Speed Bumps Should Check Questions About Accident

Dear Street Smart:

Approximately a year ago, I was involved in an accident in the city of Anaheim on Festival Drive next to the Anaheim Hills Festival shopping center. In my report to the police and my insurance company I said that, intending to make a left-hand turn, I collided with another car coming down the hill around a curve at an excessive speed that prevented me from avoiding the collision.

Because I was making the left turn, I was faulted by police.

For a while I considered hiring a lawyer and investigator to dispute this finding on the grounds that conditions at the site made it prone to such an accident due to the lack of visibility and high speed of traffic coming down the hill. For personal reasons, however, I decided to drop the idea.

On a recent visit to the area, I noticed that speed bumps had been added. My question is this: Were they placed there because the location was accident prone? This was the first time in more than 45 years of driving that I was blamed for an accident, and a vindication would do a lot for my self-esteem.

Manuel Rodriguez, Brea

Your self-esteem is hereby redeemed.

Karol Reedy, general manager of Anaheim Hills Festival shopping center, through which Festival Drive traverses, said the center installed the speed bumps two months ago to make that street safer.

“I wouldn’t say it was accident prone, but we have had one or two accidents there and several near accidents,” Reedy said. “We thought it best to put speed bumps on the street to slow people down.”

Many of the speeders, she said, are not shoppers at all but nearby residents cutting through the shopping center to save time.

“It’s a curve, so you can’t see all the way down the street,” Reedy said. “People on a curve should slow down, but you know how it is. They take it as a shortcut and speed through. We did it as a preventive measure.”

So far the tactic has worked, although some people have grumbled.

“We’ve had one or two complaints from people who didn’t like them because they didn’t want to slow down,” she said. “You can’t win either way. But we definitely feel it’s safer to have them than not to have them.”

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Dear Street Smart:

Are there any plans to smooth out the train track crossings on Beach Boulevard between Katella Avenue and Ball Road? I have to slow down to a crawl in order to avoid destroying my suspension when I cross them and then I’m taking a chance of being rear-ended by the traffic behind me. The same problem exists where the tracks cross Western Avenue and Euclid Street. It’s gotten to where I turn on my hazard lights when I cross these tracks.

John T. Woodfin, Westminster

You’ll be happy to learn that a crew is scheduled to begin making temporary improvements at the Beach Boulevard crossing later this week, according to Rose Orem, a spokeswoman for Caltrans. But it won’t be a Caltrans crew, she said--the workers will be provided by Southern Pacific Railroad, which is legally responsible for maintaining those tracks.

“Caltrans can only pave up to two feet from the edge of the railroad tracks,” Orem said.

Because the agency is responsible for maintaining state freeways and highways such as Beach Boulevard, however, it is working closely with the railroad to see that the work gets done, she said.

“Caltrans is well aware of the road condition at the train crossing and has diligently pursued a commitment from Southern Pacific Railroad since June 28 to get the necessary repairs done at several locations,” Orem said. “It seems as though this task is going at a snail’s pace because all complaints are addressed based on priority for the Southern California region. Southern Pacific Railroad informs us that they have been busy responding to other emergency situations in the area.”

A spokesman for the railroad referred calls to a Southern Pacific maintenance engineer, who did not return phone calls.

Orem said Caltrans continues to work closely with the railroad to obtain commitments for work at other sites, including the one at Western Avenue.

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Noted in passing: Caltrans and the Orange County Transportation Authority have begun distributing 100,000 coupon books for discounts and special deals at 38 restaurants, stores and businesses likely to be hurt by the temporary closures of the Santa Ana Freeway’s Lake Forest Drive and El Toro Road off-ramps during continuing reconstruction of the El Toro Y.

“The idea is to let commuters know that these businesses are still open and to provide an incentive to patronize them,” Elaine Beno, a spokeswoman for the transportation authority, said of the 44-page booklets being given away at area businesses, city halls and OCTA bus schedule racks.

The Lake Forest off-ramp is scheduled to close sometime this fall, followed by closure of the El Toro Road off-ramp. Both ramps are expected to remain closed for up to two months as workers redesign freeway exits, add car-pool lanes and create new car-pool connectors.