Orinda council approves several traffic changes, delays Ivy Drive pilot after resident safety concerns

Orinda City Council on April 7 approved a package of traffic and timing changes intended to reduce cut-through traffic in the Ivy/Coral neighborhood, but the council decided not to remove the north-end no-left-turn restriction on Ivy Drive pending further safety measures and data. The split vote came after residents described recent crashes and said removing the sign before sidewalks and other protections would endanger children who walk to local schools.

The city engineer, identified in the meeting as SA, presented a one-year pilot that would remove the existing no-left-turn at the north end of Ivy Drive, add or retime several other restricted-turn signs (including changes on Moraga Way and Eastwood), adjust signal timing to prioritize Moraga Way, and implement Coral Drive safety measures such as striping and a new four-way stop at Coral and Ardith. SA said staff expects the pilot’s primary data-collection window to be the school period between August and December, with consultant counts and analysis returned to council around February. "We are proposing this as a pilot program and asking that this be approved for like a one-year term," SA said during the presentation.

Residents and parents urged caution. "Why take away the no-left-turn sign?" asked Eileen Shy, one of several speakers who told the council the restriction had been put in place years ago to protect pedestrians and that removing it would open a "floodgate" of traffic. Nicole Carter McIll, who walks children to school along Coral Drive, described a recent rollover crash near the walking route and told council, "Removing the no-left-turn before these safety improvements are completed would increase that risk at the worst possible time." Multiple other commenters asked the council to complete the Coral sidewalk and increase enforcement before any pilot removing the restriction proceeded.

Law enforcement said some enforcement is already underway. The Police Chief reported targeted enforcement in the corridor since the council’s February workshop: "we have over 30 traffic-initiated stops due to speeding" and noted 18 citations had been issued, adding that the department deployed trailer speed and enforcement assets where feasible.

Council members debated the tradeoffs between engineering, enforcement, and outreach. Several members urged immediate implementation of the Coral Drive striping, the new four-way stop at Coral and Ardith, and changes to signal timing so those measures would be in place before any pilot began. Others argued the only way to know the effect of removing the Ivy restriction was to test it directly and collect license-plate–reader and count-based data.

In the end, council adopted a narrowed package: staff will proceed with the Coral Drive striping and intersection changes, the timing adjustments to the traffic signals, and the other time-of-day turn restrictions recommended in the staff report, but the council voted not to remove the Ivy Drive no-left-turn sign as part of a pilot. The consolidated motion to implement the recommended changes excluding the Ivy change passed 4–1 (four ayes, one nay). Mayor and council directed staff to ensure the Coral improvements and signal-timing work are in place well before any pilot removal of the Ivy sign and to return with fall counts and analysis for council review.

What happens next: Staff said the Coral improvements and stop-sign installation can be implemented administratively and will be pursued immediately; the left-turn sign changes and any pilot actions would not be implemented before August if approved later. Staff also committed to deploying consultant counts, camera-based license-plate reads and police speed trailers during the August–December school period and to present findings to council in the winter for a decision on any permanent changes.

Council members asked staff to continue exploring additional measures raised in the meeting—temporary delineators, potential speed cushions where feasible and approved by fire authorities, a school-hour reduced speed limit, and longer-term sidewalk construction funded through the capital-improvement program. Several members also asked staff to explore whether camera-based enforcement or additional automated approaches might be possible through state-level or legislative changes for school safety enforcement.

The discussion highlighted the council’s effort to balance resident safety, school access and neighborhood livability while producing measurable data to guide long-term policy.