New Sign Already Ordered for Busy Oxnard Intersection

Dear Street Smart:

Statham Boulevard near Oxnard Boulevard in Oxnard has two glaring problems.

First, traffic turning left from westbound Statham onto Oxnard Boulevard has the right of way.

This is contrary to most traffic laws that I am aware of.

Worse, the only way the opposing traffic knows of this aberration is if they happen to spot a small, hard-to-see sign that says turning traffic doesn’t stop.

The city should either eliminate this left-turn priority or make the sign a lot bigger.

The second problem is a yield sign where traffic turns right from southbound Pacific Avenue onto Statham.

This sign is useless and confusing. Nobody pays attention to it.

A stop sign would be much more effective. Any chance of these problems being corrected?

Karen M. Murphy, Oxnard

Dear Reader:

The first problem stems from a simple case of a missing sign.

Oxnard Traffic Engineer Joe Genovese checked the intersection of Statham and Oxnard and discovered that the sign warning motorists that “oncoming traffic does not stop” had vanished.

Genovese has ordered a new sign, which will be installed as soon as it arrives.

Regarding your second question, Genovese says replacing the yield sign at Pacific and Statham with a stop sign would not work because it would interfere with the flow of traffic on neighboring streets.

The main purpose of the yield sign, Genovese says, is not to control traffic but to remind turning vehicles to watch out for pedestrians.

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Dear Street Smart:

There’s a visibility problem at a Ventura Freeway off-ramp in Ventura that I think could be hazardous.

The problem exists at the Victoria Avenue exit from the eastbound Ventura Freeway.

Motorists turning right on red onto Victoria at the bottom of the off-ramp can’t see traffic coming down Victoria because a guardrail between the street and sidewalk blocks the view.

I’ve seen cars turn and then almost get hit by traffic that they couldn’t see.

The city should either remove the guardrail or make this a no-turn-on-red intersection.

Marty Johnson, Ventura

Dear Reader:

Actually, the solutions you suggest would create an even greater safety hazard than now exists, says Nazir Lalani, Ventura traffic engineer.

The problem with removing the safety rail is that pedestrians and bicyclists often use this narrow sidewalk. Eliminating the rail would make it much more dangerous for them, Lalani says.

Prohibiting right turns on red would also be a problem because of the high volume of traffic at this intersection, Lalani says. If cars were forced to wait for a green signal to turn right, traffic would be backed up all the way to the freeway, he says.

The real solution, he says, is to overhaul the entire freeway interchange, a $7-million project that the city and Caltrans are hoping to find funding for soon.

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Dear Street Smart:

I’m concerned about Caltrans’ lack of attention to a very dangerous problem on the transition road between the eastbound Ventura Freeway and the northbound Moorpark Freeway.

Caltrans recently eliminated one of two lanes linking the eastbound Ventura Freeway to the Moorpark Freeway. You published a letter from a reader complaining that the change is causing traffic to back up at a blind curve on the transition road.

Caltrans replied that it merely shifted a lane from the eastbound side to the westbound side to accommodate the heavier traffic flow coming from the east.

Since the change, traffic does seem to move more quickly most of the time. But a problem arises when traffic backs up during evening rush hour each day.

Cars come dashing around the blind curve at high rates of speed, then have to slam on the brakes because traffic is stopped dead at the other end of the curve. I have had three close calls since the change.

I would implore Caltrans to install some kind of warning sign, flashing light or reduced speed requirement to caution drivers who are not aware of this daily problem.

If something is not done, there is eventually going to be a bloody, horrible pileup of rear-ended vehicles on the transition road.

Robert P. Phipps, Thousand Oaks

Dear Reader:

In response to your letter, the state Department of Transportation took another look at that stretch of road and decided that there is, indeed, a safety problem during evening rush hour, Caltrans engineer Luu Nguyen says.

A blind curve hides stalled traffic from approaching cars, which must then stop quickly, a fact illustrated by eyewitness accounts and an alarming number of skid marks on the roadway.

Caltrans is now studying ways to address the problem, Nguyen says.

Flashing lights or some other sort of posted warning should be installed within the next few months.