Searching for a Good Reason for a Bad Sense of Timing

Dear Street Smart:

As a resident of Thousand Oaks, I appreciate the added safety at Moorpark Road and the Ventura Freeway since traffic lights were installed about a year ago.

However, the timing on these traffic lights seems to be off. Right now, driving through them means stopping two or three times.

I’ve come up with a couple of things that could be done to improve this situation. At the eastbound freeway off-ramp, traffic heading south on Moorpark Road is stopped by a red light even though the signal for oncoming traffic is green.

Could the city make the southbound light green at the same time that the northbound light is green?

My second question has to do with the westbound freeway off-ramp.

During rush hour, traffic exiting the freeway is controlled by a left-turn arrow. But motorists who drive through this light when it turns green immediately hit a red light at southbound Moorpark Road, causing traffic to back up.

Could these two signals be linked to change color at the same time?

Martin Shum

Thousand Oaks

Dear Reader:

The answer to your first question is no, and to your second question maybe.

First, it is not possible to make the traffic signals for opposing traffic on Moorpark Road the same color at the same time.

The lights are timed differently because of the heavy flow of southbound traffic turning onto the Ventura Freeway. There are two left-turn lanes to handle this flow, says Thousand Oaks Traffic Engineer John Helliwell. If the lights were green for the same interval, cars turning left would not have enough time to get through the intersection.

In answer to your second question, Helliwell says it may be possible to adjust the timing of the lights to allow motorists to get through both lights without waiting.

Helliwell says he will send traffic crews out to check the timing and see if the adjustment can be made without disrupting the flow of traffic at other nearby intersections.

Dear Street Smart:

There is a problem with speeding traffic on Foothill Road at Via Plaza in Ventura.

When I am at the stop sign on Via Plaza trying to get onto Foothill, I face a stream of cars speeding an average of 20 miles over the posted 40 m.p.h. speed limit.

A slight upward slope east on Foothill makes it hard to see much of this traffic. After a full stop at the stop sign on Via Plaza, I have to creep out onto Foothill to get a good view of traffic.

Once I make it onto Foothill, I have to accelerate very fast to avoid getting smashed by someone zooming up from behind. Now and then, I get honked at for not being fast enough.

Could a stop light be installed or speed bumps placed on Foothill to slow the traffic? Perhaps the speed limit could be lowered to 25 m.p.h.

Or, at the very least, how about a sign warning motorists on Foothill of cross traffic ahead?

Elisa Gottheil-Luciani

Ventura

Dear Reader:

Warning signs on Foothill Road near Via Plaza are definitely possible, says Ventura Traffic Engineer Nazir Lalani.

Lalani says he will put in a request for the warning signs. But none of your other suggestions would work. It is generally against city policy to install speed bumps, especially on streets with high speed limits and heavy traffic flow, he says.

And because of the volume of traffic, it would be imprudent to lower the speed limit, which could cause traffic backups.

Finally, for the intersection to qualify for a traffic signal, it would have to meet strict state guidelines for traffic and pedestrian volume, Lalani says. He says he will check out the intersection to see if it would meet the requirements, but that is not likely.

“From what I know of that intersection, I suspect it has a high volume of traffic, but not enough to meet the requirements,” Lalani said.

However, the recent reopening of the nearby Kimball Road ramp onto the Santa Paula Freeway may alleviate some of the traffic problems, he says.

Many motorists, unable to enter the freeway at Kimball, were driving down Foothill, causing greater than normal congestion.

Dear Street Smart:

As residents of Somis, we’d like to know if signs can be posted on the Ventura Freeway letting people know how to get to our community.

If possible, there should be a sign on the freeway as one approaches Las Posas Road in Camarillo. Another sign should be posted at the end of the Las Posas off-ramp and another at Las Posas and Crestview Drive.

All signs should indicate the number of miles to Somis. Somisites and residents of Las Posas Valley would welcome these signs.

Is this possible?

Barbara and Jack Fulkerson

Somis

Dear Reader:

The state Department of Transportation and the city of Camarillo both have reasons for not wanting to post signs showing the way to Somis.

On the Ventura Freeway, Caltrans would be responsible for posting signs to let motorists know how to get to the community. Caltrans Maintenance Supervisor Dave Servaes says the agency has not placed Somis signs on the freeway because the area is too far away.

But faithful Street Smart readers may recall a question some months ago from a reader wondering why a sign to Port Hueneme was posted at the Ventura Freeway’s Seaward Avenue exit--many miles from that city.

Servaes explained that Port Hueneme’s city status qualified it for freeway signs, while Somis is an unincorporated community.

Camarillo is reluctant to post signs to Somis at Las Posas and Crestview because it does not want to encourage trucks to use that route, City Engineer Tom Fox says. “The goal is to minimize traffic on local streets, and posting a sign would defeat that purpose.”

Write to Street Smart, The Times Ventura County Edition, 5200 Valentine Road, Suite 140, Ventura 93003. You may enclose a simple sketch if it will help Street Smart understand your traffic questions. Or call our Sound Off Line, 658-5546. Whether writing or calling, include your full name, address and day and evening phone numbers. No anonymous queries will be accepted, and letters are subject to editing.