La Tuna Canyon Road Repair Is Demanded

Angered over a series of fatal car accidents on a menacing stretch of road, Los Angeles City Councilman Joel Wachs vowed Tuesday to demand repairs for a section of La Tuna Canyon Road that floods in heavy rains, creating a hazard for motorists.

Wachs’ call for repairs came in response to a story in The Times on Monday about three wrongful death suits filed against the city on behalf of the families of motorists who have died in accidents on La Tuna Canyon Road in Sun Valley.

In each case, the families of the motorists have charged that the city is partly to blame for the fatal accidents by failing to install proper drainage to keep water from pooling on the pavement.

Wachs said he will call for the repairs Wednesday when the council considers paying $1.2 million to settle the latest lawsuit by the family of Rafeek Teraberanyans, who was killed in a head-on collision on March 24, 1994.

“I want to make sure it never happens again,” Wachs said, whose east San Fernando Valley district includes the stretch of La Tuna Canyon Road.

In addition to calling for immediate repairs to the roadway, Wachs said he will support a recent motion by fellow Councilman Mike Feuer that attempts to avoid such problems in the future.

Feuer’s motion, which will be considered by the full council next month, instructs city administrators to propose improvements whenever a lawsuit or claim results from a hazard on public streets or facilities.

J.P. Ellman, president of the city’s Board of Public Works, which oversees street repairs, declined to comment on the Teraberanyans suit pending a final settlement.

But she said that last year she made a suggestion similar to Feuer’s motion, asking the city attorney’s office to alert her panel to hazards on public streets and facilities that have resulted in lawsuits against the city. Ellman said she has not heard a response to her request.

The city has already paid out $450,000 to settle claims resulting from two head-on collisions--one in 1979 and one in 1987--on the rain-slick road near Elben Avenue, east of the Foothill Freeway.

In the past 20 years, four other deaths and 30 accidents--at least 17 of which were head-on collisions--have occurred on that same stretch of La Tuna Canyon, according to city reports.

Despite the history of accidents, a recent report by the city attorney’s office said there is still “substandard drainage throughout the length of La Tuna Canyon Road.”

Wachs, who has represented the Sun Valley area since 1986, said his office has received many complaints about speeding on La Tuna Canyon Road over the years and has repeatedly asked police to enforce traffic laws there.

But he said it wasn’t until May 1993 that his office received a complaint by a resident about flooding on La Tuna Canyon Road, which he referred to the city’s street maintenance division so that the problem would be corrected.

“I don’t know the facts of this case, but the problem that we have been aware of is speeding,” he said.

In the Teraberanyans case, a trash truck owned by Browning-Ferris Industries lost traction on a pool of water and hydroplaned into the path of Teraberanyans’ car.

An accident analysis expert hired by the city estimated that the truck was traveling in the opposite direction at between 40 and 50 mph in an area with a posted speed limit of 45 mph.

Nonetheless, the suit by Teraberanyans’ wife, Armineh, claims that the truck was traveling too fast for the road conditions. The suit also blames the city for failing to install spillways to drain away excess water.

Browning-Ferris settled a suit by paying Teraberanyans’ family $4.5 million. But in cooperation with the family, Browning-Ferris filed a cross-complaint against the city, alleging that the roadway problems contributed to the accident.

During settlement discussions, a superior court judge recommended that the city pay $1.2 million for its share of the damages already paid out by Browning-Ferris.