In the late 1990s the City and City Council worked with Los Angeles County to start the widening and straightening of Hacienda Rd. to become a 4 lane wide highway, though it was called a "2 lane" highway.
Funding had already been approved, and a construction schedule was proposed.
Overwhelming and vocal oppostion by residents was able to get it stopped.
Subsequently, the name of the road was changed from "Hacienda Boulevard" to "Hacienda Road".
The new General Plan designates Hacienda to remain a 2 lane road in its current width and alignment.
Below is the history and supporting documents of that proposal.
Residents must always be vigilant to protect our rural environment and stand ready to defeat threats.
It only takes 3 members of the City Council to make changes to our unique City.
At the April 13th City Council meeting, the subject of a town meeting came up.
Council members wanted a meeting before that to have the County go over the plan.
It was discussed whether to have the meeting open to the public or be just for the Council.
City Manager Sheryl Lindsey stated that the meeting should be open to the public. And so it shall.
County informational meeting is expected early to mid May. Stay tuned >>>>>>
January 13th City Council Meeting
At the City Council meeting on January 13th, Greg Kelley of the LA County Public Works Dept reported on the Hacienda Blvd project. He said that, after having met with several residents, the County decided that they should back out of the project and leave it to the City to complete the project as designed or come up with another project (or none at all).
Editorial Comment: It seems a little "too good to be true" that after the State and County have been trying for 40 years to put a high volume road through Hacienda Blvd (see links below) that they decide to give it all up after a couple of residents ask them questions and residents speak against it at a Council meeting.
The proposed project is a, five lane width (58 feet), two lane road with a center turning lane and bike lanes. In 1995 the County told the Council that the bike lanes would become travel lanes when traffic volume increased.
A stream of residents, from all across the City, spoke in adamant opposition to the project. Most stated that the road should remain in its current width and alignment and that steps should be taken to reduce speeds and volume of cars.
One of the memorable comments of the evening was that of John Rowlands who said that he has ridden his bike all across the country and has never seen a 10 foot wide bike lane. The County proposal was a 4 lane highway in disguise.
Mr. Kelly stated that some portion of the $4.5 million programmed for construction may be available for the City to use.
In 1990, $897,000 had been allocated for design work and environmental reports. Mr Kelly estimated that around a hundred thousand of that had probably been spent already.
The Council decided to hold a "Town Meeting" on Hacienda Blvd in the near future to get resident input on the future of the road. Stay tuned for date and time.
Funding for the first phase, from East Rd to the Orange County line was committed by the California Transportation Commission at its meeting December 8th and 9th. See CTC Document excerpts
Plans call for the curves at Canada Sombre, south of Avocado Crest, and several others to be straightened.
The road will be widened to accommodate a travel lane in each direction, a center turning lane, and bike lanes.
County Officials also stated that truck traffic will no longer need to be prohibited.
Traffic volume is estimated to increase to 33,000 cars per day. Speed limit, initially set to 35 m.ph. will need to be raised as 85th percentile speed increases. Harbor Blvd, with similar design, has 45 mp.h. limit with vehicles regularly traveling over 75 mp.h. and occassionally over 100 m.p.h.
In the 1960s, the "39 Freeway" was proposed to go through the Hacienda Blvd area. This was defeated by massive opposition of residents. (The link is a Quicktime2 movie)
In the late 1980s another proposal for straightening and widening met vigorous opposition by residents.
In February 1994, the County submitted a plan to Congress for Federal funding to turn Hacienda Blvd into a 5 lane Highway 39. (This is a must read to understand why the County is not going to settle for a 2 lane road.) The plan states:
The 1994 Project Funding Request goes on to say:
Fortunately, this was not funded.
A July 1994 County report shows Hacienda Blvd with a slightly below average accident rate. The report also says that bike lanes are not necessary due to low useage. It also says that 4 travel lanes would be good for both current and future volumes.
Residents are concerned over the speeds of cars and the speed limit but, several County documents state that the speed limit on a widened and straightened Hacienda Blvd will not be set until AFTER the road is built.
Residents who do not want to see reduced property values, easy criminal access, more noise and air pollution just so more cars travel through town at higher speeds have formed a group called "Maintain Our Rural Environment" - M.O.R.E. - to stop the project.
M.O.R.E. members believe that Hacienda can be maintained in its current alignment with steps taken to slow down and reduce traffic to levels that can be safely accomodated. Please email MORE or call 697-7711 if you want to join MORE or find out more information.