The residents of Portola Hills, CA have great concern regarding the safety of the development of Saddleback Ranch Road. The primary concerns are below:

CA Law AB1371: This law was signed by Gov. Jerry Brown on 9/16/14. This new law requires a minimum of three feet of clearance between motorists and cyclists on the road. The Lake Forest Q&A Sheet explained that there would be sections of the road that would require cars and cyclists to ride parts of the road in a single file fashion. Saddleback Ranch Road has a very steep incline, and stating that a car would have to follow behind a cyclist who can only realistically ride 5 MPH up this hill is not only short-sighted, but it endangers cyclists. Portola Hills is host to numerous cyclists, and Saddleback Ranch Road is a thoroughfare to Santiago Canyon Road. It is not uncommon to see large groups of cyclists throughout the day on Saddleback Ranch Road.
Limited gap between sidewalk and road: Just above Pendleton, above the Portola Hills Elementary School, the center islands engulf most of the road. The islands are 14 feet across, while the actual driving lanes are 13 feet. School children walk on these sidewalks twice a day, to and from school. If a child slips and falls into the street, there is simply not enough room for a car to avoid hitting them. Additionally, these same sidewalks are highly trafficked on weekends with residents with dogs. When faced with an oncoming dog, one of the walking groups MUST walk in the street because there is not enough passing room on the sidewalks. There are 20 inches separating the outside edge of a vehicle from the curb. This limited space endangers people from oncoming traffic, but it also endangers small children faced with aggressive dogs. Dave Rogers from the City stated in an email to a resident that "it is really up to each potential user to determine if they think it is appropriate to use the sidewalk". This is a ridiculous statement because it implies that residents cannot enjoy their own community, which they pay for with their property taxes.
Dangerous Bulb outs: From Concourse Park, heading downhill toward Glenn Ranch Road, there are two bulb outs that are very dangerous. Drivers must swerve out of the way, because the bulb out appears almost as a wall when driving even 25 MPH. Additionally, an unexpected rainfall in September caused a deluge that crossed the road because the City did not create proper drainage for water. The drainage was placed in the wrong location in the bulb outs, forcing fast moving water to actually cut across the lane of traffic, and it caused many residents to hydroplane down the hill.
Lane division at Malabar & SRR: Heading uphill on SRR toward Malabar, drivers are not merging well going up the hill because the developers reduced uphill traffic to one lane, then a right turning lane opens further up the road. The new pedestrian walkways at that intersection are also causing traffic problems. Vehicles have blocked traffic across both lanes because there were pedestrians in the walkway. Additionally, motorists turning left at Malabar on to SRR pull all the way into the pedestrian walkway, which makes it impossible for pedestrians to use. Pedestrians have been observed walking behind the cars, and not using the walkway at all.
Fire evacuation concerns: Portola Hills is a high-risk fire area, and the change in Saddleback Ranch Road's layout will make it much more difficult for residents to evacuate in an emergency. In the 2008 fire evacuation, a main back road was shut down, forcing all homeowners down Saddleback Ranch Road. In today's scenario, homeowners could be stranded because this road will not work well during an evacuation. There are 6,000 homes in Portola Hills. in the event of an emergency evacuation, if any accidents occur on Saddleback Ranch Road during the evacuation, drivers will be trapped on the road, and their lives would be in peril, as was the case in San Diego in 2003, where 15 people lost their lives trying to evacuate. Additionally, the narrow roadways will hardly permit a large firetruck to turn onto side streets because of the limited space the city has provided on the roads.
ACTION REQUESTED: THE RESIDENTS OF PORTOLA HILLS REQUEST THAT THE CITY OF LAKE FOREST MAKE IMMEDIATE REVISIONS TO THE ROADPLAN FOR SADDLEBACK RANCH ROAD. SPECIFICALLY, REDUCING ALL CENTER MEDIANS TO AN APPROPRIATE WIDTH, EXPANDING SIDEWALKS TO PERMIT SAFE PEDESTRIAN CROSSING, CREATING A CLASS ONE BIKE LANE FOR CYCLISTS IN ACCORDANCE WITH LAW AB1371 AND CORRECTING OR REMOVING ALL BULB OUTS. REFUSAL TO ADHERE TO CALIFORNIA LAWS AND BASIC SAFETY WILL INDEMNIFY THE CITY OF LAKE FOREST AND OPEN THEM UP FOR FUTURE LITIGATION.

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