QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ABOUT YOUR COMMUTE : Lane-Changing Trucks Present Tricky Drive

Dear Traffic Talk:

When is the California Highway Patrol going to enforce its “trucks in the right lane only” policy on the Golden State Freeway southbound? Try dodging a semi or two during the morning commute.

Ken Keller

Valencia

Dear Ken:

On a five-lane freeway, trucks are allowed to drive in the two right-hand lanes, according to Wendy Moore, spokeswoman for the Newhall office of the highway patrol. Although she said she has heard of trucks illegally using the fast lanes north of Santa Clarita, she has not heard about that problem occurring on the stretch to which I believe you are referring.

Southbound on the Golden State just before the Simi Valley Freeway, trucks are forced to shift to the left to stay on the Golden State. Then they have about three miles within which to shift right to the slow lanes, then back to the left lanes to stay on the Golden State rather than entering the Hollywood Freeway. All this shifting may make it seem as though trucks are flouting the law when they are not.

On the Golden State north of the Foothill Freeway, and between the Foothill and Simi Valley freeways, that problem is less likely to occur since there are truck lanes along much of those stretches.

Dear Traffic Talk:

You no doubt are aware that the Hollywood Freeway does not connect to the Ventura Freeway going west. For this reason, streets such as Laurel Canyon Boulevard, Woodman Avenue and Van Nuys Boulevard become major north-south arteries connecting to the Ventura Freeway.

Woodman is particularly popular since it is centrally located for the East Valley. On Woodman just north of Oxnard Street, there is a railroad crossing with eroded and worn wooden planks supposedly covering the tracks. These planks are so worn that one has to stop or slow down to 5 mph to cross them or risk jeopardizing one’s shocks.

I have referred this problem to my councilman’s office and have received no response. What course of action do you recommend?

Jack H. Farber

North Hollywood

Dear Jack:

That railroad crossing is one of 37 inactive crossings in the San Fernando Valley that are slated to be resurfaced by the city Department of Transportation. Since the crossings are no longer needed for trains, the tracks will be torn out and the streets paved smooth.

According to Ali Haeri-Azad, a transportation engineering associate with the city, the transportation department should learn within two weeks from the city Department of Public Works if it has the staffing for the project. If public works can do it, the work will start in six months and take another year to complete, Haeri-Azad said.

If public works cannot do the job, then the city will have to go out to bid for a private construction company to do the project. Under that process, it would take a year for construction to begin, Haeri-Azad said.

The Woodman-Oxnard crossing is 12th on the priority list of 37.

The project will cost about $1.5 million, to be paid out of Metropolitan Transportation Authority funds. The project is being handled by the High Occupancy Vehicle Section, the office of the Department of Transportation responsible for improving transit efficiency in the city.

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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.