MTA Plans to Smooth Out Train Tracks

Dear Traffic Talk:

Who is responsible for repairing or maintaining smooth railroad crossings, the city or the railroad?

I’m speaking of the crossing at Corbin Avenue and Topham Street. It is so rough it really tears your car apart, yet the nearby crossings at Winnetka and Tampa are smooth.

Janis Davidson

Woodland Hills

Dear Traffic Talk:

Have you driven over the railroad tracks that parallel Oxnard Street between about Van Nuys Boulevard and Laurel Canyon? There are several crossings that can knock the tartar right off your teeth!

What does it take to get the railroad to maintain its tracks?

Larry Korman

Van Nuys

Dear Readers:

A complex system of railroad tracks cross the Valley and their street crossings vary from smooth as silk to harsh as a minefield. Southern Pacific Railroad has been steadily selling tracks to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and Metrolink in recent years, so learning who owns a particular section of rail, let alone who must maintain it, is difficult.

These crossings have been ignored for nearly three years as Southern Pacific abandoned them for the MTA to take over. There is now light at the end of the tunnel, however. MTA officials have approved a $1.5-million grant for the city to repair the intersections, at a cost of $5,000 to $20,000 each, said MTA spokesman Mark Deerking.

“In those areas where they aren’t being used, our plans are to rip up the tracks and pave over them,” said Deerking. “The way the grants have been written, we should have enough money for all of the intersections in the San Fernando Valley.”

The grant is funded by sales tax revenue, and work may begin by the end of the year.

Dear Traffic Talk:

We were driving on De Soto Avenue when our car, and another to our right, came to the railroad tracks. The gate came down and seconds later the Metrolink whizzed by at such a speed.

It shocked us, and do you know why? There is no real warning of an approaching train except the slamming of the gate and seconds later the Metrolink whizzes by. If we would have been crossing there would be no time to get out of the way.

Sophia Cole

Canoga Park

Dear Reader:

You’re not the only driver nervous about how abruptly trains appear there. Southern Pacific periodically receives calls about the crossing and, after hearing of your concern, sent a signal maintenance crew there Thursday to recheck the warning system.

A review showed the intersection meets Federal Railroad Assn. standards, which require lights to flash at least 20 seconds before a train crosses and for the gate to drop at least five seconds before.

Some freight trains appear to sneak up on the site because they emerge from a nearby storage facility and are traveling slower than the Metrolink cars, said Southern Pacific spokesman Mike Furtney. Moving only 5 to 10 m.p.h., they don’t trigger the intersection’s alert signal until they are much closer.

Traffic Talk appears Fridays in The Times Valley Edition. Readers are invited to submit comments and questions about traffic in the Valley. Please write to Traffic Talk, Los Angeles Times, 20000 Prairie St., Chatsworth, Calif. 91311. Include your full name, address and day and evening phone numbers. Letters may be edited, and no anonymous letters will be accepted. To record your comments, call (818) 772-3303. Send fax letters to (818) 772-3385.