It’s Up to Caltrans to Clear Debris Near Traffic Lanes

Dear Street Smart:

My question concerns litter and debris removal along the medians of our freeways. Isn’t it the responsibility of Caltrans to keep these areas clean or require the contractors to keep them clean during construction? It is particularly dangerous on narrow freeways, with no center grass or dirt medians and only 12 to 18 inches between the fast lane and a concrete divider.

This seems to be a problem in general, but one particularly bad area is Interstate 5, both northbound and southbound, between El Toro Road and the San Diego Freeway overpass area, which is under construction. I have seen the same tire treads, hubcaps, body moldings and other debris that have not been removed for months. Twice I have had my car damaged by objects thrown on it from a vehicle ahead.

How can I complain to Caltrans and file a claim?

Michael Chase

San Clemente

You are absolutely right that it is Caltrans’ responsibility to remove debris from freeway medians or, in areas under construction, see to it that the contractors clean up after themselves.

Your letter has prompted a report to the Caltrans officials responsible for the area you mention. The mess will be cleaned up by the end of the week, Caltrans spokeswoman Maureena Duran-Rojas said.

To report such debris, you can call the agency’s information line at (714) 724-2077. You can also file a legal claim against Caltrans for the damages, but it could be difficult to win.

“Someone making a claim would have the burden of proof,” said Sam M. Eagle, a Fountain Valley attorney specializing in traffic and personal injury cases and a judge pro tem in the traffic division of Municipal Court in Westminster.

“He would have to prove that Caltrans wasn’t adhering to whatever standard it set up. What is the norm in the industry for cleaning up this debris? If they are meeting their obligation by whatever yardstick they’ve set up, then Caltrans will be in pretty good shape.”

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Dear Street Smart:

Why is it that some onramps to freeways have the carpool lane on the left side and others have it on the right side? The right side, for instance, is used on the northbound Interstate 5 onramp at Oso Parkway.

Andy Selby

Rancho Santa Margarita

Until 1988, according to Caltrans’ Duran-Rojas, metered signals were routinely placed on whichever side of a freeway onramp had the highest volume of traffic. Thus, carpool lanes, which bypass those signals, were placed on both the left- and right-hand lanes.

In 1988, however, Caltrans decided to start putting all metered signals in the right-hand lane and all carpool lanes on the left. The theory: that car-poolers coming from the left side would have to do less merging and slowing down while entering the freeway.

The agency currently is in the process of switching all of its older onramps to the new system, but the project doesn’t have a high priority.

“It’s not critical at this time,” Duran-Rojas said. “We switch them when we have a reconstruction or widening project in the area.”

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Dear Street Smart:

This is about a major section of Coast Highway here in Orange County that needs repaving. I would like to know when Caltrans plans to do anything about it.

Actually, there are two sections. One is in or just north of Laguna Beach extending to that new three-lane section. The other is just south of Laguna Beach.

The roadway is so bad that “washboard” doesn’t even begin to describe it. I have a friend who won’t drive it anymore because it shakes his dentures loose.

Would you please find out when Caltrans plans to repave this road?

David J. Buddhue

Costa Mesa

Caltrans does have plans to repave a 2 1/4-mile stretch of Coast Highway north of Laguna Beach from Myrtle Street to El Moro Ridge beginning in late September. The project is expected to take about 30 days.

Then in December 1997, the agency will reconstruct another 3.5 miles of Coast Highway just south of Laguna Beach from Crown Valley Parkway to Nyes Place.

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Noted in Passing: The Orange County Transportation Authority’s Board of Directors has scheduled a discussion at its meeting next Monday on whether to build more regular freeway lanes to improve traffic flow between Fullerton and Irvine.

A major study on the future of a 28-mile corridor, the county’s most heavily traveled, has been sharply criticized for eliminating that option early on in favor of building more carpool lanes or a new light-rail system.

The discussion item was placed on Monday’s agenda by board member Don Saltarelli, who has said that he thinks the mixed-flow option was eliminated too hastily.

“In my view,” Saltarelli said, “it would have been better to have [included] that alternative.”

Street Smart appears Mondays in The Times Orange County Edition. Readers are invited to submit comments and questions about traffic, commuting and what makes it difficult to get around in Orange County. Include simple sketches if helpful. Letters may be published in upcoming columns. Please write to David Haldane, c/o Street Smart, The Times Orange County Edition, P.O. Box 2008, Costa Mesa, CA 92626, send faxes to (714) 966-7711 or e-mail him David.Haldane@latimes.com. Include your full name, address and day and evening phone numbers. Letters may be edited, and no anonymous letters will be accepted.