Ventura Freeway Sign Offers Drivers Puzzling Advice

Dear Street Smart:

Ever since I moved to Ventura several months ago, I have been puzzled by a sign on the southbound Ventura Freeway.

Right before the Seaward Avenue exit, there’s a sign that says “Port Hueneme next right.”

What map are they using?

Bert Sparks

Ventura

Dear Reader:

What map, indeed.

No one at the state Department of Transportation seems to know just why the sign is there, some even questioning that it exists at all.

Although the freeway is outside his jurisdiction, Ventura’s transportation engineer, Nazir Lalani, has seen the sign and he, too, has wondered why it is there.

Lalani says he took it upon himself several years ago to investigate the sign’s origins, with little success.

The best explanation he could get was that the Ventura Freeway is the closest freeway to Port Hueneme, and Caltrans frequently posts signs on the freeway closest to a town to let motorists know they can get there from here.

Sounds helpful.

But there are no signs once you exit the freeway indicating that you are not yet in Port Hueneme or to give any clue as to how to get there.

One could exit at Seaward and take Harbor Boulevard down the coast to reach Port Hueneme.

But it is not the most direct route, Lalani says. The easiest way to go would be to exit at Victoria Avenue and continue south to the ocean.

Barring relocation of the sign, Lalani says he will talk to Caltrans about putting up some signs on Harbor Boulevard at the Seaward exit to direct confused motorists to Port Hueneme.

Dear Street Smart:

Travelers turning left from Rockfield Street to Lindero Canyon Road in Oak Park often face terrible delays due to heavy southbound traffic on Lindero.

Could southbound traffic on Lindero be directed to the two right lanes and the left lane be reserved for those turning from Rockfield?

This could work in a manner similar to the fifth lane on many busy boulevards.

Drivers could cross the northbound roadway safely, then stop in the special lane until they are able to merge with southbound traffic.

Is this possible?

George Arias

Agoura

Dear Reader:

Actually, the city has even bigger plans for the Lindero-Rockfield intersection.

By the 1995-96 fiscal year, that corner should have a shiny new traffic signal, Thousand Oaks traffic engineer John Helliwell says.

Since Lindero runs right along the border between the city of Thousand Oaks and Ventura County, the two will share the cost of installing and maintaining the light, Helliwell said.

In the meantime, Helliwell says an acceleration lane is possible, but not likely.

So far, the Lindero-Rockfield intersection is considered very safe, with no reported accidents. If the special lane were installed, Helliwell fears that it might lead to accidental sideswiping by careless motorists entering the intersection.

“Motorists might be less cautious entering the intersection because they might think they are protected if they just duck into this safe lane,” Helliwell said. “But it would only be separated from the other lanes by a strip of paint.”

Helliwell says he has little sympathy for motorists who frequent the Lindero-Rockfield intersection. Most, he says, are impatient drivers going out of their way to avoid the traffic signal at Lindero and Kanan Road.

“If they really have a problem, they should just go back to the intersection with the light,” Helliwell said. “That’s where they’re supposed to be anyway.”

Dear Street Smart:

I was pleased that you responded to my letter very promptly in your column of Dec. 6, but I was disappointed in the answer. I don’t think that Mr. Helliwell or you thought too much about what you said.

I asked if it was possible to convert one of the right-turn lanes at the intersection of Thousand Oaks and Westlake boulevards from a right-turn-only lane into a lane that could also be used for straight-ahead traffic.

You said no, because doing so might cause more problems than it would solve.

But in the two days since reading your response, I have noticed several examples of straight-ahead or right-turn lanes so marked in Thousand Oaks: eastbound Hillcrest Drive at Erbes Road and southbound Duesenberg Drive at Thousand Oaks Boulevard, to name a couple.

So why not at Thousand Oaks and Westlake?

At that intersection, drivers in the second lane who wish to turn right on red have a hard time because of the eastbound traffic on Thousand Oaks.

Most drivers recognize that there may be some delay if they use a lane with more than one option. But for most, I think it would be worth it.

Jerry Lewi

Thousand Oaks

Dear Reader:

Since you took the time to write a second letter, Thousand Oaks traffic engineer John Helliwell agreed to drive to the intersection to determine whether his initial prognosis was incorrect.

Helliwell verifies that there are optional right-turn/straight-ahead lanes throughout the city. But he cautioned that each intersection has its own traffic personality and must be examined individually to make sure that optional lanes would not disrupt the flow of traffic.

In the coming weeks, Helliwell says he’ll take a closer look at the Thousand Oaks-Westlake intersection to see if there is some way to address your concerns.