Budget Crunch Keeps Roadwork Plodding Along in Slow Lane

Dear Street Smart:

Why in the world are they taking forever to complete the widening of California 126?

The widening that took place between Santa Paula and Fillmore took more than 10 years. Since last July they’ve been working on a three-mile segment between Powell Road and Center Street in Piru.

At the rate they’re going, it’s going to be well after the turn of the century before they’re finished.

Red Bennett, Piru

Street Smart is well aware that cruising the narrow, winding stretch of California 126 at the east end of the county can be almost as hair-raising a ride as the roller coasters at nearby Magic Mountain--particularly at night.

Because state highway dollars are in short supply and improvements on busier roads tend to be a higher priority, the widening of 126 is not proceeding at lightning speed.

But it is moving forward, and by the turn of the century--a mere seven years away--you should be able to ride a four-lane highway, with a two-way left-turn lane in the middle, all the way from Santa Paula to the Golden State Freeway near Magic Mountain.

One stumbling block in the $6-million segment now under construction is the widening of the bridge over Piru Creek, says Jay Steele, a Caltrans engineer who is supervising the work.

“Widening a bridge takes time because you have concrete that has to cure and come up to strength,” he says. “That’s a long process.”

In addition, work crews have had to relocate lots of utility lines that carry electricity, telephone service, water, natural gas and oil--another time-consuming task.

The Piru segment should be finished by April, Steele said.

In the fall of 1994, work should begin on the next length--a five-mile stretch between Fillmore and Piru.

Until the turn of the century arrives, Street Smart recommends that you keep your seat belt fastened along the 126. It’s going to be a bumpy ride.

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Dear Street Smart:

I would like to address what I call the new breed of traffic engineer.

A new philosophy seems to be emerging in Southern California. This “new” way of thinking involves the way traffic signals are programmed.

These traffic signal programmers apparently believe the advent of the computer age has given them the tools to resolve all traffic situations. Unfortunately, they seem to have lost contact with the realities of the mechanized world.

An example is the left-turn-on-green arrow. For as far back as I can remember, the left-turn lane has always gone first. Recently, however, a new trend has come into use.

At some intersections, the left-turn arrow is now set up to come on at the end of the cycle--after the folks going straight ahead have finished.

In addition to the confusion for drivers, the most important concern about this new policy is the impact on safety. Does this make sense?

Frank R. Wissler, Newbury Park

Once upon a time, TV pictures were in black and white, music came from vinyl records and telephones needed rotary dials.

But time and technology march on, even in the wonderful world of traffic engineering.

Today, like it or not, you can no longer be sure that a green left-turn arrow will always get you through an intersection first.

Bill Golubics, Simi Valley’s traffic engineer, says left-turn arrows that come on last have been used in various parts of the country for 15 years. “Now, in the suburban communities of Southern California, it’s becoming more common,” he says.

Golubics says left-turn-last arrows are often dictated by synchronized traffic lights. These are the systems that try to move the greatest number of cars through a series of intersections by setting the green lights to come on one after another.

To make this work, sometimes the left-turn arrow must come on after the straight-ahead traffic.

It can be even more confusing: Because traffic patterns change, one signal may allow left turns first in the morning and last in the evening.

Golubics says he’s seen no evidence that left-turn-last arrows lead to more accidents.

But he adds: “All of the cities are using more sophisticated signalization systems. Drivers now must become a bit more sophisticated and pay attention to the actual signal displays they’ve been viewing.”

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Dear Street Smart:

Our concern relates to the ongoing construction on Ventura Road in north Oxnard, between Stone Creek Drive and Wagon Wheel Road.

We have lived in the California Cove tract for the past 12 months and are anxiously awaiting completion of the construction and landscaping. The poor condition of the road is unsightly and hazardous.

Carmine and Diane De Micco, Oxnard

The weather must take some of the blame for this delay. But it also helped reveal a flooding problem that would have been much tougher to fix after the road was finished.

During the rainy winter season, city workers saw that flooding was taking place along the side of Ventura Road.

The city and the developer of the housing tract, who is responsible for street and landscaping improvements, decided that another storm drain catch basin was needed to collect the runoff, says Dutch Barendregt, the city’s supervising construction inspector.

City staff members and county flood-control officials recently approved the design for this basin, and construction is expected to begin this week.

When that is finished, a final coat of asphalt will be applied to provide a smoother ride on Ventura Road. The landscaping work will also be completed.

“All the improvements should be finished by the end of June,” Barendregt says.

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Here’s a Ventura County traffic trivia question:

Which of the county’s 457 emergency highway call boxes is used the most?

Even if you’ve never had to use one, it’s comforting to see the bright blue signs and yellow boxes along state highways that run through the county.

They may come in handy if you wager once too often that there’s still plenty of gas in the tank when the needle’s on “E.” Or on the day your tire is stabbed by a nail that spilled out of a carelessly loaded truck in front of you.

When such breakdowns occur, help is a short hike down the shoulder and a quick call away. The solar-powered cellular phones are linked to the California Highway Patrol. In Ventura County, you can find them on the Ventura Freeway and state routes 1, 23, 33, 118 and 126.

Who pays for this devices?

You do. When your annual car registration bill arrives, there’s an extra dollar tacked on to finance the county’s call-box system.

But getting back to the area’s busiest call box:

The March winner was the box at the base of the Conejo Grade, serving the southbound lanes of the Ventura Freeway just east of Camarillo Springs Road.

The box was used 34 times. Close behind were two other boxes also on the Camarillo side of the climb toward Thousand Oaks. This location shouldn’t come as a surprise.

“That is the steepest stretch of freeway in the state,” says Chris Stephens, who oversees the call-box system for the Ventura County Transportation Commission. “There are probably a high number of breakdowns involving vehicles trying to get up that grade.”

It’s good to have freeway phones close by when you’re climbing the grade, Stephens says, because when trouble erupts, it’s tough to coax the car a couple of miles to the nearest gas station.

“When you break down on a (rising) grade like that,” he says, “you can’t roll to the next turnoff.”

Speaking of uphill battles, several readers contacted Street Smart last week about traffic problems that are driving them to distraction. We’re doing our best to root out replies from the folks who build your roads and set up your traffic signals.

Street Smart welcomes more calls and letters--from both sides of that stubborn Conejo Grade.