Second study set for intersection

The Newport Beach traffic affairs committee has agreed to conduct a

second study of an area near Eastbluff Elementary School, responding

to parents’ ongoing concerns about pedestrian safety.

At the committee’s monthly meeting Wednesday, with two Eastbluff

parents in attendance, city traffic engineer Rich Edmonston announced

that his department would conduct studies of two major intersections

near the school to see if they warranted crossing guards. The

parents, who are currently petitioning the city to install guards

after school, were pleased by Edmonston’s decision.

“I think it’s great,” said Jennifer Mannon, who wrote the

petition. “I’m pleasantly surprised. They know it’s an issue.”

Last week, the traffic affairs committee ran a study of one of the

intersections near Eastbluff -- at Eastbluff Drive and Bixia Street

-- and found that not enough elementary school children passed

through it to meet the state requirement for a crossing guard.

According to state law, a stop-sign-controlled crossing must have 500

vehicles and 40 children during an hour to warrant adult supervision.

When the committee studied two sides of the intersection of

Eastbluff and Bixia last week, it counted only 20 children walking

without an adult. However, in the new study, the committee plans to

monitor all four sides of the intersection and also to inspect the

crossing of Vista del Oro and Vista del Sol, located right outside

the school. In addition, Edmonston said the officials would tally

cars, which they did not do in the previous survey.

Assistant city manager Dave Kiff, a member of the Traffic Affairs

Committee, said the group would consider the new results at its

November meeting, and possibly make an official recommendation if

they saw enough need.

“If there’s enough enthusiasm for it, I imagine we could get it on

the next City Council meeting” agenda, Kiff said.

Early this month, a group of Eastbluff parents began serving as

volunteer crossing guards at the two intersections, wearing orange

vests and leading children across the street with stop signs. The

Newport Beach Police Department ordered the parents to end their

shifts because they were not trained to direct traffic.

The parents willingly put away their signs but have continued the

petition drive, collecting signatures door-to-door in the Eastbluff

neighborhood. Along with the elementary school, Corona del Mar High

School and Our Lady Queen of Angels private school are also in the

area.

Edmonston said he did not know if the new study would meet state

standards, but he acknowledged that the Eastbluff area had safety

problems.

“Of the locations in the city that don’t have crossing guards,

this is probably the hairiest,” he said.