Residents voice concerns about increased traffic from Fountain Valley Crossings project

Increased traffic seems to be the main concern of city residents when it comes to the contentious Fountain Valley Crossings project.

The public weighed in on the proposal during a joint study session of the City Council and Planning Commission on Wednesday as Rita Bright, project manager with AMEC Foster Wheeler Environment & Infrastructure Inc., summarized a 456-page environmental impact report — which also anticipates more road congestion.

At 162 acres, the Crossings is being viewed as basically a smaller version of Huntington Beach’s multi-use Bella Tera center.

If approved, it would be located in the southeastern part of the city, an area of warehouses near the Hyundai Motor America campus. Land would need to be rezoned to allow for more business and residential units, with the ultimate goal being to create a money-generating downtown area for the city.

Authorities view it as a way to help alleviate the city’s $1.7-million — and growing — deficit, but residents seem focused on the increased congestion that is almost guaranteed to result.

Patrick Kinsey, a 25-year resident, questioned whether developers would benefit more from the project than residents. Kinsey added that he foresees only “increased traffic, increased noise and pollution.”

Meanwhile, Marti Cope drew attention to the safety of children walking to school during construction.

“What you’re doing now is not allowing kids to walk to school,” she said. “They’ll have to be driven by their parents, which creates more traffic and concern in the school area.”

Bright said that with such a large-scale residential-commercial objective — construction is estimated to take 20 years — traffic will be “unavoidable and significant.”

The EIR says freeway areas will be severely affected, and nearby streets will face increased delays as the project gets underway.

It says that currently there are about 320,000 vehicle trips per day on the 405 and 20,000 to 30,000 residential car trips per day on Euclid and Ellis Avenue, based on data from Caltrans in 2014 and Fountain Valley in 2013.

Bright proposed three alternatives: Eliminate the 491 housing units to increase business and industrial space, increase industrial build-out by 20% or forgo the entire project.

The proposal also calls for creating bikeway and transit corridors, adding traffic signals at Talbert Avenue and Mount Washington Street near the Costco Wholesale and retiming traffic signals on Euclid and Newhope streets and the northbound 405 Freeway ramp.

Unlike surrounding cities, Fountain Valley doesn’t have a central hub for shopping, dining or entertainment. Since 2013, city officials have been discussing the absence of an area of business and economic development and the possibility of creating a downtown area to generate revenue.

John Etheridge, a resident since 1971, was one of the few at the meeting who spoke in support of the Crossings project. He acknowledged traffic would increase, but said he preferred to have a place to hang out with his teenage daughters and wife aside from the local bowling alley and Starbucks.

Residents can comment on the EIR until Feb. 20. Three more meetings to spread awareness will take place: at 6:30 p.m. Monday in council chambers, at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Gisler Elementary School, and at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the Green Valley Community Assn. offices.