COSTA MESA : Street to Get Speed Signs and Crosswalk

The City Council has ordered speed-limit signs and a crosswalk in a Fullerton Avenue block that a resident complained is made dangerous by speeding cars.

James Italiano approached the city last fall and asked that Fullerton Avenue be closed at 20th Street to keep commuter traffic out of his neighborhood.

Italiano said the block on which he lives, between 19th and 20th streets, is being used by commuters as a short cut to the Costa Mesa Freeway.

The commuters often exceed the 25-m.p.h. speed limit, Italiano said, endangering people who are trying to cross the street. Italiano also said the block is the scene of many accidents and has become very noisy because of the extra traffic.

City officials studied the traffic patterns and said there are about 1,500 cars per day. Other neighborhood streets are carrying 1,200 to 5,400 cars per day, the study said. The study did not recommend closing the street and said there are not enough cars to warrant installing speed bumps.

According to the study, there have been six accidents on the street in the last two years and there have not been an unusual number of them in Italiano’s block.

The report said no significant changes need be made but suggested that signs pointing out the 25-m.p.h. speed limit could help slow down traffic.

The council also voted to install a crosswalk at the east side of the intersection of Fullerton Avenue and East 19th Street. A unanimous decision was made to ask the Police Department to patrol the block at least one day every three months.

Italiano said after the meeting that he was pleased by the effort by the city to study the situation, and said he was hopeful that the changes would make his neighborhood safer.