Traffic in Lake Forest - Summary

We spent the last two weeks talking about traffic in Lake Forest.

PEOPLE AREN’T HAPPY

On last Monday we reported that at the 3 recent traffic forums only 2 of 39 people expressed any favorable comments about the traffic in the City or the way that the City is handling it, and only 2 of 136 comments were positive. Indeed many of the comments were very negative about how badly the City was handling traffic problems in the City.

We also added that among cities in South Orange County, our residents were more concerned with traffic congestion than anyone else.

THERE IS A TRAFFIC TSUNAMI COMING

On Wednesday we discussed the current traffic situation and the upcoming “Traffic Tsunami” in which 42,000+ new vehicle trips are going to be added to the City in the near future.

TRAFFIC LIGHT SYNCHRONIZATION IS PROBLEMMATIC

On Thursday we looked at the City’s still unfinished traffic light synchronization plans, and pointed out that even a well-functioning fully built-out system has flaws. That being said, the City’s system is neither well-functioning nor fully built out, and even when that happens, the system will still be de-railed by pedestrians wishing to use cross-walks and cars entering the main arteries from side streets.

TINKERING WITH INTERSECTIONS IS OK, BUT NO CURE

On Friday we looked at the City’s $10,000,000+ plan to tinker with intersections, and pointed out that all the critical intersections were not being impacted and the basic striping and lane additions, while helpful, were hardly a panacea for the magnitude of the traffic congestion problem.

WE NEED REAL SOLUTIONS

This week on Monday we started a discussion of urban re-design – an approach that offers real solutions because it deals with reducing traffic congestion. We noted that many parts of the City were designed to create congestion, and with some minor changes these problems could be resolved. We began looking at the streets closest to the 5 Freeway and we saw how minor changes with minimal expense and disruption could relieve traffic congestion at one of the worst spots in the City. On Tuesday we looked at Raymond Way North, where the Post Office is located, another of the many choke points along El Toro Rd. Wednesday we looked at Raymond Way South and yesterday we looked throughout the City, including Prairie Ridge, Serrano Park, and Hidden Lakes

SUMMARY

People are unhappy with the way the City has been handling the traffic problem and the City’s two main programs (synchronization and intersection tinkering) will help, but are hardly a panacea. They are expensive, and time consuming, and will not impact the major problem – too many cars going to the same places at the same time.

To solve this critical problem,, we noted that poor urban design has contributed to traffic congestion by forcing hundreds (and in some cases thousands) or cars to enter/exit on one street. In some cases a second entrance/exit could be made easily, and in other cases the costs would be minimal.

These alternatives need to be carefully considered and the impacted communities need to be involved. But if enacted, we can see a real reduction in traffic congestion by diverting hundreds/thousands of cars from major arteries. Not only would we see a reduction in congestion, we’d also see the creation of short cuts throughout the City, saving people time and money. In addition to having minimal costs, these changes could be made in months, not decades.

There are several more real solutions to consider, including public transport and alternative travel modes – we’ll consider these in a future series.

It should be clear that a Traffic Commission is sorely needed, where innovative solutions can be worked out. The City has failed to deliver an adequate solution and instead we are about to be buried in more traffic than ever before. For reasons that are unknown, the existing Council members refuse to even look at this issue, instead they reject the idea each time it is brought up. Perhaps the first thing we should do to solve our traffic problems is to show the incumbents (Voigts, McCullough, and Bass) the exit lane.