City Council discusses One-Ways, dangerous 105 intersection

Amanda Moreno explains the progress of the Norwalk One-Ways Neighborhood Rehabilitation Program to the city council during their meeting on Tuesday. (Photo by Vincent Medina)

NORWALK - Norwalk City Council heard updates on the One-Ways Neighborhood Rehabilitation Program and efforts to address the frequent collision intersection at 105 Freeway and Studebaker Road during their Tuesday meeting.

One-Ways Neighborhood Rehabilitation Program Update

Amanda Moreno, program administrator and senior management analyst, explained the progress of the Norwalk One-Ways Neighborhood Rehabilitation Program to the city council and shared data detailing the services residents requested.

The council allocated $2 million from American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding to the One Ways Neighborhood Rehabilitation Program in July 2022. The program aims to create healthier living conditions and provide residents living in the one-ways with essential home improvements.

The 85 applicants that applied were told to choose the service they felt was a priority for their home. By going through the applications, staff found 56 roof repair requests, 13 exterior paint, 15 fences and one junk removal request.

However, of the applicants, 40 were approved, 43 were waitlisted and two were denied.

“If someone was waitlisted, this is dependent on the amount of funds available,” Moreno said. “We may be able to approve more than 40, but at this time we’re just moving forward then we’ll work our way down the list dependent on funding.”

The program administrator expects each project to take eight weeks to complete. Therefore, the 40 approved requests will be complete by approximately December. Construction began on the first residence that Tuesday.

Councilmember Rick Ramirez expressed concern that Moreno and the program may need more staff to service the one-way community. The program administrator reassured him she had everything she needed through her staff and the community development team.

“I want to make sure you have every tool to be successful, and so there is no delay in any process,” Ramirez said. “It’s a new program, and there’s a lot of things we need to wrinkle out, so I wanted to make sure this administration gives you everything to have a very successful project.”

Councilmember Jennifer Perez expressed her confidence in Moreno for her attentiveness to the conditions of the ARPA funding.

“Since this is ARPA funded, there’s even more regulations you must follow in order to ensure this funding is complete and filed appropriately,” Perez said. “I know with the details that you’ve provided in the report tonight, I know you’re on top of it.”

Moreno was raised in the one-ways and expressed her desire to give back to her community when she began working for the city. After becoming a senior management analyst, the deputy city manager asked her to spearhead the program.

Frequent collision site at 105 Freeway and Studebaker Road intersection

Ozzie Ramos, the public safety director, presented his plans to address the intersection of the 105 freeway and Studebaker Road, which has become a frequent accident site in the city.

The intersection has an average of three yearly accidents from 2019 to 2022. Accidents have increased this year, with 10 accidents reported year-to-date, and nine out of 10 collisions occurred between 10 pm and 3 am, according to Ramos’ data.

As the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) is responsible for highway conditions, the city is working with them to address the issue.

Ramos expressed that while the incidents belong to Caltrans, as public safety director, he has control over some improvements to make the intersection safer.

The public safety director explained his three-point plan to the council first involves communicating through message boards and increasing lighting at the intersection. Then the city would work to educate residents on traffic safety to reduce accidents.

“My first strategy is consistent with the city’s strategic goal and they can save a livable community,” Ramos said. “Also, it’s been my experience that traffic safety, through education, can also mitigate some of these incidents.”

Ramos emphasized that his third point was to continue outreach to educate residents about the problems in the community.

“Back in 2018, we added signs and lighted signs on the off ramp as a request to Caltrans per our request,” Councilmember Perez said. “We are doing our part, on the part of the city, to that on and off ramp and intersection that we have control over.”

The council noted Caltrans acknowledged the problem with the intersection. City officials plan to bring historical data from past meetings with Caltrans to the upcoming meeting with the department representatives on Aug. 7 to discuss how to proceed.