Bailout Strategy Rankles, but It Affects O.C. Projects Only

Dear Street Smart:

Your column several weeks ago contained a letter from Jo Bernath complaining about inadequate freeway systems.

You quoted a state Department of Transportation official saying that there is not enough state and federal money to build more and better freeways.

Enclosed is an article from The Times that shows $800 million in transportation dollars going to bail out Orange County.

We voted more gas tax for freeways, etc., thinking that the money could not be used for anything but freeways.

The tax being collected could not be used fast enough because of the large income. It looks like we created a large pot of money for the politicians to use as they see fit.

I feel that the law should be changed to protect funds for a specific use that was voted for by the people.

C. J. Campbell, Thousand Oaks

Dear Reader:

Unless you live in Orange County, or drive through Orange County regularly, the legislation signed into law by Gov. Pete Wilson earlier this year will not likely affect you.

The three laws allow officials in Orange County, still reeling from the county’s bankruptcy petition a year ago, to in effect borrow from money earmarked for transportation projects within Orange County.

As the article you referred to pointed out lower in the story, the bankruptcy will delay transportation projects in Orange County for years to come, while county executives steer the agency from financial ruin.

Local officials in Orange County wanted the package of laws, lobbying Wilson and Sacramento lawmakers for their passage. They said it was the only way the county could recover from the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history.

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Dear Street Smart:

With all the recent attention on railroad crossings, maybe someone could look into the crossing at old Los Angeles Avenue in Moorpark between the Villa del Arroyo Mobile Home Park and the Collins Drive offramp from California 118.

There are no markings on the street to show where to stop, and it is so poorly lighted there that my car was almost hit by the arms when they came down one night.

I’ve driven by it in the daytime and noticed that there are no visible painted markings on the pavement. Shouldn’t there be?

Could you find out who is responsible for this and bring it to their attention?

Judi Scheibel, Simi Valley

Dear Reader:

Moorpark officials acknowledge that the striping at that intersection is wearing thin.

That’s why they have included the corner in a $1.3-million resurfacing project that is ready to begin early next year. Construction crews will repave that section of old Los Angeles Avenue, along with several other intersections in the city, said Public Works Director Ken Gilbert.

“If there are railroad crossings out there that are fairly faint, we’ve let them go because we’re about to resurface it,” Gilbert said. “But if it’s something that’s a matter of safety, we’ll repaint it even before it’s resurfaced.”

Gilbert said he would personally inspect the railroad crossing at his earliest convenience.

The repaving project will begin in March and be finished later next spring, Gilbert said.

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Dear Street Smart:

What has happened to some of the street lights in Thousand Oaks?

Turn signals and even regular signals at Westlake and Thousand Oaks boulevards; Thousand Oaks Boulevard and Hodencamp Road; and Thousand Oaks Boulevard and Erbes Road used to go on only if there were cars, and then stay on only as necessary.

Now, turn lights and regular signals, especially turn lights, come on no matter what, slowing the flow of traffic, eating up precious gasoline and causing even more pollution from unnecessarily idling cars.

Why have these traffic signals been reverted to archaic and wasteful ways?

Tracy King, Thousand Oaks

Dear Reader:

Only the first intersection described in your letter has been deliberately changed in recent weeks, transportation analyst Jeff Knowles said.

At Thousand Oaks and Westlake boulevards, road crews have not yet completed an ongoing reconstruction project.

“We can’t put the new detectors in until we finish repaving the road,” Knowles said. “As soon as we’re finished reconstructing the roads, it will be back to normal.”

Knowles said the left-turn lights at the other two intersections are not supposed to be triggered automatically.

“If those left-turns are coming on when no one is there, the signals are malfunctioning,” said Knowles, who pledged to inspect the signals. “These detectors are self-tuning, but sometimes they tune themselves too well.”

In those cases, Knowles said, simply report the malfunction to (805) 449-2416.