Traffic & Trains

By Ed Rakochy

We need to move forward with certain street and infrastructure improvements to alleviate congestion and maintain our quality of life in Yorba Linda.

There is no exception in Yorba Linda. Even in our "land of gracious living" we will see an increase of about 3000 housing units within the next two to three years. That means around 7500 more residents. With three-car households, that's a lot of cars on our City streets.

To alleviate the congestion we need to move forward with street and infrastructure improvements that will help ease the pain.

IMPERIAL HIGHWAY-ESPERANZA ROAD OVERPASS

The first improvement should be the completion of the Imperial Highway overpass at Esperanza Road and the BNSF railroad tracks. The state funding is there and Caltrans estimates the project will be completed in late 2006.

I have some serious reservations about the design of the bridge, because of how both westbound and eastbound Esperanza to southbound Imperial traffic will load on to the same double ramp, which also carries southbound Imperial to eastbound Esperanza traffic. Are you confused yet?

Unfortunately, I believe this bridge may be revisited after completion. But, we can't wait any longer. The bridge needs to be built NOW to stop the bottleneck.

UNDER GROUNDING THE RAILROAD TRACKS

The BNSF rail corridor is one of, if not, the most busy rail corridors in the United States and getting busier. Yorba Linda and Anaheim, along with other regional transportation agencies, the Federal government and BNSF need to begin to address a long term solution that will diminish train noise and ease traffic.

That solution is under grounding the railroad tracks. Regrettably, the Federal funds are not available. Should funds become available, I would look forward to working with the City of Anaheim and these other agencies to stop the whistles and minimize the rumbling of the trains.

FAIRMONT-91 FREEWAY INTERCHANGE

A Fairmont bridge over the Santa Ana River and a Fairmont-91 interchange is an interesting concept. Caltrans has reviewed it and I think its something we should investigate further. Even with an Imperial/Esperanza bridge, traffic will still continue to bottleneck at La Palma. A Fairmont interchange would significantly relieve congestion on Imperial and reduce traffic on Esperanza and La Palma.