Sun 25 Feb 2007
Traffic a Mess in the City on Saturday
Posted by admin under City of Santa Clarita , Local [8] CommentsThe traffic around the town center for most of Saturday was a complete mess. The question has to be asked; what would have possessed the City of Santa Clarita to close off McBean Parkway between Valencia Blvd. and Magic Mountain Parkway on a Saturday? Most folks are trying to run errands, shop or take there children to sports or ballet classes.
It certainly hurt some small businesses. Speaking with a waitress at a restaurant on town center drive she said; “Our place was dead on Friday night when they started setting up and now (Saturday night) it is half empty when it should be full.†No doubt though that City officials will claim success.
She went onto ask; “Why would they start setting up while people are going out on a Friday night? Why not just do the set up ay 2:00 AM in the morning! There was a sense of frustration among some that the event was not well thought out by City officials.
Did you experience traffic delays? Would it have been better to do this on a Sunday instead? Was there a better location to do the street closure that may have been less disruptive? We would like to hear from you, good or bad, just click on the comments button above and send us a note. Â
February 25th, 2007 at 7:53 am
I was stuck in some awful traffic on McBean Parkway trying to get to the event. We just decided it was not worth it and turned around. I’m not sure if it was best to close of street in front of the mall, that is one of the busiest areas in the valley. The City should look at other areas next time.
February 25th, 2007 at 10:03 am
The question has to be asked; what would have possessed the City of Santa Clarita to close off McBean Parkway between Valencia Blvd. and Magic Mountain Parkway on a Saturday?
Did you miss the fact that the nation’s biggest bike race was coming through town? You’d have to live under a rock to not know; the city’s massive publicity campaign certainly informed residents of the street closures.
It certainly hurt some small businesses. Speaking with a waitress at a restaurant on town center drive she said; “Our place was dead on Friday night when they started setting up and now (Saturday night) it is half empty when it should be full.â€
One anecdote is not evidence. There were tens of thousands of people on the streets. People came to watch the race from Northern California, Arizona, all over. They stayed in hotels and ate at our restaurants.
Would it have been better to do this on a Sunday instead? Was there a better location to do the street closure that may have been less disruptive?
First off, the Tour of California’s schedule dictated the date of the race and consequent closures, not the City.
And I can’t think of a better location since the Town Center area is as close to a downtown central business district as we’ve got. The width of the roads, the sidewalks etc were all conducive to mass crowds.
James, I’m sorry you couldn’t make it to the event. You would have had a blast seeing those cyclists fly by. I parked at Target at about 12:30 and walked the rest of the way. The City provided a shuttle from the COC parking lot to the event.
February 25th, 2007 at 10:24 am
The event was well publicized, and having no business on that end of town, I just stayed away.
Friends of mine went down for the family ride and had a great time.
February 25th, 2007 at 11:58 am
I agree, we were in gridlock at the Kohl’s shopping center at McBean and Valencia. The parking lot was over loaded with cars and it took 25 minutes to get out of there.
Hopefully the City will do batter next time, it was very inconvienent!!
February 25th, 2007 at 6:07 pm
I agree with Jeff and Chris – the City went all out in advertising the event and the road closures for weeks in advance. It would have been hard to miss the notifications. The event took place in front of the mall because that’s the City’s “showplace” and near many restaurants and the main hotel of the ride. No doubt all the hotels in the SCV were completely booked (even the ones in Stevenson Ranch!) and many tourist dollars were brought in. I thought it was a fantastic event and I hope the City can do it again.
February 26th, 2007 at 5:22 am
My take on this is that with any event there is room for improvement. The city could and should do a better job at handling traffic flow during large events. I personally was quite aware of the event but felt that there were un-necessary delays around town. There could have been much better planning to accommodate the influx of traffic.
Hopefully the City will do a postmortem on the event and look at where there can be improvements. Every event can be better, can have some improvements and the City should not be above constructive criticism.
-Dave
February 26th, 2007 at 6:13 am
I have to agree with Dave, the city could have done better with the traffic. It was somewhat disorganized from my standpoint. That means city workers need to strive for improvements the next time they do a big event.
February 26th, 2007 at 9:01 am
I would echo Bill and Dave’s comments. The City of Santa Clarita needs to be better at managing the traffic in and around the mall anytime they do an event. Not everyone in the valley will attend every event so less disruption on our streets would be better.