Questions and Answers About Your Commute : Truck Drivers’ Illegal Rest Stop a Hazard

Dear Traffic Talk:

Why are large trucks allowed to park on the side of the Foothill Freeway at La Tuna Canyon Road and at Sunland Boulevard? Signs clearly state, “Emergency parking only.” Getting on the freeway at La Tuna Canyon eastbound is particularly dangerous because trucks sometimes partially block the transition lane. Once, a truck cut me off as it entered the freeway from the shoulder and I almost ran into it.

This problem of getting on the freeway at La Tuna usually occurs in the early morning around 6 a.m. on weekdays.

Paul Vredenburg

Sun Valley

Dear Paul:

The California Highway Patrol is also concerned and frustrated about the problem, according to Officer David Williams, who supervises officers who have ticketed those truckers. Truck drivers stop at those areas to sleep, and prefer them to parking lots and the shoulders of city streets, which truckers view as less safe, Williams said.

All that the highway patrol can do about the problem is to hand out $35 parking tickets, which--because they don’t go on a driver’s record--drivers tend to ignore, CHP officials said. Williams suggested writing to your state representative to ask for legislation that would make such an act a moving violation that would carry a much higher fine and go on a driver’s record.

Dear Traffic Talk:

Southbound on Tujunga Canyon Boulevard in Tujunga, it is very difficult and hazardous to make a left turn onto Foothill Boulevard because one cannot see the oncoming traffic. A left-turn-only light would greatly help this situation.

Sidney Gelber

Sunland

Dear Sidney:

The city has already put in an order to have left-turn-only lights installed at that intersection--one facing southbound motorists, the other for northbound drivers--according to city transportation engineer Irwin Chodash. The city took that step because curves in the road impede visibility, as you said. However, because of the large backlog of such orders, it could take a few to several months before the signals are installed, Chodash said.

Dear Traffic Talk:

In August, Nordhoff Street between Corbin and DeSoto avenues was roughed up preparatory to resurfacing. In what seemed like record time, Nordhoff was resurfaced between Oakdale Avenue and DeSoto, leaving one-quarter mile of rough, uneven pavement. For a couple of months, this looked like an oversight that would be corrected, but lines have been painted on the rough pavement, leaving the impression that this is going to be a permanent situation. Can this be so?

Robert M. Winning

West Hills

Dear Robert:

That section of the road has now been repaved. Patrick Howard, director of the Bureau of Street Maintenance, said the repaving was delayed so that the Bureau of Engineering could replace sewer pipes along that stretch. City workers striped the rough street just to provide temporary guidance for drivers.

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 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. Fax letters to (818) 772-3385.