Traffic Count at Corner Doesn’t Add Up to New Signal

Dear Street Smart:

I have lived in the Pierpont neighborhood of Ventura for many years.

During all that time, I have watched with curiosity the traffic humming by at the corner of San Pedro Street and Harbor Boulevard.

It seems like there are so many cars using that intersection that it would be much safer and better regulated if the city were to install a signal there.

I have had a lot of near-miss accidents at that corner over the years.

Do Ventura traffic officials have any plans to install a signal at that intersection?

Lori Hanson

Ventura

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Dear Reader:

The short answer is no. But all is not lost.

Ventura traffic engineers frequently rely on residents’ tips to launch reviews of existing traffic-control conditions.

In this case, associate engineer Tom Mericle said he would reevaluate the intersection of San Pedro Street and Harbor Boulevard. “There are some things we don’t specifically look at unless it’s requested,” he said.

As part of their ongoing street and road maintenance programs, Ventura traffic officials conduct volume counts on most of the busier streets in the city every two years, sometimes even more frequently.

Mericle said the latest counts at that corner show that in September of last year, 1,900 cars going in all directions used the three-way San Pedro-Harbor intersection.

That count is over a 24-hour period, however, and most likely would not warrant the installation of a traffic signal, a standard which requires 105 cars an hour to use the intersection from one direction during a minimum of eight hours.

There still might be some improvements recommended for the corner, however. “It may be something we should look at for a weekend because of the traffic for the beach,” Mericle said.

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Dear Street Smart:

The intersection at Pleasant Valley and Lewis roads has been a mess for years. With the increase in business in that area it’s even more of a nightmare.

Traffic has to converge from Lewis and Pleasant Valley roads at the same time, from two different angles. At high peak hours, cars are backed up for miles.

This has been necessitated by a useless piece of triangular land that has been for sale, off and on, for years. No one has bought it, and why would they?

Isn’t it possible for the city of Camarillo or the county of Ventura to buy that intersection and bring it into the 20th century, hopefully before the end of the 20th century?

Karen Murphy

Oxnard

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Dear Reader:

Traffic officials already have begun building improvements to the intersection at Pleasant Valley and Hueneme roads, according to Pat Reid, a spokeswoman with the state Department of Transportation, which has jurisdiction over Lewis Road because it is a state highway.

Reid said the $600,000 widening effort would take another two months to finish. But when the project is completed, traffic should flow more smoothly in that area.

The project is being done by Caltrans and the city of Camarillo, Reid said. “Two lanes are a state highway and we have to make sure the work conforms to state standards,” she said.

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Dear Street Smart:

What’s the holdup? Well over a year ago I wrote regarding the intersection of Rose Avenue and Gonzales Road in Oxnard near the Shopping at the Rose complex. My question was: When will this intersection be fixed?

About two-thirds of the intersection is in great shape, thanks to the construction done on Rose when the shopping center was being built.

But the northeast corner--that one you cross when making a right turn from westbound Gonzales to northbound Rose--is in terrible condition. It keeps getting worse, but nothing has been done to smooth it out.

Your response to my letter led me to believe that this situation would be addressed sometime during the summer or fall of 1995. Several months later, those of us who cross this intersection every day are still praying that we don’t break a shock or lose a muffler, and no movement has been made toward fixing this intersection.

Please don’t tell me that construction has been delayed until Phase II of the The Rose is finished. That could take years.

Dean Lohmeyer

Point Mugu

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Dear Reader:

According to Oxnard traffic officials, improvements to the intersection of Gonzales and Rose already are underway.

It is the third phase of a $913,000 project that took two years to approve because of the federal funds involved, said Jim Weeks, the city’s operations superintendent.

“We’ll be completely reconstructing the intersection to make all four lanes the same size,” said Weeks, who explained that the discrepancies were the result of developments occurring along the two roads at different times.

Weeks said the intersection improvements will begin next month, and take about three or four weeks to finish. “We’re looking at the end of June or mid-July,” he said.