Lane Design Rankles Motorist

Dear Traffic Talk:

There are three lanes on westbound Osborne Street as it reaches Woodman Avenue in Arleta--one for a left turn, one to go straight, and the third lane to make a right turn. Some drivers ignore the right-turn markings and go straight to cross Woodman--and then must merge with the traffic that went straight legally. Two lanes on Osborne used to go straight. Why the change in the design of lanes?

--Helen W. Ballard

Arleta

Dear Helen:

Following a resurfacing project, engineers changed the lane striping to eliminate a merging problem, said Irwin L. Chodash, East Valley District engineer at the city Department of Transportation.

When there were two westbound through lanes on Osborne, traffic was forced into one lane after crossing Woodman, where traffic leaving a supermarket parking lot complicated the merge, Chodash said. To ease the problem, engineers dropped a second through lane because the amount of westbound traffic on Osborne does not warrant more than one through lane, he said.

To report drivers going straight in the right-turn-only lane, call the Los Angeles Police Valley Traffic Division at (818) 756-8381.

*

Dear Traffic Talk:

There are several problems on Golondrina Street in Woodland Hills. Drivers speed and litterers throw bottles from their vehicles. Vandals have stolen warning signs and defaced a speed limit sign.

Because of poor visibility drivers lean on their horns as they go uphill to alert drivers going downhill. This honking is disrupting the neighborhood.

--David J. Butkovich

Woodland Hills

Dear David:

New signs will be erected, said Ken Firoozmand, West Valley District engineer at the city Department of Transportation. Workers will install a 10-mph speed limit sign and a reflective warning sign, which will alert drivers to an upcoming sharp right turn. To report speeders call the LAPD Valley Traffic Division.

*

Traffic Talk appears Fridays in The Times Valley Edition. Readers may submit comments and questions about traffic in the Valley to Traffic Talk, Los Angeles Times, 20000 Prairie St., Chatsworth 91311. Include your name, address and phone number. Letters may be edited, and no anonymous letters will be accepted. Fax letters to (818) 772-3385. E-mail questions to valley.news@latimes.com.