The Sonrise in the Woods development is scheduled to open Easter of 2020. It will bring the mountain communities an auditorium, youth center, recreational facilities, fields, courts and more. Contrary to what some have said, we are not going to pave paradise, construct a massive parking lot, or create new traffic in Lake Arrowhead.
Many have erroneously suggested that our plans include Wal-Mart size parking, multiple stoplights and that we will be responsible for a future of Sig Alerts on Highway 18. That’s not true.
Our plans include a main drive with parking and satellite lots that will spread the parking out over the entire acreage. That will save trees and the view. In fact, we’ve incorporated indigenous trees and plants into the landscaping around the lots.
We’ve been part of the mountain communities for over 30 years and we know how residents feel about traffic lights. We’ve seen the concerns spread on social media and read about them in print. Sometimes reality is different than what you read. There won’t be five, ten, or twenty lights.
The San Bernardino Planning and Traffic Division determined just one will be necessary, and it will be a trip light. Heavy traffic will not be affected by the light. The light interrupts traffic only when vehicles are exiting the property.
According to one study, traffic in the Lake Arrowhead area could increase a little bit. However, the small increase in traffic on Highway 18 should be offset by a decrease in traffic in other places. While we welcome visitors from down the hill, local residents will frequent our facilities the most. So, on any given day, especially Sunday, more traffic might flow to our location. However, the actual number of vehicles on our local roads isn’t going to change much; especially in winter.
Sonrise in the Woods won’t be an asphalt jungle. It won’t cause red light rage. And while traffic patterns might change a bit on certain days, most residents will probably never notice.
The best way to judge the development is to look at the people behind it. We live, work, and worship on the mountain. All the things that keep us here are the things we want to keep.
We recently spotlighted how the development will look in a recent blog. It details the parking lot, the overall plan, as well as the traffic light. We encourage you to check that out and see more of the development for yourself.
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Church of the Woods, Community Benefit, Environment, Lake Arrowhead, Sonrise in the Woods, Traffic