Readers Get the Green Light to Complain About Signals

Not rain, nor snow, nor gloom of night can disturb a commuter quite like a construction project.

There’s just something about the way a big road job ties up and twists the well-laid paths we follow to work each day. It’s like having an older brother mess up your hair right after you’ve combed in the beeswax.

One day you’re zipping onto the freeway at your favorite on-ramp without a problem. The next you’re suffocating in traffic--the ramp is closed, signs are posted, men are working. It’s almost enough to make you take the bus. But not quite. This is Orange County, after all.

So we put up with it and after a while become quite familiar with the faces of the workmen and the progress they’re making. Invariably, we see a few things they could do better to keep us moving.

Here are two letters from the front lines, both addressing construction work on the Costa Mesa Freeway where it slices between Santa Ana and Tustin north of the Santa Ana Freeway. To make way for more freeway lanes, Caltrans has demolished the old 4th Street bridge and is replacing it with a bigger structure.

Dear Street Smart:

The 4th Street bridge over the Costa Mesa Freeway has been dismantled, and 4th Street now dead-ends at the freeway with no cross traffic or oncoming cars. Why is it that those of us who exit on the northbound ramp to 4th Street must still stop at the top before making a right turn on 4th?

Who are we stopping for? Elvis?

Richard Notari Orange And I thought I was imagining things when I drove up that ramp the other day and heard a far-off voice chortling the refrain from “Hound Dog.” Then again, maybe it was just my wife in the passenger’s seat.

Seriously, state highway officials thought about pulling up that stop sign but decided against it. They cite safety considerations.

Motorists roar up that off-ramp with a fair head of steam, and the right turn onto 4th Street is very sharp. Caltrans officials worried that someone might have problems if he or she didn’t make a stop before executing the turn. Moreover, construction vehicles are sometimes in that area.

When the work on the 4th Street bridge is completed toward the end of the year, Caltrans will yank the stop sign and install a signal light, according to Glenn Carver, a senior resident engineer overseeing the project. In addition, the curb will be shaved down a bit so motorists can safely make that right turn without having to stop.

Then even Elvis could get his Cadillac around that corner.

Dear Street Smart:

One of the biggest frustrations I face is going west on 17th Street to get on the Costa Mesa Freeway. Ever since Caltrans closed the 4th Street on-ramp, we poor taxpayers can only enter the 55 on the southbound ramp at 17th Street or by meandering through many stoplights on Newport Avenue to McFadden Street.

The problem with 17th Street is that there is no left-turn signal, not even a temporary one. Traffic backs up for a dangerous length many times during the day, not just at peak hours. You almost take your life in your hands making a dash across oncoming traffic to turn left when you’ve been forced to sit waiting for a break in the traffic, which seems like forever.

Since Caltrans knew they were going to close the 4th Street on-ramp, why didn’t they look ahead at the overburdened 17th Street entrance and at least put in a temporary signal or give us two lanes to turn left? I’ve personally witnessed many near accidents. Any solutions?

Pat Powell Santa Ana This is a case where Caltrans personnel needed to polish their crystal ball a bit better. But don’t be too hard on them. They’re highway engineers, not Houdini.

Carver said the agency didn’t expect that left turn to become such a traffic problem. Convinced that something needs to be done, Caltrans plans to install a signal system at the spot so left-turning motorists don’t have to do their frightened-deer act as they make the dash across oncoming traffic.

But don’t expect relief next week. The signal system shouldn’t be in place for another three or four months, Carver said. In the cosmic scheme of things, however, it should come in handy: The widening work through that section of the Costa Mesa Freeway is not expected to be completed until April 1993.

Dear Street Smart:

In your column on Feb. 4, you discuss the problems with a “permissive/protective” signal on the corner of Lambert Road and Harbor Boulevard. I would like to know what distinguishes a “permissive/protective” signal from any other to the stranger in town.

If there is no sign warning that a sneaky new type of signal is being used, a motorist will sit and wait for the arrow.

Here’s a for instance: Upon approaching an intersection, a motorist observes cars moving through the intersection on a green arrow, but he arrives too late to take advantage of it so must await the next one. But, lo and behold, there is no next one, just a regular green light, so he sits there alone through another change of lights.

Barbara G. Thomas Garden Grove For those who didn’t see last week’s column, a permissive/protective signal gives left-turning motorists a green arrow if more than two cars are queued up in the turn pocket. If two cars or fewer are in line, they get a regular green signal and must wait for oncoming traffic to clear out before making the left turn.

I’m the first to agree that a permissive/protective signal can be a bit confusing. It would be nice if traffic experts would put up signs at such signals telling motorists they don’t need an arrow to turn left. But the experts don’t like to install signs unless absolutely necessary, and these signals typically don’t make the cut.

A stranger to town who happened upon such a signal could indeed be confused. So could someone who normally zips through on the left-turn arrow but then hits the intersection at an off-hour and gets a round green light.

The only advice I can offer is to take a good hard look at the signal controlling your left-turn lane. Does it have four lenses? Most permissive/protective signals feature such an array, with a red light, the yellow, a green arrow and the regular round green. That’s a ready tip-off that you’re at a permissive/protective signal.

In addition, if you are sure you know which signal is controlling your lane, just go ahead and follow its instructions. For a left-turn lane, the signal is almost always stationed in the center median right in front of you.

If it has a red light, that’s pretty obvious. If it gives you a green arrow, that’s obvious, too. But if you get a regular round green light, take it to mean that the gods of traffic want you to get through. So look for your spot to make the turn and do your best not to get clobbered by oncoming traffic.

Street Smart appears Mondays in the Orange County section of The Times. Readers are invited to submit comments and questions about traffic, commuting and what makes it difficult to get around in Orange County. Letters will be published in upcoming columns. No anonymous letters will be accepted. Please write to Eric Bailey, c/o Street Smart, The Times Orange County, P.O. Box 2008, Costa Mesa, Calif. 92626. Include your full name, address and day and evening phone numbers.