Dear Street Smart:I am writing to you...

Dear Street Smart:

I am writing to you to ask about the timing of signals at the corner of Sepulveda Boulevard and Greenleaf Street in Sherman Oaks, where an entrance to the San Diego Freeway is located.

The timing of the left-turn signal from northbound Sepulveda onto the freeway is extremely short on the weekends, sometimes not even allowing one car to get through if that driver is not alert the exact second the light changes--let alone any other cars.

Shouldn’t any signal let two cars through at a minimum? The timing there seems fine during the week, but on the weekends something needs to be done.

Steven Kusnitz, Sherman Oaks

Dear Reader:

We brought your problem to Brian Gallagher, a traffic engineer with the city of Los Angeles, who says that maintenance crews have been dispatched to check whether the electronic sensor is working properly at that stoplight.

In theory, that left-turn signal should give 12 seconds of green on weekends as long as there are cars on the detector, which should be ample time to allow several cars through the intersection, Gallagher says.

As to whether all signals should give at least enough time for two cars to pass, you’re right, they should. Gallagher says that even the shortest signal in the city, provided there are cars waiting, stays green for five seconds--sufficient time for at least two cars to go through.

And after that, there’s always the yellow light. Which, if you’ve spent any time driving in L. A., you know often means time for another 10 cars.

*

Dear Street Smart:

As a Newhall resident who cannot car-pool, I’m ecstatic at the reopening of the Golden State-Antelope Valley freeway interchange, but curious as to the status of the post-earthquake diamond lane on the southbound side.

As much of the 14 Freeway is only three lanes from Sand Canyon to San Fernando, this leaves only two lanes for solo drivers. I anticipate horrific delays as more and more commuters revert to pre-shaker schedules, because this freeway used to clog up from Sierra Highway right on down to the interchange in the morning.

Are there plans to take out the diamond lane? In addition, what is the schedule for eventual widening of this section of freeway?

Barry Cook, Newhall

Dear Reader:

That new diamond lane was indeed a post-earthquake measure designed as an incentive to get commuters to share rides. But as with the car-pool lanes put in on the Santa Monica Freeway after its collapse, they weren’t meant to last--and indeed, they should now have vanished, says Rick Holland of Caltrans.

However, expect a rebirth in the not-so-distant future. To your question of whether the freeway will be widened, the answer is yes, but the extra lane will be for car pools, not for those who drive alone.

The diamond lane is to run all the way from California 126 to Sand Canyon Road. Holland says the anticipated completion date is sometime in 1997.