City OKs Stop Signs Near Nutrilite Plant

Eight new stop signs will go up and a number of left-turn restrictions will be posted in a neighborhood near the Nutrilite Products Inc. plant at 5600 Beach Blvd., city officials decided this week.

Residents north of Artesia Boulevard between Beach and Stanton Avenue have seen traffic increase in both volume and speed in connection with operation of the Nutrilite facility.

“People have expressed concern about nonresidents driving through this neighborhood at a high rate of speed and threatening the safety of their children,” city traffic engineer Paul Grimm told the City Council.

Traffic studies show that about 1,100 nonresidents a day use the streets as a shortcut to Beach, Grimm said.

After several meetings with residents last summer, the Traffic Commission suggested a two-way left-turn lane on Darlington Avenue between Artesia and Franklin Avenue.

Other new measures, approved by the council Tuesday, include a right-turn-only lane on Franklin at Beach, restricting left turns from Artesia onto Darlington during rush hour and installing stop signs at four intersections in the neighborhood.

Councilman Donald L. Bone cast the only dissenting vote, saying that “people will get a false sense of security from this. The whole area is already ‘Stop-Signs R Us.’ ”

But resident Laurie Armstrong spoke up for the measures. “My concern is the safety of the children,” she said. “We’ve had five children hit by cars in that area.”