More than 30 La Cañada Flintridge residents let the city know Monday that they hate the concrete barriers placed on their neighborhood streets, but the City Council refused their request to move the barriers until federal authorities deem the area safe from mudslides.
Residents of Big Briar Way and Haskell Street said Monday that they want the K-rails, which were installed the winter after the 2009 Station fire, taken out because they are ugly, create hazards and hurt property values.
“The K-rails on Haskell Street have created much more of a problem than anything they were intended to prevent,” said Catherine D'Zurilla, who lives on Haskell.
D'Zurilla told the council that the sandbags surrounding the K-rails trap water, stinking up the neighborhood, and that a K-rail at the Haskell Street curve above Vista del Valle Road frequently causes drivers to swerve into the oncoming lane.
Despite receiving a petition from more than 30 residents, the City Council voted unanimously to abide by the findings made in May by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service and keep the barriers in place until at least next year.