When Making the Grade Is Difficult, Steer to the Right

Dear Street Smart:

I commute between Thousand Oaks and Ventura on a daily basis, and there are a couple of areas on the Ventura Freeway that concern me.

One is at the Conejo Grade heading south. There seems to be a number of people every day who slow down when the grade begins. They have either forgotten how to accelerate or their cars will not make it up the grade at the speed limit.

I don’t understand why they can’t have a sign that says slower traffic keep right. They’ll slow down to 55, 50, even 45 mph in the fast lane, while those of us who want to go the speed limit have to go around them.

Another thing: If an officer of any agency--police, California Highway Patrol, Sheriff’s Department or even Border Patrol--is nearby, people slow down below the speed limit because they’re intimidated.

They’re going 50 mph just because they may get a ticket. They should move over.

Gregory Smart

Thousand Oaks

Dear Reader:

We took your concerns to the California Highway Patrol. The bottom line, Officer David Cockrill said, is that it is a crime to drive too slowly.

“The law says you can’t impede the flow of traffic,” said Cockrill, who conceded that he has written only a handful of such citations. “If you are going slower, you are supposed to move over to the slower lanes.”

There already exists a series of signs posted throughout the California highway system advising slower drivers to migrate to the right.

As for driving below the speed limit when law enforcement officers are around, Cockrill said that slowing down is only human nature. It is perfectly legal to pass anyone driving slower than 65 mph, as long as you do so safely, he said.

Sometimes police have reasons of their own to move slower than other traffic, he said.

“They could be looking for a particular car, or there may be inclement weather,” he said. “Whatever the reason, you certainly run the risk of getting stopped if you pass them.”

Dear Street Smart:

Entering Ventu Park Road from eastbound Ramona Drive in Newbury Park is extremely hazardous because of two trees along Ventu Park that are planted north of Ramona Drive.

These trees are on vacant land and they obscure the view of oncoming traffic heading south on Ventu Park Road.

Can the city of Thousand Oaks do anything to remove this hazard? By the way, they are not oak trees.

Ron Oliver

Newbury Park

Dear Reader:

The immediate answer is: of course. City maintenance crews are empowered to trim any trees they determine to be a hazard for the motoring public, even if they are growing on private property.

After visiting the corner for an on-site inspection, traffic analyst Jeff Knowles said a newly planted row of trees could pose a visibility problem.

“The leafy branches on these eucalyptus trees did grow all the way to the ground,” he said. “Visibility could be impaired, so I’m confident that it will be taken care of.”

Knowles said that he referred the matter to the city’s landscaping division and that if there are any further problems, motorists can call his office. The number is 449-2416.

“There’s nothing so sacred that a person’s life has less value than trimming a tree or shrub,” he said. “People just need to call and we’ll have the city take care of it.”

Dear Street Smart:

As a resident of Camarillo, I travel south on Las Posas Road every morning to work.

It has come to my attention on numerous occasions that the right-hand lane that turns off at Pleasant Valley Road needs better clarification. Currently, motorists unfamiliar with the traffic pattern in the right lane do not know that the lane leads only to Pleasant Valley Road.

When they do realize that they must move into the left lane, it creates a serious traffic problem. Tractor-trailer drivers unfamiliar with the road compound the situation when they have to change lanes quickly.

The sign indicating that the right lane is a right-turn-only lane is too close to the intersection to allow motorists the opportunity to change lanes in time.

I suggest they either move the sign back 100 yards or extend the solid white line indicating that a mandatory right turn is ahead.

Delbert Mitchell

Camarillo

Dear Reader:

It just happens that contractors are almost ready to launch an $80,000 re-striping and road-widening project at that intersection, said Tom Fox, Camarillo’s traffic engineer.

But stay tuned.

There are no definite plans to move the existing right-turn-only signpost or extend the solid white line between the two lanes on that section of Las Posas Road, Fox said.

“But it’s certainly something we’ll take a look at,” he said. “If there are some improvements that need to be made, we will make those changes. We could just combine the two projects.”

Workers will re-stripe the intersection and widen a short section of Pleasant Valley Road, Fox said. “It’s not a real extensive project, so it should be finished before the end of January,” he said.

Write again if the situation is not fixed to your satisfaction.

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.