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The Wall
This group of palm trees on the Heil Avenue side of the CBTI wall was planted there by the City of Huntington Beach as a buffer to protect the wall.ÊOver the years the wall was hit on numerous occasions by drivers who failed to stop at the Saybrook intersection.ÊThere was one city employee who was known on a first name basis because he spent so much time repairing the CBTI wall.
Most of the incidents resulted in just a hole in the wall, though a few were more serious.ÊOne caused the death of a women who just happened to be walking there when a car hit the wall. A female driver, who it is alleged tried to commit suicide, hit the wall at full speed, went through the wall, across the alley, through a garage, and ended in the back yard of a CBTI townhouse. The woman survived, but was badly injured.ÊThese wall accidents were caused by drivers who were intoxicated, fell asleep, didn't see the stop sign at night, one was reading a map.ÊWhatever the reason the CBTI wall took a beating a number of times over the years.
In an attempt to put a stop to these happenings Huntington Beach tried various remedies.ÊA large STOP sign was installed in front of the wall, that was soon knocked over, then a flashing red light, that was knocked over.ÊRaised dots were planted in the street to alert drivers with a noise, they didn't last long, the residents of the trailer court complained of the noise.ÊFinally, someone in city hall came up with the brilliant idea of building a traffic circle at the intersection, in England they are called roundabouts, only thing is, the people in England know how to use them.ÊFrom the first day this circle was in operation there was nothing but utter confusion, none of the drivers knew what to do.ÊWhich way to enter, how to get out, who has the right of way, what is this thing??? The circle was too small for many larger delivery trucks, the got stuck part way around.ÊThe air was blue with nasty language, and the din of automobile horns was as bad as downtown Havana, Cuba (If you have ever been there you know).ÊAfter weeks, and weeks of complaints the city tore out the traffic circle and restored the three way stop signs.ÊThe holes in the wall continued until the city planted the row of palm trees and shrubbery which is there today. That worked well, except for one incident, the city employees had planted the trees just far enough apart that there was room for a car to go between. You guessed it, a family in an SUV ran the stop sign and drove right through between two palm trees.
The row of trees seems to be doing the job these days, there have been no sounds of tires screeching, or the sound of smashing metal to wake CBTI off water residents. The city employee who spent so much of his time repairing the wall is probably unemployed now, the city planners are relaxing with their feet up on their desks, congratulating each other on how they solved the problem of the dreaded wall.
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