YORBA LINDA : Altering of Parade Route to be Studied

The city staff will study the feasibility of changing the route of the annual Fiesta Days Parade and Street Faire to include the Nixon Library and Birthplace.

The City Council ordered the study of a possible route change after a volunteer group in charge of the parade asked that the route be changed from Main Street, where it has been for 22 years, to a stretch of Yorba Linda Boulevard between Casa Loma Avenue and Park Place.

Suzanne Miller, a Yorba Linda Service League representative, said the old route requires the closing of Imperial Highway and ignores the new library.

But Robert Ward, a representative of the Main Street Merchants’ Assn., said the change would be made “at the expense of a lot of people. I doubt Mr. Nixon would want his library promoted at the expense of local merchants.”

The study will also consider expanding the route to include both Main Street and the Nixon Library. But some council members expressed reluctance to consider such a plan because it would involve the closing of two major streets, Imperial Highway and Yorba Linda Boulevard.

However, city engineer Roy Stephenson said that if the route is expanded, “we’ll obviously find the traffic-control measures necessary to make it work.”