Speeds Higher Than 55 m.p.h. Are Allowed Only on Interstates

Dear Street Smart:

Why isn’t the speed limit on the Foothill Transportation Corridor 65 m.p.h. instead of 55 m.p.h.? It’s a wide open road with just a few access spots.

Next, when traveling from Newport Beach to Irvine on Bonita Canyon Drive, I can find no speed limit signs anywhere. I’ve looked carefully every day.

Going the other way, there’s one sign just as it narrows that says, “Resume speed” or something similar, and farther down, there’s a 55 m.p.h. sign. I’ve always assumed the speed was 55 m.p.h., but I would like to see a sign to prove it.

Ann Callahan Corona del Mar

Speed limits higher than the federal maximum of 55 m.p.h. are only permitted on interstates that go for long uninterrupted stretches through rural areas, said Rose Orem, a Caltrans spokeswoman. The Foothill Transportation Corridor is a state highway, so it does not qualify.

As for Bonita Canyon Drive, when speed limit signs are not posted, drivers should assume the maximum speed limit is 55 m.p.h., according to California law. The city of Irvine, which has jurisdiction here, opted not to post 55 m.p.h. signs there to avoid the expense, said Bonnie Burton, a senior transportation analyst for Irvine.

Irvine’s Traffic Engineering Department does conduct traffic speed surveys on Bonita Canyon Drive every two to three years to ensure that 55 m.p.h. is an appropriate maximum speed for the area, Burton said. The last survey was completed in December, 1993, and the findings justified the 55 m.p.h. speed limit, she said. Unless a survey reveals that a lower maximum speed is needed, speed signs will not be posted, Burton said.

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Dear Street Smart:

Traveling west on Lake Forest Drive, at the intersection of Lake Forest and Moulton Parkway, there is congestion galore, but so unnecessary! The left-turn lane onto Moulton is a long stream of cars any time traffic is medium to heavy.

In fact, it’s a driving hazard because it most often extends all the way back to another left-turn lane into a commercial business area and becomes most confusing and dangerous when cars turn out realizing they are in the wrong left-turn lane.

The two right-hand lanes are never too impacted. I suggest that the middle lane for traffic become another left-turn lane or left-turn/straight-ahead option. Not many cars go straight ahead. This would relieve a bad traffic jam tremendously.

Natalie W. Cohen Laguna Hills

Welcome to the club. Your letter was representative of many missives Street Smart has received about this very location. Without exception, everyone wanted to know why dual left turns couldn’t be created for westbound Lake Forest Drive traffic to turn to southbound Moulton Parkway.

Transportation officials with the county, which has jurisdiction here, say they know about the problem. But so far, nothing has been done. County traffic engineer Ignacio Ochoa recently had his staff study the left-turn options there, including the possibility of a second left-turn lane onto Moulton or allowing cars in the middle through-traffic lane to go left as well.

No decision has been made about what to do, Ochoa said, partly because the Irvine Co. has submitted development plans for the area and part of their package calls for creating dual left-turn lanes onto Moulton Parkway from both directions, at the company’s expense, he said.

Currently, the county is waiting for the Irvine Co. to give them a schedule for these improvements, Ochoa said. If the Irvine Co. plans are not slated for the near future, the county may talk to the city of Irvine about making interim improvements as a joint project, he said.

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Street Smart appears Mondays in The Times Orange County Edition.