LA CANADA FLINTRIDGE -- A new solution to an old traffic problem has environmentalists worried about its impact on a local park. The morning rush hour on Oak Grove Drive in La Canada Flintridge creates daily jams, with more than 2,000 students heading to La Canada High School and some 5,000 employees arriving at Jet Propulsion Library.

Parents driving north on the two-lane road create gridlock while waiting to turn left in the school's parking lot, said Steve Castellanos, La Canada Flintridge Public Works Director.

Solving the problem is a long-standing goal for city officials, but the simplest answer expanding the road is hampered by nearby Hahamongna Park. Pasadena owns the land immediately east of Oak Grove Drive, so any changes require Pasadena approval.

Staff from both cities have been working together to find a solution. One alternative proposed by Pasadena is to route school traffic through the parking lot at Oak Grove Park, a tree-shaded picnic area directly opposite the high school. Steve Wright, a Pasadena Public Works principal engineer, discussed the plans at a Pasadena Recreation and Parks meeting July 2.

The announcement surprised local parks activists, who want Hahamongna Park preserved as a natural area.

Mary Barrie, president of the La Canada Trails Council, said she was concerned about the number of cars that would travel through the Oak Grove Park, a tree-shaded picnic area and the focus of an ongoing habitat restoration project.

"I'm very happy the two cities are working together I think that bodes well for the park in general. But I think using the park for non-park traffic sets a bad precedent," she said.

"I want just as much as anybody to see a solution to the traffic problems down there, but I hope the situation can be solved another way," said Barrie, who boards her horse in Hahamongna Park.

Another proposal under consideration would add a student drop-off on the east side of Oak Grove by bumping out the street into Hahamongna Park, but only near the school.

La Canada Flintridge added a similar drop-off curb to the west side of Oak Drive last year and plans to install a traffic signal at the north entrance to the school's parking lot this summer.

No decisions have been made and it's up to Pasadena to decide what, if any, changes will occur, Castellanos said.

"It is their city and we are kind of at the mercy of what they're going to allow there," he said.

-- Becky Oskin can be reached at (626) 578-6300, Ext. 4451, or by e-mail at becky.oskinsgvn.com.