Saddleback Ranch Road Gets Tagged

The strange saga of Saddleback Ranch Road (SRR) continued last night with a meeting of the Traffic Advisory Committee (TAG).

For more than two months, Portola Hills residents have been complaining about the changes made to SRR (Click Here). At first the City was completely unresponsive, assuring everyone that we would have to wait until it was finished before any changes could be made, despite what were obvious flaws that could result in danger to the residents. The City Council didn’t offer much help. Despite the pleas of Councilman Adam Nick and I to put this topic on the agenda so we could make some changes before anyone got hurt, my colleagues, Scott Voigts, Dwight Robinson, and Andy Hamilton voted against it. I was accused of “pandering” to the audience, and my colleagues (Voigts, Robinson, Hamilton) made it clear that they didn’t want the item on the agenda because they didn’t want to listen to what the people had to say.

Then came the online petition in which nearly 1,000 people asked for the City to put the issue on the agenda (Click Here). But the City was steadfast it its position, as were my colleagues Voigts and Hamilton.

Then came the recall petition (Click Here). Suddenly things changed. The meeting with the HOA representatives, which I had been asking for, suddenly took place. Not only did my three colleagues show up, but the City Manager stayed on to sit at a meeting that he normally would not.

Four hours later, some much needed changes were agreed to (Click Here), and then these changes were brought to TAG for further consideration and then to open it up to a wider audience.

More than two dozen people showed up to the meeting, which is normally attended by only me and Bob Holzclaw. About half the audience wore red in support of the changes.

The first hour or so was taken up by TAG business (electing Scott Drapkin Chairman and John Irish Vice-Chair) and then a history session by the consultant Joe Faust which, to me, made no more sense that his original workshops 3 years ago which led us to the position we’re in now. The group found it interesting that all these plans to reduce speed and improve safety had no underlying data to support them.

Several people spoke –

Grady G – “What happened last night was a great leap forward”

Scott D – “It’s no good to go comboy”

Derek – “It’s not easy to satisfy everyone”

Tim R – “Be careful what you ask for”

Generally speaking people were in favor of the changes. Steve K pointed out that Shady Ridge is still a problem, and Sue H is still worried about the potential to evacuate the area quickly.

At the end of the meeting, there was agreement to stick with the recommended changes –

· Narrow the width of the medians

· Add dedicated 5’ bike lanes on both sides of SRR

· Consider changes to the “bulb outs”, including bike lanes going through the bulb outs.

· Improve the drainage issues

When asked what the next steps were, Public Works Director Tom Wheeler said “Honestly I’m not sure.” His best guess was

1. Get the new design finished

2. Get the design approved by the engineer

3. Negotiate with the contractor

4. Figure out how much it would cost

5. If necessary, bring it to the Council

There’s also a need to bring the final design back for public comment which wasn’t included in his steps, but which he spoke about later.

Stay tuned. Because my colleagues voted against putting the issue on the agenda, we won’t be able to speak directly to the issue on Nov 3, our next Council meeting. But during Council Comments I will make a motion to put this on the agenda for Nov 17, and if I get 2 more people to agree with me, we will move forward.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr. Jim Gardner is on the City Council for Lake Forest. You can check him out on LinkedIn and/or Facebook and you can share your thoughts about the City at Lake Forest Town Square on Facebook. His comments are not meant to reflect official City Policy.

Dr. Gardner has office hours every Tuesday from 4 pm to 6 pm at the City Hall. In addition, he holds a Town Hall meeting every quarter. The next meeting will be on Dec 12 at 2 pm at the Foothill Ranch Public Library.