A city study of how traffic will flow when a squeeze lane is moved is now underway, with crews adding lane change stripes and delineators on East Coast Highway between Irvine Terrace and Carnation Avenue.
“This has been a cause for great angst in the community,” Mayor Nancy Gardner said during Tuesday’s City Council meeting. “It’s not permanent yet. We are giving everyone an experience of it…I want to emphasize this is a test.”
The Corona del Mar Business Improvement District agreed to fund the traffic study, which will explore how traffic is affected if the spot where traffic lanes merge from three to two lanes is moved. Currently, the squeeze lane is near Carnation Avenue, the same spot where MacArthur Boulevard traffic merges onto East Coast Highway. The traffic study will use delineator markers, stripes and signs to move the merger closer to Begonia Avenue.
The results could determine the fate of an entryway beautification project that has been considered since the early 1990s. That project would use the former traffic lane to expand sidewalks, add landscaping and more.
At about 10 p.m. Tuesday, trucks were blocking all but one lane of East Coast Highway. Previously, city officials indicated the test could be left in place for several months.
Read our earlier stories here, here, here and here.
For more information about the traffic lane reduction test call (949) 644-3344.
