Editor,
Spending too much time in traffic jams on Laguna Canyon Road makes you think that there must be a better way to manage the traffic flow to and from Laguna Beach, using Laguna Canyon Road.
This is my solution:
- Build a (four-lane) tunnel connecting Phillips Street (or just north of Phillips Street) to the junction of El Toro and SR-73 (#1 in picture).
- Widen Philips Street (or just north of Phillips Street) and connect it to Laguna Canyon Road (#2 in picture) on one end, and to the new tunnel on the other end.
- All traffic out of Laguna Beach (travelling on Laguna Canyon Road north) will be diverted through the new tunnel and back to Laguna Canyon Road through the current on/off ramps of SR-73/El Toro and Laguna Canyon Road. And in reverse for traffic travelling south into Laguna Beach.
- Close the following roads to all traffic in both directions:
- From the junction of El Toro and SR-73, to the junction of El Toro and Laguna Canyon Road (#3 in the picture)
- From the junction of Laguna Canyon Road and SR-73, to the junction of Laguna Canyon Road and El Toro (#4 in the picture)
- Remove the traffic lights and place a turnabout at the current location of the junction of Laguna Canyon Road and El Toro (#5 in the picture). The only traffic travelling north on Laguna Canyon Road beyond Phillips Street will go either to Anneliese Schools or Willow Staging Area.
- Create a parking area for park and ride in the junction of Laguna Canyon Road and SR-73 (#6 in the picture).
- During heavier traffic, limit the pedestrian road crossing by Laguna College of Art & Design to every three to five minutes.
- Free the Toll Roads (73, 241, 261 and 91).Benefits of this approach:
- Streamlining the traffic in and out of Laguna Beach using Laguna Canyon Road with minimal environmental impact:
- No need to widen Laguna Canyon Road from Phillips Street north to the junction of SR-73
- No need to chop off any trees along Laguna Canyon Road
- Reclaim the area between the two closed roads (#4) and return it to wilderness/open space
- Minimal impact of local traffic during construction
- Easy access to/from both Anneliese Schools and Willow Staging Area
Yori Neumark, Laguna Woods
Need to limit the amount of cars.. Need a large park and ride at the 405 and laguna canyon and then a monorail that takes people into laguna. There is limited parking in Laguna and heavy traffic. A monorail that runs from the farmers market to the 405 would reduce vehicular traffic and not disturb the ecosystem in the canyon
This is not a realistic solution.
Laguna can never build roads nor parking faster than Europe Japan and Detroit can build cars. Traffic congestion is not a design problem, it demands a policy solution. Watch for candidates who support one, incumbents don’t.