All the Warning Signs Are There at Freeway Interchange

Dear Street Smart:

The exit from the Ventura Freeway onto the Moorpark Freeway is extremely dangerous, especially under the overpass from the southbound Ventura Freeway during the morning and evening commuter rush hours.

It is a blind curve, and there should be some type of colored warning signal to apprise oncoming vehicles that it is a blind curve and that traffic has stopped.

This is an extremely dangerous situation. It is an accident waiting to happen. Please let me know if there is anything I can do personally to rectify this very hazardous situation.

Marv Siegel

Thousand Oaks

Dear Reader:

Caltrans engineers do not agree that there is a hazard.

They looked at the situation last year and installed a series of warning signs to alert southbound Ventura Freeway drivers to the upcoming interchange, spokeswoman Pat Reid said.

One sign warns of a curve, another is a 45 mph sign and a third cautions motorists to “Watch for Stopped Vehicles,” she said.

“Signs were installed in advance of the curve, with adequate distance for motorists entering the connector to react to traffic conditions by either slowing down or stopping,” Reid said.

“A field review of this location [performed last week] showed that all signs are visible and they are in good condition,” she said.

Dear Street Smart:

What are the plans for the beautiful street of Avenida de los Arboles in Thousand Oaks? Those of us who are homeowners along this street would like to know.

We work hard to keep our homes as lovely as they were when they were built back in a time when this street ended in a cul-de-sac where Holy Trinity Church is now.

We have lived here seven years and have seen a tremendous change in the traffic flow and very little improvement in the street. We are in the middle of a repaving project right now and it is long, long overdue.

I wonder now what is being done to slow traffic or to reroute it. The majority of people who come down this street are totally oblivious that this is a neighborhood as well as a main artery for traffic.

The public works people have told me there is no chance for speed bumps, more stop signs or rerouting, because of the basic city plan. Is it going to take a death before something is done?

Suzanne Robinson

Thousand Oaks

Dear Reader:

Unfortunately, there are some conditions inherent along your street that prevent maintenance crews from doing serious modifications to the roadway, said traffic analyst Jeff Knowles.

For example, because homeowners along that stretch of Avenida de los Arboles do not want to give up their on-street parking, workers are unable to widen that section from two to four lanes.

“We have very few options on Arboles,” Knowles said. “We tend to listen to the residents and the store owners when we consider on-street parking.”

But some improvements are planned. For example, at the intersection of Avenida de los Arboles and Moorpark Road, workers plan to re-stripe the lanes to widen the area drivers have to make right turns.

“They’ll stripe it as quickly as they can,” Knowles said. “That will make it easier for cars to turn.”

Workers also will add left-turn pockets along stretches of your street to make it easier for homeowners to turn into their driveways, Knowles said. “We try to be mindful of maintaining the neighborhood aspect of the street.”

Dear Street Smart:

In answer to that trucker who has to contend with the poor condition of the Simi Valley Freeway: Try using the Ventura Freeway!

We who live in Simi Valley have to contend with more than 800 trucks each day, clunking through our valley, assaulting our serenity and lowering our property values.

Thousands of homeowners have begged for help. Our mayor won’t even attend the meetings held on the problem. Sen. Cathie Wright’s office has provided minuscule aid.

The only person who is providing any help to homeowners is Councilwoman Barbara Williamson, but even she is frustrated.

John Luden

Simi Valley

Dear Reader:

Although there is no question in your letter, your frustration comes across loud and clear. But there is no way to regulate who is allowed to use the freeway.

“Caltrans has no control over the number of trucks that use the state’s freeway system,” spokeswoman Pat Reid said.

The good news, however, is that Councilwoman Williamson plans to ask your City Council tonight to consider forming an assessment district to pay for sound walls along the freeway.

“I really feel bad for the residents,” she said. “But those truckers just don’t want to have to go up the (Ventura Freeway’s) Conejo Grade.”

For the record, Mayor Greg Stratton said he can’t remember an invitation to a meeting concerning the issue of loud trucks.

“I’ve never been invited to a meeting, so that’s why the mayor doesn’t attend any,” said Stratton, who deferred to Williamson. “Once one council member is involved in something, the rest of us will generally not horn in.”

Write to Street Smart, The Times Ventura County Edition, 93 S. Chestnut St., Ventura 93001. You may enclose a simple sketch if it will help Street Smart understand your traffic questions. Or call our Sound Off Line, 653-7546. Whether writing or calling, include your full name, address, and day and evening phone numbers. No anonymous queries will be accepted, and letters are subject to editing.