For the folks in Olinda Village, the decade-long battle is in its final stages. The long sought-after traffic signal on Carbon Canyon Road is now under construction. The signal will operate for two locations, the main entrance to Hollydale Mobile Home Estates and for Olinda Drive.
As has been stated before a couple of times, understandable though the frustrations may be of area residents battling to access Carbon Canyon Road, there is a two-fold broader contextual issue.
First, other areas of Carbon Canyon have the same fundamental problem without the opportunity for mitigation.
Second, traffic signals help cross-traffic entering the arterial roadway, but actually serve to slow down the drive on the latter.
For now, one signal at Olinda Village will, for the most part, not make much of a difference, though there will be times when commuters are noticeably slowed.
But, there are two proposed signals on the Chino Hills side, one at Canon Lane and the other at Canyon Hills Road that, if built, will only add to the problem of slowing traffic moving through the Canyon.
This is compounded by the recent lowering of the speed limit on the Chino Hills side by five to ten miles per hour (45 or 40 down to 35 in most areas, and from 50 to 45 in one stretch) which will also reduce commute times.
Meantime, as the orange sign states, there will be traffic interruptions for at least eight months.
It is a shame that, after 95 years of existence as a through road, Highway 142 is now losing some of its rural (semi-rural, to some) character as its first traffic signal reflects a transformation of the Canyon that will only worsen as more homes are approved and built, at least two more signals installed, and the character of the place further compromised.
2 comments:
I'm glad I no longer have to commute into Orange County. Installing even one signal down in Olinda is going to devastate an already slow drive home through there in the afternoons.
Hello Samson, thanks for commenting. Now that school has started everywhere, the slow crawl westbound in the morning has returned and the late afternoon eastbound rush hour(s) are as packed as ever. One signal will slow matters down somewhat at those times and one wonders if speeding drivers are going to run the light when people are trying to access Carbon Canyon Road. Some years from now, there will likely be two signals added to the Chino Hills side. Then, we'll see some significant slowing. By then, at least 192 and probably more homes will be in the pipeline on the Chino Hills portion of the Canyon and we'll see if the 165-unit Canyon Crest development in Brea is revived. The prescription just isn't good for the future of traffic and general livability in Carbon Canyon if these trends continue.
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