sight hazards,” said Gibson.
“Traffic congestion and pedestrian safety around the schools is an issue of high priority according to survey respondents.” More feedback on this subject is expected to come from the results of a recent survey by UCI graduate student, Michelle Kou to be released in mid-April. The photo on the left shows cars lined up to pick up students at Ladera Ranch Elementary.The failure of motorists to yield the right-of-way within roundabouts is a significant safety problem, according to the survey, a problem that was recently addressed when the Transportation Club posted a video on driving roundabouts at www.LaderaLife.com.
On a more positive note, residents seem satisfied with traffic calming features and amenities of Ladera Ranch. Fifty four percent of the respondents said they regularly walk within the community.
Lighted crosswalks is the most preferred solution singled out to improve pedestrian safety, according to those surveyed. Others indicated the community’s system of street lights needs to be better maintained and improved. One resident said, “Ladera Ranch needs operating street lights 100 percent of the time.”
The second annual survey expanded on the first survey by asking questions about alternative modes of transportation. Less than one in 10 residents use MetroLink, and the survey confirmed that, for a variety of reasons, including economics, storage space, and the lack of a comprehensive system of safe routes for these small electric cars, few residents are interested in acquiring Neighborhood Electric Vehicles.
A number of residents indicated interest in exploring an intercommunity tram system. At the same time, some are wary of the added cost this might place on residents.
Many residents expressed an interest in using speed bumps to slow traffic. “This is definitely a subject begging for more information,” said Gibson, who added, “At present, county engineers will not tolerate the use of speed bumps on county roads due to hazards for motorists and emergency vehicles alike. There is definitely a question of liability and as to effectiveness, according to county authorities.”
Danielle Blugrind, a resident of Ladera Ranch and a survey research professional worked as a volunteer with the Transportation Club and LARCS to design, conduct, and tabulate the survey.
The photos for this story (the photo above, left, and the cover photo on the Home Page) were provided by Chuck Giobson. The bar chart above, right, was provided by Danielle Blugrind.