CITY MAY ADD SPEED BUMPS; RESIDENTS OFFER TO SPLIT COSTS.

Byline: Angela M. Lemire Staff Writer

Persistence might pay off tonight for residents who set out to put the brakes on traffic problems on Old Orchard neighborhood roads - but it also might cost them.

The City Council - scheduled to meet at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall, 23920 Valencia Blvd. - will consider a joint funding agreement between the city and Old Orchard I and II homeowner associations. The contract would split the $70,000 cost to install 27 speed bumps in an effort to reduce speeding and cut-through traffic on six public streets.

The proposal also calls for the installation of a traffic circle and related landscaping, but the city would fund the $30,000 expense for those.

Each of the two homeowner associations, which represent a total of 827 homes between Wiley Canyon Road and Lyons Avenue, would contribute $17,500 in four years, said city engineer Bahman Janka.

If the City Council approves the traffic measures and joint funding agreement, speed bumps will be installed on Avenida Rondel, Avinida Rotella, Avenida Ronada, Avenida Crescenta, Avenida Entrans and Avenida Cappela. The traffic circle would be at Tournament Road and Avenida Crescenta.

The plan would serve as a pilot program for other traffic-control measures throughout the city, Janka said. City engineers will monitor the effects of the roadwork for 18 months after it is completed.

Studies and surveys found speeding and cut-through traffic - residents' most common complaints to the city traffic division - to be as common as in other neighborhoods, according to city engineers.

Traffic consultants who performed license plate surveys found that most vehicles through Old Orchard were local residents, but a significant number were taking a short-cut through the neighborhood.

Old Orchard residents' cooperation with studies and persistence made their neighborhoods likely candidates for the pilot program, Janka said.

``They first approached us in 1997 and have been quite vocal and proactive in getting these traffic calming measures for the roads,'' he said. ``They were very proactive and willing to go beyond looking at additional police patrols to enforce speed limits.''

Both homeowner associations have approved the proposals by majority votes, in which 74 percent of households in Old Orchard I and 67 percent in Old Orchard II voted, according to a city study.

Some concerns focused on Avinida Rondel, where Old Orchard Elementary School is located.