Whom to Call About Vehicles Parked on Silver Strand Sidewalks

Dear Street Smart:

In a previous column, I read a complaint about a lack of sidewalks in a neighborhood.

We were assessed a lot of money to put in sidewalks along Ocean Avenue in Silver Strand near the beach. But all the cars park on the sidewalks, and you can’t even use the sidewalks.

When I have the baby in a stroller or my son on his tricycle, we have to get off the sidewalk and walk in the street. We’ve almost been hit twice!

I contacted the county Sheriff’s Department, but they said there’s nothing they can do about it. They don’t cite people who park on the sidewalks here.

Anna Spanopoulos, Silver Strand

Street Smart can’t quite figure out why people are parking on the sidewalk here, particularly when it forces innocent children out into the road.

But in this case, the solution should be just a matter of calling the correct cops.

Silver Strand is a tiny unincorporated community where sheriff’s deputies handle major crime problems. Although deputies have the authority to write tickets for cars on the sidewalk, traffic problems here are really the responsibility of the California Highway Patrol, says Sheriff’s Sgt. Bruce Norris.

Officer Paul Thompson at the CHP’s Ventura office says he’s heard no complaints about parking on the sidewalk in Silver Strand over the past few months. But he confirmed that this practice is illegal and that his agency is the one to call for a crackdown.

“When we have the units available, we’ll send someone out to look at it,” he says.

Next time you see a Buick blocking your baby buggy by the beach, Thompson suggests you call the CHP at 654-4571 or 654-4710.

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Dear Street Smart:

Is there a traffic light planned for the Moorpark Freeway off-ramp at Olsen Road in Thousand Oaks?

The traffic there is backed up to the freeway every afternoon during rush hour because there is a stop sign at the bottom of the ramp.

Did you know that it is faster to get off at the previous exit, Sunset Hills Boulevard, go west to Olsen Road, then turn east on Olsen Road heading to Simi Valley?

Something needs to be done!

David Sehnem, Simi Valley

Believe it or not, something will be done. And very soon.

Apparently, you’re not the only one who’s upset about this off-ramp bottleneck. To fend off a tidal wave of complaints, the traffic masters at Caltrans and the city of Thousand Oaks have put their heads together, pinpointed the problem and devised a solution.

In this case, the culprit is the stop sign.

Only 500 cars per hour can move through an intersection with a stop sign, says Jeff Knowles, a city engineer who worked on the ramp project. “But when you have one lane that can turn all the time without stopping, you can get 1,600 cars through,” he says.

So that’s what the city plans to do. The stop sign will disappear soon, and cars leaving the off-ramp will be able to move into a new “free right turn” lane onto Olsen. This lane will be created by new striping that will shove all other Simi-bound cars into the inside lane, closer to the median.

If Caltrans gives a final OK to the plan, a Thousand Oaks crew will make the lane changes within six weeks, Knowles said.

And if that doesn’t help, further relief is on the horizon.

When the Moorpark-Simi Valley freeway connection opens in November, the traffic experts predict that half the cars that now exit at Olsen to link up with the Simi Valley Freeway will no longer have to do so.

Street Smart is happy to come across that rare traffic jam that’s about to get a double dose of relief.

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Dear Street Smart:

Lynn Road in Thousand Oaks is wide enough for two cars to drive side by side, just west of Kelly Road. But there are no lane markings.

I have seen many cars drive as though it is a two-lane road in each direction. Some have nearly wiped out bicyclists.

Is Lynn Road a two-lane road in each direction over that stretch? If not, what is the penalty for driving like it is?

Also, this road is posted at 45 m.p.h., but most people drive closer to 55 or 60 m.p.h.

Cathy Barrad, Newbury Park

Street Smart has found an answer to the Lynn Road mystery, but you may not like it. You may not understand the thinking behind it, either.

Here goes:

“Currently, it is striped for one lane in each direction,” says Roy Myers, a Thousand Oaks city engineer. “It was built to accommodate two lanes in each direction. However, the traffic volumes are not there yet.”

In other words, it’s wide enough to carry two cars side by side, but the city hasn’t marked it for two lanes in each direction.

Myers says the street will be set up for two-lane traffic in each direction when the nearby Dos Vientos project is built. In the meantime, he says, drivers should travel in a single line unless you need to get around someone who is slowing to make a turn.

But Sheriff’s Deputy Cheryl Wade, who does traffic enforcement in Thousand Oaks, says that if the street is wide enough, it is legal for cars to form two lanes, even if they are not marked. As long as you don’t engage in an unsafe passing maneuver, you probably won’t be cited, she says.

Wade confirms, however, that speeding is a problem along this stretch. She says deputies do issue tickets along this street to drivers who push that gas pedal a little too close to the floor.

Street Smart Alert: If you drive the Simi Valley Freeway near the Los Angeles County line, be prepared to lose a few lanes over the next six weeks.

Caltrans is putting a new surface on a five-mile stretch of the freeway between Kuehner Drive in Simi Valley and De Soto Avenue in the San Fernando Valley.

Most of the work is being done between 7 p.m. and 5 a.m., when the contractor will be blocking off one or more lanes, so watch for those orange cones and flashing lane closure signs.

Caltrans engineer Frank Latham says the $3.5-million project will require about 100,000 tons of asphalt concrete.