Gonzales Road Speeders Beware: 45 M.P.H. Limit Posted

Dear Street Smart:

I have two questions, both regarding Gonzales Road at the new Shopping at the Rose center in Oxnard.

First of all, I’m concerned about motorists who drive at freeway speeds on Gonzales Road east of Oxnard Boulevard in Oxnard.

Since the shopping center has opened at Gonzales and Rose Avenue, it’s become even more of a problem.

Could signs be posted with some reasonable speed limit, say 45 m.p.h.?

Secondly, there’s a lane problem where Gonzales and Rose intersect.

Heading east, Gonzales, which is a two-lane road, widens into four lanes at the intersection. But if you happen to be in one of the two left lanes, you are forced to turn left.

There is also a right-turn-only lane, leaving just one lane for cars that want to go straight.

How about making the (inner) left-turn lane available for drivers going straight? Or at least put up some signs to give fair warning that you’re going to be stuck turning if you don’t watch out.

Obert Burnett, Oxnard

Dear Reader:

Speeders beware.

Signs were posted several weeks ago indicating that the speed limit on Gonzales is 45 m.p.h., says Joe Genovese, Oxnard traffic engineer.

With any luck, Genovese says, the signs should help slow traffic a bit.

Regarding your second question, Genovese says there’s little chance that the lane configuration at Gonzales and Rose will be altered any time soon.

A study conducted by Oxnard’s traffic department showed that two left-turn lanes were needed because the majority of the traffic turns left there, Genovese says.

“The lane setup fits the demand,” he said. “If we cut it down to one left-turn lane, the traffic would overflow into the street.”

Converting the (inner) left-turn lane into an optional left-turn or straight-ahead lane wouldn’t solve the problem, Genovese says, because motorists trying to turn left on the left-turn-only arrow would get stuck behind drivers waiting for the regular green light in order to go straight.

The only way that the city would change the lane configuration, Genovese says, is if there is a major change in traffic flow when the city makes its annual traffic check in the spring.

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Dear Street Smart:

There’s a sign problem on the Moorpark Freeway that needs clarifying.

Taking the Moorpark Freeway north from the Ventura Freeway just before the Janss Road exit, there is a sign that states that the Simi Valley exit, Olsen Road, is four miles away.

Then, at the Olsen Road exit, there’s a sign that says it is the Simi Valley exit.

What about the fact that the Moorpark and Simi Valley freeways are now connected and, if a driver keeps going, they will run into six more exits for Simi Valley?

Can Caltrans update these signs?

Ronald den Hoed, Thousand Oaks

Dear Reader:

The state Department of Transportation has a special policy when it comes to freeway signs telling motorists where to exit to get to a certain city, says Dave Servaes, maintenance supervisor.

The job of Caltrans, he says, is not to post signs alerting motorists of each and every exit they could take.

Rather, Caltrans engineers select the exit they decide is the most direct route into a city and post a sign, like the one at Olsen Road.

“If you start putting up signs at every exit saying take this road to Simi Valley, it would get too confusing and cluttered,” Servaes said.

So, when motorists see a sign such as the one that says “Simi Valley Next Exit,” they should not assume that it is the only exit to Simi Valley, only that it is one possible way to get there, Servaes says.

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Dear Street Smart:

A light timing problem seems to have developed recently at Wood Ranch Parkway and Country Club Drive.

Facing north at the intersection, the left-turn lane light used to come on only when a car was present.

But in recent weeks, the left-turn light comes on every time the light for traffic going straight turns green.

Why the change? Is this a malfunction?

Clive Weeks, Simi Valley

Dear Reader:

It is, most likely, a malfunction, says Bill Golubics, Simi Valley traffic engineer.

Most traffic signals are triggered when a vehicle passes over a six-foot copper loop buried beneath the roadway, he says.

Sometimes the loops wear out and misreport information to the traffic signal, Golubics says.

At Wood Ranch Parkway and Country Club Drive, the loop is probably sending a faulty message to the signal indicating that a car is present when it actually isn’t.

Golubics says the problem should be fixed in a matter of days.

He encourages residents who notice similar malfunctions to report them to the Simi Valley traffic engineering department by calling 583-6810.