Questions and Answers About Your Commute : Budget Crunch Cited in Delay of Sound Wall

Dear Traffic Talk:

Several years ago I called Caltrans about the need to erect a sound wall on the north side of the Ventura Freeway between Reseda Boulevard and Winnetka Avenue.

At that time I was informed that this project had been budgeted for fiscal year 1994-95.

Could you please find out when construction will start on this segment?

GABRIEL LICHTMAN

Tarzana

Dear Gabriel:

A sound wall between those two boulevards along the Ventura freeway was not built in 1994-95 and is not yet in the plans of Caltrans’ 1996-97 State Transportation Improvement Program, according to Pat Reid, a spokeswoman for the agency.

At this point Caltrans can’t determine when funds will be appropriated for its construction, either, she said.

Fiscal crises in the California budgets over the last few years have thrown Caltrans into the middle of a funding crunch, Reid said. The crunch has prevented funding for many sound wall candidate areas along the freeways.

While it’s true that the transportation’s computers had initially assigned the sound wall project to the 1994-95 fiscal year, those projections are often tentative at best, Reid said.

In part, she said, that’s because of the way the transportation agency’s computers are set up. Before a sound wall project can be entered into Caltrans’ database, it must be assigned a construction year.

The date entered is merely used to satisfy the computer’s database requirement but does not indicate an actual construction date, Reid said.

Dear Traffic Talk:

At 5363 Balboa Blvd. in Encino there is a large medical complex and another similar building across the street.

Unfortunately, there is no pedestrian crosswalk there or anywhere between Burbank and Ventura boulevards.

Traffic moves very fast in both directions and it becomes life-threatening for pedestrians and visitors who go to both buildings for doctor appointments.

True, there are parking lots in front of each building but rates are high and not validated by doctors. Consequently, there are many cars parked on Balboa Boulevard as well as on Clark Street.

The condition causes pedestrians to become involved in a game of “chicken” just to get across the street.

A crosswalk should be installed for the protection of the public.

NORMAN TERRY

North Hollywood

Dear Norman:

Neither the traffic nor pedestrian flows at that address are heavy enough to require a crosswalk, according to Ray Wellbaum, a spokesman for the West Valley District office of the Los Angeles Department of Transportation.

However, pedestrians have the right of way when crossing the street even at intersections where there are no traffic lights or painted crosswalks. The city, he said, considers there to be so-called “unmarked crosswalks” at such locations--unless there is a sign stating that crossing is forbidden.

The intersection of Balboa Boulevard and Clark Street, near the two medical buildings in question, is an example of an unmarked crosswalk, he said, and could be used to cross from one facility to the other.

A formal study could be done to determine the exact numbers of cars and pedestrians that interact at that address, Wellbaum said, but the preliminary observations don’t justify it.

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