Smoothing Riverside’s Flow to East

Dear Traffic Talk:

At Riverside Drive and the 170 Freeway in North Hollywood, eastbound Riverside traffic often backs up near the southbound offramp. This forces eastbound drivers on Riverside to wait two to four green lights to get through the intersection.

This happens in the morning rush hour and when drivers use Riverside to avoid tie-ups on the 101 and 134 freeways. What can be done to allow eastbound Riverside traffic to flow more efficiently?

Ken Oberg

North Hollywood

Dear Ken:

The backup of eastbound traffic on Riverside is a two-step problem. The Riverside signal is usually green when there is no traffic or pedestrians on either the 170 offramp or nearby Kraft Avenue, said Bill J. Shao, a transportation engineer at Los Angeles’ Transportation Department. During this time eastbound traffic can enter and cross the intersection, he said.

But according to Shao, green time for eastbound Riverside traffic is limited at Tujunga Avenue, Camarillo Street and Riverside because the signal must share its green time with all traffic movements on this five-leg intersection.

“That’s a typical condition for that kind of location,” Shao said. Engineers will make the necessary modifications without sacrificing the need to keep the signals synchronized, he said.

Dear Traffic Talk:

I live in [Sherman Oaks’] Chandler Estates area, whose borders are Chandler Boulevard to the north, Magnolia Boulevard to the south, Woodman Avenue to the west and Fulton Avenue to the east.

More than a year ago, the city partially resurfaced several streets in my neighborhood. [But] only the sides of the streets were resurfaced, and the middle areas were not, which created a “striped” effect.

The workmanship was poor and has already begun to deteriorate. Any idea why this was done and when the streets will be properly resurfaced?

Bob Holmes

Sherman Oaks

Dear Bob:

You should report this problem to the city’s Bureau of Street Services at (800) 996-2489, said Robert Reed, a spokesman for the city Public Works Department. This number handles inquiries about services, such as street and sidewalk repairs, tree trimmings and the installation and replacement of street signs.

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