Tracks of Red Tape Hamper Railroad Crossing Project

Dear Street Smart:

About three months ago I wrote to you about the extremely bumpy railroad crossing on Pleasant Valley Road at 5th Street near Camarillo.

I was pleased to read that county engineer Robert Brownie said the railroad should be making repairs within a month.

Well, it has been well over a month with no repairs to date. What’s the latest with Southern Pacific?

Wendell E. Steiner, Camarillo

Dear Reader:

Local traffic officials say they have badgered Southern Pacific for months to smooth over the railroad crossings along Pleasant Valley Road.

Brownie said he has called Southern Pacific numerous times and written the company several letters to get workers to do the job, but to no avail.

Southern Pacific spokesman Mike Furtney said the company is working as fast as it can to correct the problem. Furtney said the delays have simply been the result of red tape.

“We’re negotiating with the city to get permission to do the repairs,” he said. But “I don’t have any feeling for the schedule at all.

“We’re in the process of showing them what needs to happen so they know that we don’t just want to shut their street down for a couple of weeks for no good reason,” he added.

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Dear Street Smart:

I am concerned about the speed of traffic on Paige Lane in Thousand Oaks before it becomes La Granada Drive.

I walk along that road often, as do many other people, and the speed stripes recently painted there don’t seem to slow anyone down. Also, rabbits and squirrels live in the adjacent field. Life is dangerous enough, but with speeding cars, it is worse.

Can speed bumps be installed on at least part of Paige Lane?

Robyn Franklyn, Thousand Oaks

Dear Reader:

The short answer is: Yes, they can be installed, but it is not likely.

Public works officials in Thousand Oaks have standards regarding where speed humps are placed. Unfortunately for you and the resident rabbits and squirrels, most sections of Paige Lane do not qualify.

“Right now, the only section of Paige Lane that would qualify for speed humps would be the residential portions, which is already a 25-m.p.h. zone south of Combes Avenue,” said civil engineer Jim Mashiko.

Traffic flows and speed violations do not warrant humps along that stretch of road, he said.

“The speed limit is clearly marked at 25 m.p.h.,” Mashiko said. “So [installing humps] is a tough question.”

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Dear Street Smart:

I’ve always wondered about the left-turn signals at Lynn Road and Camino Manzanas in Thousand Oaks. Whenever I’m trying to make a left turn onto Camino Manzanas, I end up having to wait. This happens in the left-turn lanes going both ways off Lynn Road.

What triggers this signal? It seems like the wait is too long for people who want to turn left.

There’s a school right there on the corner, and about two or three times every day it gets backed up six or eight cars going both ways. What are they going to do about it?

Mike Marsh, Thousand Oaks

Dear Reader:

Good news. Your question piqued the interest of Thousand Oaks traffic officials, who said they would experiment with a new timing schedule.

City traffic analyst Jeff Knowles said he would adjust the left-turn arrow by the end of this month.

As on many streets, signals along Lynn Road are sequentially timed. Trouble is, it is difficult to match the timing of through traffic lights with left turns.

Most of the arrows are set to illuminate as the light turns green, Knowles said. But recent trends have traffic analysts experimenting with lighting the left-turn signals after the through light changes, allowing more motorists the time to go from one signal to the next and still make the left turn.

Knowles said he has another incentive to switch the timing mechanism at Lynn Road and Camino Manzanas.

“The city manager lives up that way,” he said. “So he has to deal with the same signal coming and going to work every day.”