Portola / Jeffrey Intersection Will Soon Take a Turn for the Better

Dear Street Smart:

This letter is in regard to the intersection of Portola Parkway and Jeffrey Road in Irvine. When traveling from the Foothill Transportation Corridor toward Irvine, Portola Parkway has two lanes of traffic. However, when traffic wanting to turn left approaches the intersection of Jeffrey Road (which is 99% of the traffic), both lanes must merge into the one left-hand lane to access the two left-hand turn lanes.

Why don’t they have the two lanes on Portola lead straight into the two left-turn lanes at Jeffrey? This would eliminate the last-minute merge of cars from two lanes into one lane back to two lanes again.

Furthermore, this would be an easy modification because there is plenty of room for re-striping.

Jeffrey Andrews

Trabuco Canyon

Here’s an early Christmas present for you. Orange County is working to fix this problem by mid-December.

Ignacio Ochoa, the county traffic engineer, said road crews will sandblast the current striping on Portola and repaint the pavement so the two left lanes of traffic can flow into the two left turn lanes.

Dear Street Smart:

A couple of years ago, I read in the paper that the only lights allowed on the front of a car after dark for street driving are the regular headlight beams and the parking lights. That is two sets.

Now all the cars seem to be getting another pair of lights down low (too low for the legal limits, according to the article I read), and these lights absolutely blind me at night. These cars have three sets of lights on the front now, instead of the legal two. I can’t see that the road is any easier to see in front of the cars with six lights than in front of the cars with four.

If they are legal, why are they legal when they are so blinding? And if they are not legal, why are so many people driving around with them? Can anything be done about this?

Jean Falconer

Newport Beach

I agree with you about these annoying low lights, but the law contradicts us both. These lights, called fog lamps, are legal, according to the California Vehicle Code. The code also states that the front of a vehicle can legally be outfitted with up to four pairs of (or eight individual) lights or lamps.

If properly installed by the manufacturer, fog lamps should not be blinding. By state law, these lights must no higher than 30 inches from the ground and positioned so the brightest part of the beam is at least four inches below the center of the lamp 25 feet ahead.

However, a fog lamp that is out of alignment can cause glare. What can be done? Precious little, according to the California Highway Patrol. A vehicle owner can be cited only if a CHP officer witnesses the misalignment firsthand.

Dear Street Smart:

Is there any way to redesign or re-mark the intersection of Paseo de Valencia and Laguna Hills Drive heading south?

It seems that traffic traveling in that direction makes dangerous lane changes in order to turn right onto Laguna Hills Drive. The bicycle lane turns into an auto lane approximately 500 feet before the intersection, and cars wanting to remain in the far right lane are almost sideswiped.

The only marking for the far right lane is about 50 feet before the intersection and during rush hour it makes for some scary maneuvering.

Eugene Leo

Laguna Niguel

This intersection is shared by the city of Laguna Hills and the county. In late October, county traffic engineer Ignacio Ochoa received a letter from the Laguna Hills traffic engineer seeking support for a project that would widen and improve it.

Ochoa said the number of accidents at this intersection has not been high, but the area is heavily traveled and these improvements would provide more room and ease of mobility for motorists. Depending on funding and acquiring right of way, the soonest the work could begin is in 1997, with an anticipated completion date of mid-summer 1998, Ochoa said.

Improvements would include creating dual left-turn lanes from northbound Paseo de Valencia onto Laguna Hills Drive and adding a separate right-turn lane from southbound Paseo de Valencia onto Laguna Hills Drive. That short third lane that crops up 50 feet before the intersection would be extended, Ochoa said.

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For the Record: The Streetsmart column Oct. 31 incorrectly listed the opening date of a five-mile segment of car-pool lane on the Riverside Freeway in Los Angeles County between the San Gabriel River Freeway and the Orange County line. The segment will open this month.

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The public still has time to voice its views on improving traffic through a six-mile-wide, 28-mile-long corridor between Fullerton and Irvine. The Orange County Transportation Authority is accepting comments for its urban transit corridor study via phone, fax and letter through Nov. 30.

People may call OCTA customer relations at (714) 560-5700 between 7:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Voice mail will record messages after business hours. Comments also may be faxed to (714) 560-5794 or mailed to Julie Rush, OCTA Planning and Development, 550 S. Main St., Orange, CA 92613-1584.