Caltrans Says Big Rigs Can Keep on Trucking on 23, 150

Dear Street Smart:

In December 1994, you published a letter from me describing the dangerous conditions that exist on the Grimes Canyon part of California 23 and the Dennison grade section of California 150 due to large trucks that, because of their excessive length, cannot negotiate the tight curves without going into oncoming traffic lanes.

At the time, Caltrans said that state law does not allow banning trucks on state highways, except by weight. They said signs would be posted to warn drivers of the danger.

Traffic has increased substantially on Grimes Canyon due to the growth of business in Moorpark and local sand and gravel mining.

Twice in the past month I have encountered oncoming trucks with both front wheels over the double-yellow line and have been forced off the road. Yet, there are still no warning signs for trucks and the Highway Patrol is rarely on this stretch of highway.

Pacific Coast Highway, Topanga and Malibu canyons are closed to trucks with three or more axles. Why doesn’t Caltrans do the same for 23 and 150?

Robert Smith

and Barbara Davenport

Fillmore

Dear Reader:

Unfortunately, nothing has changed in the law since your last letter to allow Caltrans to prohibit three-axle trucks from the roads you are concerned about, state officials say.

Even though Caltrans engineers took more than a month to answer your letter, they said last week that the warning signs promised almost 18 months ago finally are being installed.

As for allowing such heavy trucks on California 23 and 150, but prohibiting them along the coast and in Malibu: Caltrans officials say that conditions are different.

“The cut slopes on Routes 23 and 150 are geologically different,” spokeswoman Pat Reid said. “They are less sensitive to vibrations than those in Malibu.”

Dear Street Smart:

I work in a second-floor office overlooking the intersection of Loma Vista Road and Main Street in Ventura, where traffic officials recently redesigned the left-hand-turn portion of the signal.

Within two weeks of it being put in, there were probably eight accidents. One morning there were two in one hour.

Ever since I’ve been driving, that left turn from Main onto Loma Vista has been allowed only on the green arrow. Now, they changed it to allow drivers to make that left turn even after the green arrow goes off.

Why didn’t they just extend the timing of the green arrow if they wanted to allow more drivers to make that turn? The way they have done it has obviously confused most long-term Ventura drivers.

Adrienne Withers

Ventura

Dear Reader:

Drivers may be confused by the changes at the corner of Loma Vista Road and Main Street, but those who design and manage intersections professionally say that the new design will allow for smoother traffic once drivers adjust.

The new design requires drivers to pay more attention, Ventura traffic engineer Nazir Lalani said. But it also reduces the wait when they want to turn left onto Loma Vista.

“That’s always been a trade-off, but we’ve found that people prefer it,” Lalani said. “Because if there’s no oncoming traffic, they can make the turn and it reduces the delay.”

Temporary signs alerting drivers to the new signalization have been in place for the past month, and permanent signs already are scheduled to be installed, Lalani said.

“They need to look for gaps in oncoming traffic,” he said.

Dear Street Smart:

I suggest that southbound Moorpark Road traffic at the Ventura Freeway’s eastbound on- and offramps be allowed to continue southbound on a green arrow, when northbound traffic on Moorpark Road has a green signal.

There is no reason for southbound traffic to have to sit there while northbound traffic is moving.

The eastbound offramp traffic is stopped by a red signal. There is no westbound traffic here and northbound traffic cannot make left turns here because of the offramp.

Southbound traffic is just wasting valuable time and very valuable gasoline at this intersection.

Ron Oliver

Thousand Oaks

Dear Reader:

City traffic officials already are plotting ways to improve circulation along Moorpark Road, specifically underneath the Ventura Freeway.

The good news: Traffic analyst Jeff Knowles said his office already has a consultant drawing up plans to re-stripe the pavement and refine the timing of the signal there.

The hitch? That intersection is controlled by Caltrans because of the freeway on- and offramps.

“Caltrans is not willing to fund this change itself,” Knowles said. “The city is proceeding with a project to make that change, although it may be a couple of years yet before we actually build that project.”

When completed, sometime before the next millennium, southbound Moorpark Road will feature three left-turn lanes onto the freeway and one through lane, Knowles said.

“It will be a much more efficient operation,” he said.

Write to Street Smart, The Times Ventura County Edition, 93 S. Chestnut St., Ventura 93001. You may enclose a simple sketch if it will help Street Smart understand your traffic questions. Or call our Sound Off Line, 653-7546. Whether writing or calling, include your full name, address, and day and evening phone numbers. No anonymous queries will be accepted, and letters are subject to editing.