The Y’s and Why Nots of ‘El Toro Y’ and Exit-Only Lanes

Dear Street Smart:

Why doesn’t Caltrans build an exit-only lane at Alicia Parkway, as exists at El Toro Road? This will be even more necessary when Alicia Parkway extends all the way to Rancho Santa Margarita in several months. The southbound Crown Valley Parkway exit should also have an exit-only lane.

Also, why is it called the “El Toro Y” when it resides entirely in Irvine? Will Irvine suffer a death blow if the name is corrected?

Bert G. Fenenga, Rancho Santa Margarita

The good news is, Caltrans does plan to build lanes like that along Interstate 5, from the El Toro Y down to Dana Point. The bad news is, they won’t appear until mid-1996 and early 1997. Construction will occur as part of a project to add car-pool lanes along that section of the freeway, according to spokeswoman Irene Perez.

There is some hope of an earlier appearance. The cities of Mission Viejo and Laguna Niguel have been working with Caltrans to have an extra lane built for the Crown Valley exit. The cities also want to expand the exit ramp itself from two to four lanes, according to Shirley Land, Mission Viejo’s transportation engineer.

To get the job done early, the cities are using their own funds and seeking money from sources other than Caltrans. With luck, they may gain approval to begin construction in early 1993, Land said.

As for El Toro Road, there are no current plans to jump-start an exit-lane project there, according to Bob Rende, the county manager who oversees road programs in the South County foothills area. Most county efforts are aimed toward improving traffic on the surface streets, Rende said.

Perhaps the new cities of Laguna Hills and Lake Forest may choose to pursue a project with Caltrans similar to what Mission Viejo and Laguna Niguel are doing, when the cities begin operations on July 1. Until then, an extra lane at El Toro looks to be a long wait.

Caltrans says the El Toro Y earned its name before Irvine was a city. El Toro was the closest place nearby, and that’s how the now-notorious interchange gained its moniker. Street Smart has heard of no lobbying efforts by Irvine to get the name changed.

Dear Street Smart:

There are stop signs at each corner of the intersection of La Novia Avenue, Interstate 5 ramps across from La Novia, and Valle Road in San Juan Capistrano. Under each stop sign is a smaller sign that says, “All Way.” Correct me if I’m wrong, but don’t these signs mean that this is or should be a four-way intersection?

I am very irritated and frustrated whenever I come to this intersection. I stop and wait my turn, but all the cars coming from the freeway off-ramp do a quick “California” stop and take their turn ahead of me.

Can you do anything to have these smaller signs removed and replaced with “4-Way” signs? I think everyone is confused as to what the existing signs mean.

Chau Hoang, San Juan Capistrano

After talking with officials out there, it doesn’t sound like confusion over what the signs mean is the problem. Those running the signs probably know that they should stop, but they are being rude, discourteous and illegal instead.

About a year or so ago, San Juan Capistrano first received complaints about people making rolling stops as they came off the freeway. It was when La Novia was first extended to reach the freeway, according to Bud Vokoun, the engineer who oversees the city’s traffic operations.

In response, the “All Way” signs were installed and the police were asked to do some spot enforcement, Vokoun said. The complaints disappeared, and yours is the first that Vokoun has received since then.

The city is considering installing a signal at that intersection, but that may be a year or two off, when development has grown to require one, Vokoun said. Meanwhile, the city is also working with Caltrans to realign the ramp so that it is directly across from La Novia, instead of being offset by a few feet, as it is now. The offset may be encouraging scofflaws.

The Orange County Sheriff’s substation that serves San Juan also reports little trouble with the intersection. However, if citizens are experiencing problems, traffic Sgt. Hal Brotheim said they should let the station know by calling the San Juan Capistrano City Hall.

Dear Street Smart:

I can not understand why the Highway Patrol does not stop large trucks when they are in the car-pool lane.

Ray Marx, Anaheim Hills

The CHP will ticket trucks in the car-pool lane illegally, according to Officer Kevin Livingston. This includes three-axle vehicles or those over a ton, although buses are exempted. Caltrans has also considered installing signs saying no trucks are allowed in the lane, car-pool lane coordinator Joe El-Harake said. So far, such signs will only be installed on ramps leading directly to car-pool lanes, he said.