Residents hope light means safety

June Casagrande

Inexperienced drivers making a left turn out of Sage Hill School will

have a safer path thanks to a traffic signal turned on Tuesday.

The $400,000 signal was installed in front of the school on

Newport Coast Drive near the Corona del Mar Freeway offramp just as

the young school has its first senior class. The city paid about 75%

of the cost of the signal, with the school paying the difference.

Public Works Director Steve Badum said that the signal was expensive

because it was more complicated than most.

The unusual layout of the intersection actually required equipment

for two different traffic lights to help drivers exiting the freeway

offramp to make their way to the school entrance.

“It’s essentially two signalized intersections,” Badum said. “It

was a complicated design, and we think it will work very well.”

Jim McGee, chairman of the Newport Coast Advisory Committee that

represents Newport Coast residents to the city, hailed the move as an

important step in the relationship between Newport Beach and its

newly annexed residents -- a step above and beyond the city’s

obligation. The traffic signal was the first public improvement by

the city in Newport Coast. And it’s notable, he said, that the work

was not required by a pre-annexation agreement.

“I think it shows that they are interested in improving traffic

safety in Newport Coast,” McGee said, “and it shows that they’re

responsive to the concerns of the residents.”

Newport Coast was annexed to the city in January 2002 after many

residents agreed that the move could bring services better than the

county was providing the unincorporated area.

“We were quite surprised the county had not required a signal

there in the first place,” Badum said.

With the yearlong process of planning and installing the traffic

signal behind them, city staff are now looking toward improving a

hazardous traffic situation near the entrance to the New Crystal Cove

Promenade shopping center on Coast Highway. Badum said that drivers

who want to enter the shopping center often think they see an

driveway entrance where there isn’t one.

Badum said the city is working with Caltrans to install barriers

and improve striping there to prevent any problems before they occur.