City Answers Resident’s Request for Increased Parking

Dear Street Smart:

I live in Ventura in a townhouse on Corvallis Court, and I am very concerned about the lack of parking on nearby Telephone Road west of Saticoy Avenue.

The number of parking spaces in my complex is limited, and when I have guests, it becomes almost impossible to find parking for everyone.

Would it be possible to allow off-peak street parking on Telephone?

I sent a letter to the city about this in January, but they have not addressed this matter.

Joyce M. Littlejohn, Ventura

Dear Reader:

The city did receive your letter and in response has added two parking spaces on Telephone, Ventura Traffic Engineer Nazir Lalani says.

That’s about the best the city can do, Lalani says, because most of the stretch of Telephone near your house is taken up by a fire hydrant red zone and a bus stop.

West of the hydrant, the road narrows and there is not enough space to accommodate both street parking and the existing bike lane, Lalani says.

In lieu of parking, perhaps your guests could take advantage of that convenient bus stop.

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Dear Street Smart:

The timing seems to be off on a traffic light near my home in Ventura.

The signal is at Loma Vista Road and Hillmont Avenue.

What happens is the signal from Hillmont onto Loma Vista is red for 90 seconds and green for only seconds.

Quite often, I see cars running the red light because they don’t want to wait that long for the light to change.

There should be more green time and less red time for cars coming from Hillmont.

Dwight Cates, Ventura

Dear Reader:

Actually, often there is more green time for Hillmont traffic.

The light works on a special, recently installed traffic loop that keeps the Hillmont signal red--and the signal for traffic on Loma Vista green--until a car shows up on Hillmont.

When a car appears, it triggers seven seconds of green--ample time to make it though the intersection, Traffic Engineer Nazir Lalani says.

Each additional vehicle traveling from Hillmont to Loma Vista triggers an additional two seconds of green time, up to a total of 30 seconds, Lalani says.

“This is the most efficient way to carry traffic from a side street of this type onto a main roadway,” Lalani said. “We have signals like this all over the city.”

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Dear Street Smart:

As both a motorcyclist and bicyclist, I am continually plagued by “on demand” traffic control lights that are triggered by sensors in the roadway.

In most cases, a bicycle or motorcycle is not heavy enough to trigger the sensor. This is especially a problem with left-turn signals.

I either have to wait for an auto to come along or run the light. Neither option is very desirable.

Is it possible to realign these traffic sensors so that they can detect bicycles and motorcycles?

Terry Donovan, Simi Valley

Dear Reader:

Generally speaking, traffic signals are sensitive enough to detect motorcycles but not bicycles, Simi Valley Traffic Engineer Bill Golubics says.

Most cities cannot afford equipment sensitive enough to trigger a signal change for a comparatively lightweight bicycle, Golubics says. Only towns such as Davis, where there are a lot of bicyclists, invest in the extra-sensitive equipment, he says.

“We don’t have the kind of demand to make it cost-effective to buy the extra equipment,” he said.

However, most signals are rigged to react to motorcycles. If you come across one that doesn’t, call the city’s traffic department at 583-6700, and the problem will be fixed, Golubics says.

Simi Sewer Work

Starting today, traffic will be reduced to one lane in each direction on Los Angeles Avenue between Tapo Canyon Channel and Crater Street.

The city is shutting down part of the roadway to install a sewer line for the nearby Cultural Arts Center. The sewer work is scheduled to be completed by Sept. 23.