Access Meters on Simi Freeway Get Green Light Again

Under pressure from her constituents, Assemblywoman Marian W. La Follette (R-Northridge) a year ago prevailed upon the state to turn off six metered lights controlling access to the Simi Valley Freeway.

Under pressure from her constituents, Assemblywoman Cathie Wright (R-Simi Valley) recently persuaded the state Department of Transportation to turn them back on.

The long-dormant red-and-green lights, all on eastbound on-ramps between Topanga Canyon Boulevard and Hayvenhurst Avenue, will be reactivated in the mornings only starting Aug. 5, a Caltrans spokeswoman said.

The gentlewomanly pushing and pulling between two Republican colleagues has occurred at a time of rapidly increasing congestion on the freeway, which runs across the northern Valley. Traffic engineers are uncertain how much of the congestion will disappear after the lights go back on.

Specific Complaints

Most of those who urged that the lights be turned off were residents of Northridge and Granada Hills, communities that are within La Follette’s 38th District.

La Follette said the complaints were about having to wait to get on the freeway at Tampa Avenue and Reseda and Balboa boulevards.

“They saw traffic moving freely and couldn’t understand why they had to wait at a red light,” she said.

Most of those who peppered Wright with demands that they be turned back on were from Chatsworth and Simi Valley, both in Wright’s 37th District. Eastbound drivers from those communities apparently did not like being joined by unrestricted motorists.

“They wanted to know why the lights were no longer protecting through-traffic from being bogged down by the crush of oncoming cars at Tampa and Reseda,” Wright said.

Quiet Disagreement

The tiff between La Follette and Wright was played out quietly behind the scenes, with neither the legislators nor Caltrans issuing a statement when the lights were turned off or when the decision was made to turn them back on.

In an interview, Wright, though apparently still miffed over last year’s meter blackout, attacked Caltrans but steered clear of blaming her Assembly colleague.

She faulted Caltrans for not consulting her before turning off the four metered lights--at Tampa, Reseda, Balboa and Hayvenhurst --that are in La Follette’s district but have a big effect on her commuting constituents.

Wright said she was even more upset that Caltrans had turned off the lights at De Soto Avenue and Topanga Canyon, both within her district, without notifying her.

“I don’t appreciate hearing complaints from my constituents about something Caltrans has done in my district without any prior notice,” she said.

Wright said she had “heard that La Follette was involved in the decision to turn the lights off, but I don’t know the full story.”

‘No Apologies’

La Follette, meanwhile, said she had “no apologies for insisting Caltrans meet the wishes of my constituents.”

But she raised no objections to Caltrans turning the lights back on at this time, saying that she would “wait to see how they work and wait to see what I hear from the driving public.”

Richard Kermode, Caltrans senior traffic engineer, said the lights were turned off a year ago because “traffic was moving smoothly enough and because we were getting a lot of complaints about the lights, including some from elected officials.”

Based on Survey

He said the decision to turn them back on was based on a recent traffic survey showing that eastbound traffic was “slowing up significantly on the freeway, especially at Reseda.”

A traffic count in June at Balboa Boulevard showed 6,100 vehicles an hour traveling eastbound during the morning rush hour, Kermode said, adding that the capacity of a three-lane freeway such as the Simi Valley is 5,400 vehicles an hour.

“It’s clear something has to be done to smooth out the flow of traffic, thereby improving its carrying capacity,” he said.

Daniel Blum, who commutes daily from Chatsworth to San Fernando, said he protested to Caltrans and to Wright about the dormant lights “sometime last year, after congestion grew to the point where it turned commuting into a nightmare.”

He said he was told by Caltrans officials that “they couldn’t do a thing because it was all political. I think it’s ridiculous.”

Deputy Dist. Atty. Michael Knight, who has commuted into the Valley from Simi Valley since 1964, said: “It took 20 years to get this freeway completed. Then, just as things were rolling pretty well, they turn off the meter lights and the congestion gets bad again.”