COUNTYWIDE : Call Boxes Studied for State Highways

Ventura County officials are studying whether to install emergency call boxes on major roads.

The Service Authority for Freeway Emergencies, an agency formed to administer the phones project, finished installing 384 solar- and battery-powered cellular phones at half- and quarter-mile intervals on all freeways in the county in April, said Al Knuth, deputy public works director for transportation.

For the next six months, officials will study the feasibility of adding call boxes at either half-mile or one-mile intervals on three state highways--California 1, 118 and 126.

Officials will consider whether there is enough room at the sides of the roads, or whether there are any immediate plans for widening the roads, which would mean moving call boxes.