Local News in Brief : 35,000 Calls to CHP Made at Freeway Boxes

A $4.9-million emergency call box system nearing completion on Orange County freeways has resulted in 35,000 calls to the California Highway Patrol since the first of the 1,171 solar-powered cellular telephones was installed last October, officials said Friday.

Although about 100 of the phone boxes still remain to be installed because of freeway widening projects now under way, state and county political figures and transportation officials celebrated the “completion” of the 137-mile network at a ceremony Friday morning in the parking lot at South Coast Plaza.

The call boxes, financed with vehicle registration fees, are the first to be installed in California since Los Angeles County completed a similar project more than 20 years ago.

A demonstration of how a call box is installed went awry briefly when a call box support pole struck an underground boulder as it was being drilled into a flower bed by a big, compressor-powered auger bit. Crews moved the pole to a new spot.

Orange County Transportation Commission officials said that from January through August, 24,942 calls were made from the emergency telephone boxes, which are placed at quarter-mile intervals.

Of all the calls since January, 18,922, or 75.9%, involved disabled vehicles; 2,877, or 11.5%, were labeled “miscellaneous” by the California Highway Patrol; 1,798, or 7.2%, involved traffic accidents, and 1,345, or 5.4%, were reports of traffic hazards, such as spilled cargo.

Keith McKean, Caltrans district director for Orange County, said the call box system has helped speed traffic by quickly alerting officials to accidents and hazards that then are cleared more rapidly.

CALLBOX USAGE Orange County January-August, 1988

Category Calls Misc. calls 2,877 Traffic hazards 1,345 Traffic accidents 1,798 Disabled vehicles 18,922 Totals 24,942

Source: California Highway Patrol