Valley View St, Garden Grove

Valley View Street is a major north/south thoroughfare in Garden Grove and Cypress. To the north, it continues to Telegraph Road in South Whittier and to the south it ends at Warner Ave about a mile from Pacific Coast Highway and Huntington State Beach. In all it’s about 15 miles long and has always been a good way to get to the beach from the inland communities of Whittier, La Mirada and La Habra.

I used to take this route to the beach in high school, but was always frustrated by the stretch of Valley View that passes through Garden Grove just north of intersection of the 405 and 22 freeways. Poorly-timed stop lights and heavy traffic headed to and from the freeway always slowed down progress. Once past the 405 traffic would clear and it would be smooth sailing to the beach.

Fast forward a few decades and I find myself working off Valley View in Cypress. The street still has the same traffic problems. An added twist is that a couple of red-light cameras have been installed to catch drivers who let their frustration take over and try to slide through on the tail end of a yellow light.

The street itself is nice enough with a couple of shopping centers, a bowling alley, cinema, a huge LA Fitness and a good variety of places to grab a quick bite. But I usually seek out the side streets to avoid the stop and go on Valley View. One more warning – drainage on Valley View is poor and after about an hour of heavy rain it floods. People pack up and leave work when a downpour starts to avoid being stuck in a flooded intersection.