As Long as It’s Law, CHP Will Enforce 55 on the Freeways

Dear Street Smart:

The 55 m.p.h. speed limit is a joke. If you go 55 on the freeway, you’re liable to get killed.

There are only a few freeways in California where you can legally go faster than 55 m.p.h., but even when the posted speed limit is 65 m.p.h., the cars whiz along at 75 or 80 m.p.h.

Everybody drives faster than 55 m.p.h., so why do they keep the speed limit so low?

Also, why do they ticket some drivers going faster than 55 m.p.h. and let other ones go?

Roland Gardner

Ventura

Dear Reader:

The California Highway Patrol, which regulates traffic and investigates accidents on state highways, is quick to point out that speed limits are set by state legislators.

There are some bills winding through the state Legislature that would do away with the 55 m.p.h. speed limit on most freeways. But until the law is changed, traffic officers will continue to enforce the existing law.

As for ticketing some drivers and letting others go, California Highway Patrol officers say they do the best job they can with their limited resources.

“There’s not an officer out there who’s going to deny that the traffic flows faster than 55,” Ventura CHP Officer Dave Cockrill said. “But the bottom line is there are a lot more drivers than there are officers, and we can only stop one car at a time.”

CHP officials recommend that slower drivers stay toward the right-hand lanes, allowing the faster drivers to pass safely along the left.

Dear Street Smart:

A few years ago, they widened Tierra Rejada Road near Moorpark. At the time, I thought that was a good idea because I thought that they would put in a stoplight at Moorpark Road.

But they never did. As it is now, there is a stop sign at Tierra Rejada Road when you’re driving north on Moorpark Road. But a lot of times, people take terrible chances getting across Tierra Rejada Road.

I think there should be a stoplight at the intersection of Tierra Rejada and Moorpark roads, instead of merely a stop sign for drivers on Moorpark Road. The corner seems dangerous to me.

John Gorecki

Moorpark

Dear Reader:

Moorpark and county traffic analysts have big plans for the intersection of Tierra Rejada and Moorpark roads.

First off, county planners are designing a new Moorpark Road alignment that they hope to construct in late 1996 or early 1997. The most probable design would relocate that section of Moorpark Road slightly to the east.

“It’s not something we’ve ignored,” County Engineer Robert Brownie said. “There are three alignments being studied, so Moorpark Road may be a completely different intersection when it’s reconstructed.”

Before the county project is completed, however, Moorpark officials are planning a temporary upgrade that should alleviate traffic concerns at the same intersection.

“We are in the process of installing a temporary traffic signal at Tierra Rejada and Moorpark roads,” Moorpark Public Works Director Ken Gilbert said. “It’s in design, and we hope to have it working prior to December.”

Dear Street Smart:

What are they doing about the intersection at Johnson Drive and the Ventura Freeway in Ventura? I don’t know what they’re planning, but at certain times every day, it’s a big logjam.

The traffic is backed up consistently, and I can’t see where they’re making any progress on the work they’ve started.

Roland Gardner

Ventura

Dear Reader:

One of the most congested interchanges in the city, the Johnson Drive on- and off-ramps have long been in line for upgrading by Ventura traffic engineers.

City officials originally planned to include the project in a $100-million state effort to widen the Santa Clara River bridge and the intersection of the Ventura Freeway and Pacific Coast Highway.

But that project has stalled due to a lack of funds.

Instead, Ventura is planning to extend Olivas Park Drive and connect it with Johnson Drive under the freeway, Traffic Engineer Nazir Lalani said.

“It’s not going to be great, but it will be better than what we’ve got,” Lalani said. “And we’ll still try to do the state project later.”

Traffic officials also plan to resurface Johnson Drive from the freeway north to Bristol Road. But that will not add any more lanes to Johnson Drive, Lalani said.

The resurfacing project will be completed before the end of the year.

*

Write to Street Smart, The Times Ventura County Edition, 93 S. Chestnut St., Ventura 93001. You may enclose a simple sketch if it will help Street Smart understand your traffic questions. Or call our Sound Off Line, 653-7546. Whether writing or calling, include your full name, address, and day and evening phone numbers. No anonymous queries will be accepted, and letters are subject to editing.