‘Super Street’ to Proceed Without Any Overpasses

The project to transform Beach Boulevard into a 19.5-mile “super street” from the ocean north to its terminus in La Habra will proceed without any overpasses, the Orange County Transportation Commission decided Monday.

Because of objections by Huntington Beach to an overpass at Warner Avenue and by Buena Park to an overpass at La Palma Avenue, the commission dropped plans for those traffic improvements.

The commission adopted the final report on the initial super-street study project and approved the start of the second phase, a $4-million program involving widening the street and intersections, coordinating traffic signals and establishing turnouts so buses can stop without blocking traffic.

Property Acquisition

A staff report said traffic at the intersection of Beach Boulevard and La Palma Avenue could be improved as much by widening the intersection as by constructing an overpass there, but “will involve a substantial amount of property acquisition.”

In Huntington Beach, the report said merely widening the intersection at Warner Avenue will not provide the same benefits as an overpass and will only improve traffic for the next three to five years.

“We still have a little bit of concern over what should be done” at Warner Avenue, said Stan Oftelie, the commission’s executive director. He said the commission felt it would be up to Huntington Beach to take charge of improving the intersection because state funds available to build a flyover or overpass probably would not be allocated to widen the street.

In addition, a suggested overpass at Imperial Highway in La Habra was deferred. The report said the overpass there would not be necessary for 15 years.

‘Really Unusual’ Cooperation

The county and 14 cities in Orange County agreed on the planned improvements to Beach Boulevard, cooperative action that Oftelie called “really unusual.”

“Usually these types of plans are put together piecemeal,” Oftelie said. “Some cities widen (a street), some don’t. If they synchronize signals, they don’t synchronize with cities next to them.”

The boulevard, which is also California 39, will be widened and restriped to eight lanes between Lincoln Avenue and Artesia Freeway (California 91), and restriped to six lanes between Manchester Avenue and Franklin Street.

There will be coordinated traffic signals and bus turnouts along all 19.5 miles, with phased left-turn signals installed at six intersections: Ellis Avenue, Talbert Avenue, McFadden Avenue, Cerritos Avenue, Artesia Boulevard and Malvern Avenue.

The overall improvement program, including at least the three overpasses, was estimated at $24 million. Oftelie said he was unsure of the final figure with the overpasses deleted, but noted the cost of widening Beach Boulevard at LaPalma was about the same as building an overpass there.